Nars Sheer Matte Foundation – Santa Fe: Review, Ingredients & Pictures

During my search for a matte foundation with a good coverage, I decided to try Nars Sheer Matte Foundation (1 oz/ $45)  in Santa Fe shade. I wanted a light liquid foundation, which would be long lasting. Another point was the foundation should be ideal great for special occasions, stay matte during photo shoots and should not look like a ton of foundation was smeared on my face. A good foundation to me should be light, have decent opacity and coverage yet it should not accentuate flaws or pores.

Nars Sheer Matte Foundation is for oily/normal skins. I know it was defined as sheer but I did not expect this much sheerness. It is light and only gives color to the skin rather than coverage. My pores were accentuated like they were bigger. Stay power was not impressive as well.

It clinged on the skin and especially dry patches (yes I have couple but very scarce). Instead of a healthy nice coverage my complexion looked dull and matte. I still tried to see whether it would work with photo shoot but to no avail it did not.

During application, I definitely do not recommend applying it with a sponge or a Beautyblender.  The sponge sucked up all the product and there was nearly nothing to apply on the skin. I used other liquid foundations (i.e. Armani, Chanel etc) and this is the first time I saw it disappear on my sponge. It worked better with my Shiseido foundation brush . Another no no for me was, it transferred on everything on papers from my hand etc.

Swatches under sunlight

Ingredients

No mineral oil and no good moisturizer either. It has talc and silicones as well as parabens. No botanical ingredients to support the skin. It does not have SPF, which is OK if you are using it during a photo shoot. Little hint: If you need your photos taken during your wedding etc. do not use a foundation with SPF. The SPF ingredients can create whiteness/shine in your pictures.

Aqua (Water), Phenyl Trimethicone, Triethylexanoin, Cetyl Ethylhexanoinoate, Dipropylene, Glycol, Silica, Talc, Dimethicone, Peg-5 Glyceryl Stearate, Isostearic Acid, Bentonite, Stearic Acid, Behenic Acid, Butyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate SE, 1-Methylhydantoin-2-imide, Behenyl Alcohol, Aminomethyl Propanol, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Potassium Hydroxide, Celluose Gum, Ethylparaben, Xanthan Gum, Tocopheryl Acetate, Curcuma Longa, Serralysin, Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Trisodium Edta, Glucosyl Hesperdin, [+/- (may contain): CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77491 (Iron Oxides), CI 77492 (Iron Oxides), CI 77499 (Iron Oxides)].

Overall, my skin did not like this foundation with prolonged use it felt drying as well possibly due to lack of moisturizing ingredients in the formula. For me and my skin I have to give a D-. I love Nars products but I had to let go this one.

Nars Sheer Matte Foundation – Santa Fe was purchased by myself and reviewed impartially for entertainment purposes only.