NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer and Illamasqua Box

Ugh, it's been so damn hot. In Pennsylvania, we complain when it's too cold, and we bitch when it's too hot. But at least when it's too hot I can yell into the fan "I AM IRON MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!" Don't pretend you haven't done it. I know it's not just me.

That being said, I've been searching for a light weight foundation for awhile, even well before it got so damn hot. Since using the infamous Clarisonic (the brush for acne prone skin is my favorite) my skin is in much better condition than it used to be. I still get some mean hormonal breakouts, but overall my skin doesn't need a thick blanket of foundation anymore.

I never thought to use tinted moisturizer since my skin is so oily, the thought of adding moisture with my foundation kind of scares me. They usually come in very limited shades anyway, most of them too dark. After reading a shit ton of reviews on both the Laura Mercier and the NARS TM's, I settled for the NARS, since it supposedly has more coverage and is matte.

I got the newly released shade, Terre Neauve (is that a place? Sorry Francois Nars, I'm not as cultured as you!) which is pale and slightly pink based. Many complained that Finland was too dark for them, so I'm glad I chose this one.

I'm not about to show you my face without concealer, but the coverage of this is fairly good and covers redness very well, especially around my cheeks and nose, while still letting most of my skin show through. It's  practically undetectable. I still had to carefully conceal my bad spots, but the overall effect is so much nicer than smothering my face in foundation. It feels much nicer, too. Sometimes with my favorite full coverage foundations, I feel like I can lift incredible weights with my forehead and cheeks. I feel nothing at all with this on.

It remained dewy and porcelain like on it's own, but as an oily skinned gal, I prefer to powder with (also from NARS) the light reflecting loose powder. It's gorgeous, glowy, not chalky at all and most of all, not glittery. I'm in love with this combination.

Something else I'm in love with is red lipsticks. I have a ton and I don't have a "favorite" in particular yet. There are so many shades and undertones of red and I love them all! However, I tend to gravitate towards blue-based or cherry reds, rather than true reds or orange reds. I never bought into the whole "cool toned girls should wear blue based reds, warm tones should wear orange based..." I think you should rock what you want. I've done them all though, and I really do think blue-based ones look better on me for some reason. 

I wanted Illamasqua's Box for years. It's famous for being the perfect red for pale skin. I took it up to the challenge and I'm sooo glad I did.

It is perfect. On me, red lipsticks are like neon signs going "HI IM VERY RED AND BRIGHT. DO YOUR RETINAS HURT? I DONT GIVE A DAMN" and I love that and always will. But Box, while being very red and blue toned, seems to just "work" on pale skin. Nothing clashes. It brings the whole thing together. I think it's the slight deepness of it. Less Marilyn Monroe, more Catwoman. I use people to describe lipstick and that's not helpful but it makes sense to me. I can't quite describe it, but it really is perfect. It wears like iron (man) too, and I'm sure the matte finish helps.

Face:

NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer - Terre Neauve

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer - Vanilla
NARS Light Reflecting Loose Powder

Eyes:

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette - Venus, Walk of Shame, Naked, Crave
Hourglass Film Noir Mascara
Bobbi Brown Corrector - Porcelain Bisque

MAC - Mystery (for eyebrows)

Lips: (in second picture)

Illamasqua - Box