Sunday, October 30, 2011

NARS Miss Liberty Highlighting Blush for Holiday 2011

Ever receive something new - something you purchased sight unseen online - and done a double-take? That's what I did when I opened the box from NARS that contained Miss Liberty Highlighting Blush ($27). Every photo I had seen online, including the NARS photo above and beauty blog photos, had made Miss Liberty appear peach. I guess it is, kinda, sorta, maybe. My first impression, "Hello, Miss Liberty, you sure look golden to me," hasn't changed.

When I am taking photos for any purpose, not just the blog, I snap many more than I need - usually trying different angles - to ensure I adequately capture the color of my subject. Cameras can lie, and sometimes it's hard to get true color. My own camera attributed more peach to Miss Liberty than the golden nude shade my eye sees. That said, my photo at right is much more true to color than the NARS photo above. Miss Liberty is not covered in peach fuzz.

NARS' illuminating highlighting powders do give the skin light-reflecting, luminous, sparkling, light color. You can wear them alone or pair them with other cheek products to create "beautiful dimension" on the face, with a light, transparent radiance.

If Miss Liberty had not been billed as an illuminating blush, I'd be disappointed. She's not dark enough to be considered a regular blush - one that you'd wear to add color to your cheeks. With the word "illuminating," she works.

Let my swatch photos guide you in forming an opinion. These photos are spot-on in portraying the color of Miss Liberty on my skin. I applied her heavily with a sponge-tipped applicator. A light application would not have yielded decent photos.

My skin is so light, it's a pretty good blank canvas. Nevertheless, I took many photos, with different backgrounds and at different angles to the full mid-day sun to get a few to show you.

What do you see? I see a light, fleshy, golden highlighter with a suggestion of peach color. The color in these photos is true. The highlighter is warm and peach-leaning, with golden sparkles - definitely not a cool tone. I could add more photos to the feature, but I think these three adequately portray Miss Liberty's color.

If there is anything missing from my photos, it's the sparkle, definitely clear to the eye. It's a micro-sparkle, one you can buff down, making it work. I might not wear Miss Liberty to work, but I'd take her out to dinner with me.

If you need a product like Miss Liberty - more sparkling powder highlighter than blush - she's your gal. If you already own plenty of items to help you dazzle for holiday festivities, you might want to invest instead in the stellar new Multiple with the tacky name.

Miss Liberty is available at the NARS Web site and NARS counters that have received the holiday collection (apparently, not all have). I purchased mine online at Sephora.

Photo at top courtesy of NARS; other photos by Best Things in Beauty

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think its beautfiul - my SA had it on as a highlighter & I didn't buy it but this weekend did purchase with Sephora's F & F - I almost went for the Chanel one but that was over $70 - I think this is a great price & so pretty as a highlighter or over a blush or just a quick dusting all over.

Charlestongirl said...

No doubt, it's pretty! I did buy mine with the discount. Very well priced at 20% off!

mybeadifullife said...

On me, the color does not appear at all, just the sparkle. I have medium skin tone, but when comparing this to the other highlighter blushes, I like this one the best. It has more gold/peach toned glittery sparkle, whereas the others are more of a silvery/pink tone.

Charlestongirl said...

Hi Mybeadifulllife!


That's too bad. I wondered how this would "do" on gals with darker skin, since it's so light on mine. Thanks for the feedback!

Anonymous said...

I'm disappointed now, but glad I've saw this. They doesn't sell in my country, so I must rely on the pictures... If I want a shade more peachey, like on the first, Nars photo, have you any suggestions?