October 11, 2020

Nars Soft Matte Complete Foundation Review

I recently picked up the new NARS Soft Matte Complete Foundation from Sephora (Retail, $40). I’ve always heard great things about NARS foundations, but before this new foundation, all the others by NARS weren’t geared for oily skin. So when I tried them in the past, I wound up looking super greasy and oily about an hour after application. No bueno.

When I heard that they were dropping a matte foundation, I celebrated the win for us oily girls and decided to check it out. Since you still can’t touch testers in-store at Sephora, I used the shade match tool on Sephora’s app to give me a ballpark shade match based on my go-to foundation (Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’R Soft Matte Foundation in shade 390). The tool suggested the shade Marquises (which wound up being too red), so I purchased the shade Macao instead which is closer to Fenty’s 390.

What It Claims to Do:

The NARS Soft Matte Complete Foundation claims to be long-wearing with a 16 hour wear time, full coverage, transfer-proof, oxidization-resistant, and have a natural matte-looking finish.

Check. Check. Check. Check. Checkity-Check.

Why I Love It

This is the first foundation that I’ve bought, that really is super close to my actual skin tone. So often I have to get foundations that are a little darker because it’s hard to find something close to my shade with my undertone that’s an exact match. Macao though? Baby, issa match.

SHADE UPDATE: I later discovered that while Macao looks great on me in various lighting, the undertone doesn’t consistently look great in flash photos. I have since switched to the shade Marquises.

It’s a beautiful matte finish, that makes my skin look poreless, flawless, ALL DAT. My skin looks beautiful in person, and amazing in photos as well. This foundation is definitely long-wearing as well, and I feel like it’ll also be a great summer foundation.

Also, it looks bomb in photos. I’ve been wearing it recently in my fall photoshoots, and I love how it photographs!

HM Floral Turtleneck Zara Camel Leather Pants

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Give It A Minute

When you first try on the NARS Soft Matte Complete Foundation, it needs some time to oxidize to give you the true and final color. The first time I applied it at home, I got scared and thought it was the wrong color for me. After giving it some time to oxidize, and finishing my makeup, it was a spot-on color match for me.

Once it initially adjusts, the color doesn’t adjust anymore so you don’t have to worry about getting darker later on in the day (I’m looking at you Too Faced Powder Foundation).

It’s really matte

If you love a matte foundation, you’ll love this. Got dry skin? This one isn’t quite for you, I’d stick to NARS other foundation offerings. Be warned that if you go overboard with the powders to set your face, you will start to look dry and possibly flaky if your skin isn’t properly hydrated.

I make sure that I use MAC’s Fix + during my foundation application (like I normally do) to help my powders melt in, and make sure I don’t look dry.

See The Foundation In Action

If you want to see the NARS Soft Matte Complete Foundation in action, and how I do my makeup for my photoshoots check out my new review on my YouTube channel!