Hi all! Newbie in the group ☺️ I’m a matte pressed powder forever, pure pressed MAC (long ago discontinued), and have been scratching the pan for ages. I also didn’t wear makeup at all, even powder, for a long time because of these difficult times. I started looking for new pressed powders and after having had no luck with the color matching for drugstore brands I went for the high end products. I’ve been obsessed with NARS for a while now, but haven’t made the jump yet because of the price. I now also watch Urban Decay and love what I see, although I was very surprised to find that their point price is higher than that of NARS. One negative point for NARS is their switch to animal testing in order to enter the cosmetics market in China. I don’t really know much about UD other than their website reviews which are very positive. Now that I have managed to reduce it to two, I don’t think I can handle the brain loss that would come when I started to consider other people again. (I’m looking for a pressed powder that leans more towards matte and a wand concealer.) NARS – all the hype and really nothing fancy? UD – as good as it looks and worth the price? Thanks in advance for any opinions you would like to share!
I can’t comment on NARS because I only use cruelty free makeup, so I’ve never tried them, but I love Urban Decay! I think their face products can be hit or miss though, except for the all nighter setting spray, that stuff has kept my stage makeup looking perfect under hot lights and a whole lot of sweat so it’s lived up to the hype. I think all of their products are good quality you just have to find what works out for you. I really love their eyeshadows and especially their lip products. I will say when it comes to NARS as a makeup artist and just a make up lover in general I think a lot of the hype around NARS is the brand recognition or the idea that “it has to be good because it’s NARS, the product isn’t the problem, you are” and the “luxury” feeling that comes with it for some reason. And if that’s your jam then by all means enjoy it! I just don’t subscribe to brand loyalty like that.
If you don’t mind me tossing another brand out there to check out, every product I’ve tried from Kosas makes me love them even more! Their vibe is definitely different than NARS and UD, their look or branding is significantly more on the natural, very fresh faced makeup side. Their wand concealer is the only one I’ve found so far that can actually get some decent coverage over my terrible dark circles/hollow under eyes so I am very impressed! All of their products have good skin care ingredients in them, they even advertise their wand concealer as a daytime eye cream, which is something I really like. Plus they’re cruelty free and a lot of their stuff is vegan! They recently came out with a pressed powder, again with skincare ingredients in it, and I’ve heard great things about it! It sounds like it’s a good balance between matte and satin finish. They are expensive but I really feel like they use good quality, clean ingredients which is worth paying a little extra for in my book.
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