Nars Laguna Vs Casino
Posted on by admin
It's almost the end of summer, and I'm pretty sure more of us are sporting tans (real or faux!). If you're looking for an easy way to add some color and warmth to your face, or if you're looking for a way to add a glow to an already-existing tan, well, have I got news for you?
Although I guess... it's not really 'news' if it's an existing, established, probably iconic product, is it? Oh well.
I'm talking about the Nars Casino bronzer, the older, more mysterious sister to the iconic Laguna bronzer.
Firstly, can I mention my hate for the Nars packaging? It's a matte black rubberized packaging that does a great job of protecting the contents inside, and a brilliant job at looking all sleek and elegant, but is an absolute nightmare to keep clean. You can see a fingerprint on the side of the packaging in the pictures above - at the time I had had it for only about a week!
Let's move on to the product itself. It is a slightly warm toned, medium-dark bronzer. Contrary to the claims, it is not matte. What my camera failed to pick up, but were present in the bronzer, was tiny flecks of gold. No, not like disco-ball glitter, but the quiet, subdued kind that works to produce a soft sheen on the face.
If the Nars Casino bronzer were a girl, she'd be wearing a little black dress and pearls, but she'd have leopard-print underwear beneath it. Something, you understand, to break from the stiffness of it all. That's kind of how the gold flecks are in the bronzer. Something unexpected, but when you encounter it, you're intrigued, and then you find that it... works.
The powder is soft, and finely milled. It's very satiny to the touch, and as for the pigmentation... well, I'd say it shows up on me, but it does need to be layered to get any discernable effect. So it's a good thing to have if, like me, you're heavy handed, as it won't let you overdo it on a single try. (For my paler peeps, you'll have to use a lighter hand - this will be quite pigmented for you!)
Now, on to my grouchiness with this. Personally, I don't like this as a contour. It doesn't work for me. The gold flecks work extremely well in adding a glow to my face, and the color is sufficiently warm toned to use to add some warmth to my face, but it looks odd when I try to use it as a contour.
Wear time is great; I can get about five and a half hours, after which there is some amount of fading. Keep in mind, though, that I have oily skin that pretty much eats up all my face products. Normal and dry skins will easily get eight hours of wear time.
It's best applied with a fluffy brush (for lighter skins) and a medium-dense brush (for deeper skins). This product blends very easily, so even if you over apply a little bit, you can blend it out without much fuss.
To summarize - I like this product. I think it's a great bronzer, especially for deeper skins. I think it looks fantastic on tanned skins, the golden flecks make your skin look truly sun kissed. I use it on the perimeter of my face, and even on my cheeks (under some blush) to really emphasize that sun-kissed-ness.
But... I was really hoping for a product I could use as a bronzer and a contour. This won't work as a contour. Even if you managed to buff the gold flecks out, I don't think it would look quite right. Besides, part of the product's appeal is the fact that those teensy little flecks make you look like a sun goddess.
This isn't my favorite product, but nevertheless, it's still an excellent product, and if you're looking for one heckuva bronzer, I won't keep you away from this! (Let me also interject here that I will still get plenty of use out of this!)
BGMM Rating: A
NARS Laguna VS Casino. Oldest; Newest; Helpful; Jun 20, 2011. I've heard good things about both. Which shade works as a better contour/bronzer? Casino is great on darker skins for a bronzer and for you would work good for a contour I think I would definitely swatch it up and see. Even though the Elf one looks slightly bigger you are getting just less than half the weight of product you get with Nars but the Elf costs £3.5o and Nars £27! The Elf is slightly more powdery than Nars but the Bronzer is actually more pigmented, it took only two swipes with an eyeshadow brush to get the swatch whereas Laguna took about 4!
Although I guess... it's not really 'news' if it's an existing, established, probably iconic product, is it? Oh well.
I'm talking about the Nars Casino bronzer, the older, more mysterious sister to the iconic Laguna bronzer.
| Aaaaaahh a fingerprint!!! My neatnik nature is dismayed. |
Let's move on to the product itself. It is a slightly warm toned, medium-dark bronzer. Contrary to the claims, it is not matte. What my camera failed to pick up, but were present in the bronzer, was tiny flecks of gold. No, not like disco-ball glitter, but the quiet, subdued kind that works to produce a soft sheen on the face.
If the Nars Casino bronzer were a girl, she'd be wearing a little black dress and pearls, but she'd have leopard-print underwear beneath it. Something, you understand, to break from the stiffness of it all. That's kind of how the gold flecks are in the bronzer. Something unexpected, but when you encounter it, you're intrigued, and then you find that it... works.
The powder is soft, and finely milled. It's very satiny to the touch, and as for the pigmentation... well, I'd say it shows up on me, but it does need to be layered to get any discernable effect. So it's a good thing to have if, like me, you're heavy handed, as it won't let you overdo it on a single try. (For my paler peeps, you'll have to use a lighter hand - this will be quite pigmented for you!)
Now, on to my grouchiness with this. Personally, I don't like this as a contour. It doesn't work for me. The gold flecks work extremely well in adding a glow to my face, and the color is sufficiently warm toned to use to add some warmth to my face, but it looks odd when I try to use it as a contour.
| Look at the shiny gold flecks! So pretty. |
| Here it looks quite matte, but don't be fooled! |
It's best applied with a fluffy brush (for lighter skins) and a medium-dense brush (for deeper skins). This product blends very easily, so even if you over apply a little bit, you can blend it out without much fuss.
To summarize - I like this product. I think it's a great bronzer, especially for deeper skins. I think it looks fantastic on tanned skins, the golden flecks make your skin look truly sun kissed. I use it on the perimeter of my face, and even on my cheeks (under some blush) to really emphasize that sun-kissed-ness.
But... I was really hoping for a product I could use as a bronzer and a contour. This won't work as a contour. Even if you managed to buff the gold flecks out, I don't think it would look quite right. Besides, part of the product's appeal is the fact that those teensy little flecks make you look like a sun goddess.
Nars Laguna Vs Casino Bronzer Duo
This isn't my favorite product, but nevertheless, it's still an excellent product, and if you're looking for one heckuva bronzer, I won't keep you away from this! (Let me also interject here that I will still get plenty of use out of this!)Nars Laguna Vs Casino
BGMM Rating: A