Loot (and Quest) Alert! Dior Fluid Stick Swatches and NARS Siberia Foundation Test

Greetings from the head of the party, fellow rogues!

No, I haven’t discovered a trap (unless you’re watching out for your wallet at the moment!), it’s something much better! Loot! The Dior Fluid Sticks have landed on New Zealand’s shores recently, and I finally got the chance to go and do some swatching. I know you’re all desperate to see how these new lipstiglosstains look on the pasty forearm of a rogue, so I knew I had to go and make the sacrifice. The new Estee Lauder lipsticks were in as well, but the EL counter was a total scrum, so those will have to wait for another day! While I was out on a bit of a makeup swatching binge, I also decided to go and see what my colour match is in the NARS Radiant Cream Compact Foundation. I was aware that the shade selection was quite wide, so I set off on a mini-quest to see if they had a shade for vampires. Yes, I already have a three part – 1, 2, 3 – foundation Holy Grail routine, but a rogue’s curiosity is never truly satisfied…

Anyway! On with the swatchy goodness:

 

All the Dior Fluid Sticks available at your garden variety NZ Dior counter. (Lighting is indoor artificial).

 

I am quite excited about these – they’ve been getting some great reviews generally, including from fellow adventurers Sunny (x2!) and Karen. When I swatched them, they certainly didn’t disappoint for colour and glossiness, and the very nice SA who helped me take my photos was looking faboulous in the shade she was wearing (Wonderland, I believe).  Kiss Me, Magique and Rieuse were already sold out at that counter, which would have sorely disappointed me if I didn’t need to *cough* raid a few more dragon hoards before I can empty my gold purse on some of these.

Because it might be a while before I get any of these, I won’t run a competition, but feel free to guess which ones you think I might be picking up! Let me rephrase: which ones *other than intrigue* you think I’ll be picking up :-P. One small note: I managed to forget to actually write down the shade names as I was swatching (*facepalm*) so I’ve named these based on what I’ve gleaned from the Dior site. I fyou think there’s an error, please let me know!

Right! Onward to the NARS foundation Mini-Quest…

The NARS MUA matched me to Siberia, after bringing a couple of the lightest shades over, opening them near me, squinting in the snowy glare coming off me from standing next to the lights and muttering ‘hm, too dark’. She applied the foundation just around my chin/jaw/lower cheek area with a damp sponge (the recommended application method for this cream compact foundation, apparently). The result is below, in natural (early evening) light:

 

NARS Siberia on a rogue’s jaw/chin. Note the charming Bloom Charleston lipstick and less charming spots… these photos are totally untouched, so you/I can get an idea of how the foundation actually looks in daylight in real life! I’m not using any concealer here.

 

This foundation is intended to be medium-full coverage, but you know me, I had the poor woman sheer it out as much as she could. The result is quite decent, I think – the foundation has a nice, reasonably natural finish at this coverage/closeness, it felt smooth and satiny to the touch (not sticky or powdery) and it wore perfectly for the remainder of my evening (5 hours – presumably would have worn longer if I hadn’t taken it off). Special mention should be made here of the fact that although I only had it over the lower part of my face, it didn’t look at all like I only had a half face of foundation on. I literally went out on a date night with the wizard for a cocktail at a favourite fancy tavern (the Grove) with only half my face done, and it looked fine!

I would still say that you can tell I’m wearing makeup in the close pictures, and that the foundation is maybe the tiniest fraction pink compared to my neck, but generally I think Siberia is a pretty darn good match. What do you think?

 

Happy Looting!

Until next time, fellow rogues, don’t forget to check for loot as well as traps!

Syl

 

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided! All images on this blog are the property of Syl unless otherwise noted. They may not be reproduced without permission – if you do, I’ll send goblin hordes after you. Plague-ridden ones.