[affiliate/purchase] I spotted a bold claim from Superdrug on Instagram regarding their B Enhance Moisturising BB Cream which they claim is a dupe for NARS Natural Radiance Tinted Moisturiser. True enough that they share a number of common ingredients but then so do many bases – I was curious enough about the claim to give them both a try and while I wouldn’t say they’re an exact match, there is one I would buy again and one I wouldn’t.
I bought the Superdrug BB (£12.99) in Light and ordered a sample of the NARS Tint in St Moritz (it’s £38 to buy a full tube and actually most shades are sold out at the moment).
Similar to this
Just from the swatches above, you can see the textural difference. Above is NARS, below is Superdrug. The shades are actually quite similar and once on my skin and blended, I couldn’t really see a difference in the colour. If we take the title of NARS – Natural Radiance Tinted Moisturiser – at face value, I’d expect to see more moisture on application. I felt that the pigment was too high for a ‘natural’ look although it perfectly covered any natural redness on my skin and blending it with a brush onto my skin felt easy and smooth – I was pleased with how uniform the coverage is and how, after initially thinking that St Moritz would not be my match, well it matched my tone. I’m sure it’s not my exact match but I had to take a guess from a website. I also can’t say I saw a lot of ‘radiance’. Superdrug Enhance felt cool on the skin (a higher water content, I’m guessing) and gives a lighter level of coverage. It feels more moisturising from the get-go and because coverage is not as dense, you have a little more leeway on exact match. Which brings me now to the main problem with Superdrug Enhance – only 5 shades compared to NARS 16.
In the side by side pictures (L Superdrug, R NARS), I feel like I’m getting much more ‘glow’ from Superdrug than from NARS. St Moritz (NARS) is shifting a little bit yellow – no surprise because I have neutral tones and NARS likes to run yellow, whereas the slightly cooler tone of Superdrug is a better fit. The upshot of this is that I’d easily repurchase the Superdrug Moisturising BB Cream (SPF30) for £12.99 and I wouldn’t purchase a full size of NARS (SPF30) because for £38, I need more lightness of touch and more actual radiance. I should mention that what it came to removal, there was more of NARS to remove indicating not only more pigment but also longer stay.
In the way that many brands don’t feel fun any more – MAC, Lancome and Clinique for example, I don’t really align with NARS as a brand. Part of the problem the luxury beauty market is having is that high street brands have raised their game so significantly that the level headed part of ourselves (count me out when it comes to CHANEL – I’ll always be the willing sucker there) is asking price questions. Superdrug B isn’t exciting to look at but when it starts delivering on a par with luxury brands, that immediately makes it far more interesting. You can find Superdrug B Enhance Moisturising BB Cream HERE. I’m not linking to NARS because it’s so widely sold out although you may be lucky in store.
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