I am so in love with this product I went back for the lighter (and better match to my Winter/Spring skin) shade in Martinique!
NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer in Martinique
Martinique (which is an island in the Caribbean and yes I was geeky enough to look it up) is described by NARS as a medium-dark with red undertones. If you wear NARS Sheer Matte/Glow in Cadiz or New Guinea, or NW40 – NW45 in MAC foundations or Make Up For Ever Velvet Mat+ in 70 – 75, this shade is a good color match.
If you’ve read through my review of NARS Tinted Moisturizer in the Polynesia shade, you know how impressed I am with this product. While I loved Polynesia, it really is too dark for my Winter skin (though it did give me a gorgeous summer bronzed look!). After a trip to my local Sephora where they’d just gotten these in stock, one of the sales associates picked out Martinique for me straight away. I took a sample home and was so impressed how well this shade matched my skin that I bought the full size.
For reference, Seychelles was too yellow in tone though the shade did match and Malaga was also very yellow and obviously too light for me. Cuba was also too light. Also while these colors were too light, the yellow tones were more apparent and the color didn’t look ‘ashy’ on me–just an undertone mismatch.
So let’s get to some picspam of NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer in Martinique!
Back of the container with sunscreen active ingredients and usual cosmetics warnings
NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer in Martinique, swatched on NW43 skin (no flash/HDR)
Martinique swatched on NW43 skin w/flash
Martinique swatched w/o flash (overhead light)
By now you’re probably wondering how Martinique compares to Polynesia and of course, I’ve got you covered there. Polynesia is more of a dark chocolate as compared to the milk chocolate color of Martinique. The picspam speaks for itself.
Side by side comparison of NARS Pure Radiant in Martinique & Polynesia
Swatches of NARS tinted moisturizer on NW43 skin from left: Martinique, Polynesia (w/ flash)
I mixed Martinique with Polynesia and got the PERFECT shade!
From left: Make Up For Ever Velvet Mat+ in #75, NARS Pure Radiant in Martinique, NARS Sheer Matte in New Guinea
I’ve had Polynesia for about a month and Martinique for about two weeks and my impression of this product has only gotten better. I’ve noticed (and other people have too) how my skin is improving with the consistent use of this product. A few acne scars that I had been covering up with concealer have begun to fade noticeably and I’ve got this nice glow going on! Another added benefit is this product has no artificial fragrance and neither is the natural fragrance overpowering.
NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer is now available at NARSCosmetics.com, Sephora.com and Sephora stores, and of course at Nordstrom.com and Nordstrom stores.
NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer in Martinique - Swatches & Ingredient information
NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizers in Martinique & Polynesia
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Thanks for this comparison. I just grabbed Polynesia this morning. I wore it all day and really liked it, but also think it might be a tad too dark for me (I wear NW 43 in Studio Fix & NC50 in Studio Tech). I think I might grab Martinique so I can mix the colors.
I purchased this in Martinique and I love it. I’m an NW43 and it looks awesome, my only complaint is I tend to get oily. I have not been setting it with a powder as I like the dewy finish, but headed in to hour twelve of work, I could have fried an egg on my face, but hey I chose to skip the powder!!
Glad it’s working for you! If you want to keep somewhat of a dewy look, try a translucent setting powder like Make Up For Ever HD powder.
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