Nars Blush in Gilda

 

 

Gilda, a coral toned pink shade, is my first blush from Nars, and definitely not my last.  I love how soft and easy this blends into the skin.  As a matte shade I was worried it could look a little flat, but it doesn't. I applies nicely to leave a lovely flushed look to the cheeks.  It's very pigmented so you only need a light hand.  On my skin this blush lasts all day which is one of the main reasons I want to buy some more shades. There is only 4.8 grams so at £21.50 they aren't the most cost effective blush on the market but I bought mine from ASOS when they had 20% student discount.  Nars packaging is lovely, sleek black with a soft rubbery cover.  However, it can get a bit grubby after a few days in the old makeup bag, so for those with a touch of OCD, I understand if you want to keep the box.  Overall this is a lovely blush and there is such a good array of shades that even if this shade doesn't float your boat I would recommend having a look at others.

Makeup to Go - Work/College Face

This post is about quick makeup, what I literally throw on my face when I'm in a rush.

Basically I'm waking up when I should already be at work/school and panic sets in.

I am also trying to get my makeup looking as best as I can and as long lasting as possible as this is what I do for when I have a long day ahead of me.

There is quite a lot of products here but it takes me 3 to 5 minutes to apply all of them depending on what coverage I want that day.

Foundation - I've chosen this foundation purely on the shade as I have been fake tanning recently. If I'm in a rush I would pick up the foundation that I knew would match my skin tone the best as I don't have extra time to blend it out perfectly and don't want the tell tell line on my neck. If all my foundations matched me perfectly I would pick the one which was the longest lasting.

Concealer - Always got to make time to cover up any nasty spots and highlight under the eye area.  I personally like to spend more time on my base than anything else so if I'm lucky enough to have a good skin day, this whole routine would be done really quickly.

Powder - I normally like to use a primer to help my makeup stay put rather than powders.  They can take time though, especially if like me, you wait 5 minutes for it to be completely sinked into the skin before applying anything on top.  Powder is definitely a quick alternative and you can just top up throughout the day.

Eyes - I quickly fill in my brows.  Nowadays I can't leave the house without my brows filled in, even if its only slightly.  I think this makes such a big difference to my face.  Mascara will always be my enemy, I know it doesn't last more than 10 minutes before my lashes are weighed down so I would apply this as quickly as possible.

Cheeks - I take a big fluffy face brush and bronze with my Laguna Bronzer where a contour would normally be.  I would then take a long lasting blush and apply that to the tops of my cheek bones.

Lips - I have dry cracked lips so I would choose something that is moisturising and isn't going to show my lips for what they are.  I love these 17 lipsticks, but a tinted balm would also work in a rush.

So that is my face when I am in a rush, and trust me it happens all the time. There is going to be a few more posts with this theme so let me know if you liked this idea.

Nars Bronzer - Laguna

Yes I caved, I bought it.  As well as being an avid lipstick junkie, I am partial to a bit lots of bronzer. I have tried various high street bronzers by all different brands, but Nars Laguna Bronzer is the beauty community's most hyped bronzer, so naturally when ASOS decided to have 20% student discount before Christmas I couldn't say no. 

I don't know how to say this, but, here goes. Initially I was so disappointed with this particular shade and could not understand the hype. The bronzer generally is beautiful, it's Nars I didn't expect anything less to be honest. The texture is so lovely, so smooth and it blends amazingly on the skin to give a natural finish. Though there is shimmer that runs through the product in the pan, it doesn't transfer onto the skin.

Left: Laguna    Right: ELF Contour

The only reason for any disappointment is probably my own fault. Laguna bronzer is normally used as a contour shade and is the reason why I purchased it. For those of you that are not familiar with this term, contour is where a shadow is created in hollows of the face to scalp and shape the face to make it look thinner and define bone structure. I like a really dark, defined contour which I blend out, I found that Laguna did not give the full effect that I wanted. As the swatches show Laguna is so light compared to it's ELF 'dupe'. (Which is the bronzer I am currently using for my contour.)

I really love the quality though, definitely my favourite bronzer for longevity and finish. The packing is nice, sleek, black compact with a massive mirror which is handy. The outside can get a bit grubby after a while as any dirt or makeup does seem to attach itself to the rubber packaging. 

 I now use it all over my face and it warms up my complexion beautifully. I use this sometimes during the day as it is so easy to work with, but mainly in the evenings as I know it is one of those products that always looks good.  I do really like this and do appreciate that the quality that Nars Bronzers have is amazing. I still cannot quite fathom as to why this shade has become so big, because I don't believe that Laguna perfectly suits as many people as there is claiming that it does. I do definitely want to check out other shades, but I will go to a Nars counter before purchasing next time. Hopefully they will open a counter near me soon, not too close actually, I wont have any money left.