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NYX Bare With Me Blur Skin Tint Foundation is a medium coverage, matte finish foundation that comes in 24 shades. Its main claim is that it’s supposed to blur not just the look of texture and pores but also discoloration and imperfections. It is supposed to feel lightweight, have buildable coverage and leave the skin with a shine-free finish without being drying. This can be purchased from NYX or Ulta for $14.
I initially bought the second shade from the lightest and found it was WAY too light on me but decided to give it a try anyway. Coverage was about medium and it sat decently well on the skin and didn’t emphasize texture too much given how light it was. Having high hopes that the correct shade might actually look very nice, I bought another one 2 shades darker.
It looks darker in the container than it ends up being on the skin. When I first apply it, it matches what I see in the container pretty well but lightens as I spread it out. I was sure I was going to need to mix it with the lighter shade I had to make it work, but the way it brightened up as I blended it out surprised me. If you’re interested in this, definitely go a bit darker than you think you need.
Application was easy and I didn’t feel the need to alter the way I normally do my foundation, which is by applying it all over with my fingers, not super carefully, and then going back in with a sponge and/or a brush to blend it out. The consistency is slightly on the thicker side but it doesn’t feel heavy or thick once applied to the skin. If I squeeze some out onto the back of my hand, it doesn’t run at all. It spreads out easily without drying down too quickly so I have plenty of time to blend it out. Once I buff it in, it has a matte finish and doesn’t leave much tack to the skin at all. I could skip powdering and be fine (though I still do powder anyway to help with eyeshadow fallout).
For the before/after below, I applied one layer of foundation over bare skin (no primers) and did not set it with any powder. It looks very matte but I wouldn’t say that it looks dry.
Attempting to build coverage, I can somewhat layer it without it looking cakey, but it starts to pool in pores when I do that. Because it never dries to an unmovable finish, I am able to easily fix those areas.
Now for the big bold claim on the packaging. Does this blur? Yes. Most foundations blur texture to some degree and this is up there with ones that do it well. Having a matte finish adds to the effect. Looking at the before and after, it seems to work best on areas with small-medium size pores and skin that is generally already smooth. When I focus in more on my forehead, I’ve got much more visible texture and it doesn’t work as well there. Yes, it smoothes the skin but don’t expect miracles.
This is not a very long wearing foundation for me. It starts to look oily about mid afternoon and just looks plain greasy by the end of the day without any extra powder throughout the day. It doesn’t break up over that time or gather in creases/pores much but it is easy to lift once it starts getting oily.