NARS Adelaide Illuminator- The Final Cut Spring 2014

The Final Cut is a sub-collection in NARS Spring 2014 offering. It's all about pink, pink, and more pink, which is not necessarily my thing, but I have to say that right now anything lively and fun is welcome. Still, the new NARS Illuminator, Adelaide, looked scary in the tube and out. It's a very cool toned light pink (according to NARS it's a lavender pink but I wouldn't go that far) with a very shimmery finish. Very.

Surprisingly, on sallow winter skin Adelaide gives a very subtle boost of pink freshness, so the color itself is far more flattering than I ever expected. It made me realize that I can and should wear more pink. Since this is a highlighter and not a blush you need to apply it sparingly and only where you need it to catch the light. You only need a small dot of the product (about half the amount I squeezed out in the photo above), which you'll blend upwards on the cheekbones.

Adelaide unblended. This is enough product for both sides of the face.

blended, photo taken with flash to show the shimmer particles

Now let's talk about the shimmer factor. The particles used in Adelaide are larger than I prefer. You can see in the photo above that the flecks are visible, making this Illuminator more of a high glam product. I felt a bit self-conscious wearing Adelaide during the day over the weekend, but mostly got over it because it is such a pretty little thing. The formula is quite sheer and the finish is neither metallic nor frosty: just a glowy pink; with lots of shimmer, that is. I experimented mixing Adelaide with various liquid face products and liked it best with NARS tinted moisturizer and Guerlain Terracotta Blush Sun Shimmer Highlighter. I'm sure you can find other combinations. I would say that if your skin tone is lighter and cooler you'll probably have more play options for Adelaide, but it does work for darker/olive skin tones.

Bottom Line: Shiny.

What do you think? Can you live with this amount of shimmer?

NARS Adelaide Illuminator- The Final Cut Spring 2014 ($30) was sent for my consideration by NARS PR. It's already available online from Nordstrom and will eventually be offered also from NARS boutiques and narscosmetics.com.