Going Matte For New NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint Broad Spectrum SPF 30
It seems like only yesterday that we were all coveting dewy, luminous complexions and subtle, semi-sheer coverage, leading to a global BB cream craze. This year, however, the focus is on natural-looking coverage but with a delicate matte — but not flat! — finish. The new NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint Broad Spectrum SPF 30 ($44 at NARScosmetics.com and Sephora.com) delivers on all these fronts, while also incorporating ingredients that are beneficial for the skin over a longer trajectory of time — mainly rose fruit extract, which helps to minimize pores over time; vitamins C and E to deliver antioxidant protection, boost radiance, and soften the skin; and both octinoxate and octisalate, chemical UV filters that delivers SPF protection.
The NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint SPF 30 is available in 12 shades that correspond with those offered within the Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer range so that, if you’re familiar with the latter, you can easily find your perfect match in the former. Moreover, you can choose to wear these together depending on how much coverage you desire.
In addition to its lightweight consistency (not too creamy or viscous but not too fluid or runny), I’m stunned by how this product manages to offer coverage while being barely perceptible to the naked eye. When you find your perfect color match and brush a dollop onto your jawline, for instance, blending it in thoroughly, you won’t detect the point where the makeup swatch begins and ends. What you will notice, however, is how that one area of your skin coated with the Velvet Matte Skin Tint looks better than the surrounding region, devoid of any patchiness, redness, visible veins or dark spots, and so forth.
When applied to the whole face, the result is even more stunning since the NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint SPF 30 offers the same benefits as many dewy and luminous foundations and creams in terms of color correcting optical illusions — in fact, it incorporates transparent blurring powders that minimize skin imperfections like blemishes, dark spots, fine lines, and sallowness — but the matte finish feels very elegant and classic, giving the complexion an almost porcelain-like feel. While it can be challenging to offer natural-looking matte coverage that doesn’t look cake-y or one-dimensional, NARS executed the feat brilliantly with this product. And, again, it offers light to medium coverage, but it’s easy to apply concealer to any problem spots afterwards.
Since the product is virtually weightless and it allows skin to breathe with easily, it’s a great choice for the summer season, when you might not want to wear a full face of makeup but you still want flawless-looking skin.
Here are a few photos in which I’m wearing the Velvet Matte Skin Tint, so you can see how subtle it is! My shade is Alaska so, if you’ve got a similar skin tonality, check that hue out!
