NARS SOFT MATTE Summer v. Fall Shade ?

[GoddessKia]

 

Hey beauties! I’m a #NARS soft matte girly and haven’t used any other foundation since discovering them about 3yrs ago. I’ve dabbled in Marquises, New Caledonia, and Namibia. Marquises was a beautiful golden shade on me but I felt was a bit too light in the sunnier months. New Caledonia was a deep enough shade but the undertones (olive I think ?) made it hard to highlight because although it was a decent shade..this undertones were misaligned now here I’m at Namibia which may be a tad bit darker but the undertones are great for me and highlighting w/ concealer etc seems to balance it out fine. For some reason I’m colorblind to what shade I am? When I look at myself I see reddish pigments, golden (not yellow) however I’m not really sure the range of *brown* that I am. I will post pics for comparison of my skin tone with no makeup. 

[GoddessKia]

Here is me with Marquises. I did not contour or use blush to see what it would look like. By this point I had the bottle for about 2-3months and it DEFINITELY did not wear like the first time I tried it which is good (the first time I looked like a ghost lol) I’m in the house under regular light. A picture under natural light will be under here.  Followed by Namibia

 

[GoddessKia]

Daylight with Namibia this was Summer of last year

[WinglessOne]

Thanks for the tag, @danielledanielle ! 

@GoddessKia  I had a longer reply typed up, but then my BIC session ended (I took too long to post) and I forgot to copy it, so now it’s gone. Sigh… Here’s a shortish recap. 

I know how frustrating it can be to try figuring out your exact shade. It’s easier to focus more on the range of shades that may work for you, and then swatch (if possible) to see which one(s) work. Sounds like you’re in the “deep” skin tone category, and you’ve already ruled out olive undertones; you’re likely in the same neutral to “warm tone with red notes” range as me, just in a deeper skin tone (I’m in most brands’ “medium deep” category and the deeper half of Fenty’s “medium” category). 

When swatching complexion products—or any type of makeup—try doing it in natural daylight. Not morning sunlight or golden hour light; that’ll make things look too warm or gold. I try to check makeup in indirect daylight, warm indoor light, and cool light. 

If Marquises is your perfect non-summer match, you could probably still wear it in summer and just use a bronzer or deep blush shade to add color depth where needed. Sounds like Namibia also works well for you, even if it’s a bit too deep a shade. Have you tried NARS Soft Matte Complete Foundation Belem before? That looks to be the medium-deep version of Namibia (you could swatch-compare it with Marquises), though it might not be deep enough for you. This is the kind of thing I do to figure out which shades best match me. 

[GoddessKia]

I will get a plenty samples to swatch when I go back! The nearest Sephora is 2hrs away. Have you seen the photos I just posted? I believe in the winter I can get away with marquises and bronzer? Nevertheless I will swatch! I’m like 3 different shades depending on how much I go outside😭 I’m considering the Haus Labs foundation.. that’s for another time tho don’t want to stray from the subject!

[danielledanielle]

@GoddessKia, lovely pics.  I feel like marquises is definitely your winter shade and Namibia looks good, but pics also get compressed here.

Definitely get swatches when you get the chance, like Winglessone suggested.  Also, Sephora has a voucher sample set where you pay $10 for the samples add get a voucher to use that ten towards ANY foundation, not just the ones in the package.  Haus Labs does a similar thing where you pick the shades and pay for them, if you didn't match, you can still keep the samples, but if you get a match, you can use that money towards the pick

Sephora Favorites Foundation Try-On Sample Bag With Redeemable Voucher 

[danielledanielle]

@GoddessKia So, the good/bad things is that NARS has a convention system, which you've already noted.  From your descriptions, I'm guessing you're deep with mostly warm  tones, probably with pinks/reds. If your veins also have blue purple mix, that's the pink.  When I'm flushed or warm, my veins are green/blue.

I looked at the foundations on the direct site with the descriptions, the two shades you noted as better are warm.  The neutral may be hyperpigmentation, so cancelling that out usually needs a pink vs red.

@WinglessOne, thoughts?

 

 

 

[GoddessKia]

Yesss my veins are bluish green at the moment!

[sister13]

You have a beautiful smile! I’m tagging a thread you might want to add this question to, it’s The Deeper Hues Thread (Swatches, Color Matching, etc.)  where more people might see your post and offer some thoughts on the color match. I haven’t used that foundation very  much so I’m not as familiar with the shade nuances. Good luck finding a great match! @GoddessKia 

[GoddessKia]

Thank you!