The powder goes on after primer, foundation and concealer. Sweep it over the face with the #13 Powder Brush, then press and roll it into the spots that need more hold with a puff or the #15 Precision Powder Brush.
It’s a translucent powder sold loose and pressed, and the four core shades run from Crystal (very light to light) to Sable (deep to very deep).
Retailer listings don’t agree on the sweeping tool. Some name a #13 and others a #10 Powder Brush, while NARS’s own product pages use the #13.
Pressed powder needs one extra step the first time you use it. Swirl the brush several times over the surface to soften it.
How to Apply NARS Light Reflecting Setting Powder Step by Step
The powder goes on last. Once primer, foundation and concealer are down, use a large powder brush to sweep it across the face, then press and roll it into the areas that need extra hold.
NARS publishes a 4-step routine on its own how-to page, and the powder is step four. Here is that sequence expanded for a full face:
- Prime with Smooth & Protect Primer, which NARS uses to smooth the skin and give foundation a base.
- Apply foundation. The brand pairs the powder with Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation for full coverage.
- Concealer comes next, and NARS’s Radiant Creamy Concealer goes on before any powder touches the skin.
- Dip the brush, then tap off the excess so nothing lands in a clump.
- Sweep with the #13 Powder Brush in circular motions, starting at the center of the face and working outward.
- Go over creasing or shiny spots by pressing and rolling with a powder puff or the #15 Precision Powder Brush.
Everything after the primer sits on that first layer, so it pays to get your primer application right before you reach for the powder.
A Bloomingdale’s listing for the loose powder treats coverage as a matter of pressure and layers. A light hand and blended edges give a natural look, and a heavier hand that layers the product gives more coverage.
Basic setting powder technique carries over from any formula. The press-and-roll finish is the part that’s particular to this one.
Which Brush or Puff Works Best?
NARS lists the #13 Powder Brush for sweeping, and either a powder puff or the #15 Precision Powder Brush for pressing.
- The #13 is a large, tapered synthetic brush that buffs or dusts powder across the face and decollete, or presses it in to set makeup (NARS).
- The #15 is a small tapered brush with sheer to medium coverage, made for small areas like the bridge of the nose (Sephora US listing).
- A powder puff handles the press-and-roll, and parfumdreams is a fan of it for dabbing loose powder onto the forehead, nose and chin.
Why listings disagree on #13 and #10
Some UK retailers, including Sephora UK and Feelunique, tell buyers to swirl a #10 Powder Brush into the pressed powder. NARS’s own US, Canadian and Irish pages name the #13.
The UK and EU NARS pages for the #13 sit at web addresses that read “10-powder-brush”. That points to one brush that was renumbered rather than two different tools, though NARS doesn’t say so on the page.
If a listing names the #10, a large tapered brush shaped like the #13 is the safe match (as of October 2026).
Keeping the tools clean
NARS’s advice for its brushes is a little gentle soap, rinsing until the water runs clear, keeping the handle dry, and drying them flat or upside down. A full guide to washing makeup brushes covers the same routine in more detail.
Puffs hold old powder in the fabric. Cleaning powder puffs on a regular schedule matters as much as washing the brushes.
Loose or Pressed: How the Application Differs
Forum users on Beautylish say the finish is the same in both formats. Handling is where they split. Loose powder goes on faster and is easier to overdo, while pressed powder needs a softening swirl on first use.
| Feature | Loose | Pressed |
|---|---|---|
| Pack size | 11 g (0.38 oz) | 7 g or 10 g, by retailer |
| Shades | 4 | 4 or 6, by market |
| First use | Dip, tap off excess | Swirl brush several times to soften |
| Packaging | Mesh sifter, dual closure | Compact pan |
| Tools | #13 brush, puff or #15 | #13 (or #10) brush, puff or #15 |
Loose powder
The mesh sifter gives you control, and the dual closure keeps powder from leaking (NARS US product page). Press-and-roll and dabbing reach small areas easily.
The downside is that one Beautylish forum user calls it too easy to overdo.
Pressed powder
On first use, NARS tells you to swirl the brush multiple times over the surface to soften the powder. One forum user notes the pan barely transfers powder when swiped with a puff, which is why that swirl does real work.
It fits in a bag, and a mini travel size exists. The technique is the same as for the loose powder, meaning a swirl, a tap-off and circular motions.
Forum threads complain about scraping out the last of the product, and a Bloomingdale’s reviewer wishes the pan were round so every bit of powder could be reached.
Setting Small Areas and Using the Powder Beyond Foundation
The powder works on more than a full face. NARS lists targeted areas, lip color, eyeshadow and intense eye or cheek looks as intended uses.
Under the eyes and around the nose
Press and roll with the #15 Precision Powder Brush or a puff. NARS names the undereye area and the area around the nose specifically.
The #15 is a small tapered brush with sheer to medium coverage, which suits a spot treatment.
Lips, eyeshadow and intense looks
Setting a bold lip color with the powder is a listed use. So is layering it over smoky eyeshadow, and NARS says it softens intense eye or cheek looks too.
A dedicated guide walks through the full method for setting a bold lip with powder, and there’s another for building a smoky eye before the powder goes over it.
Sephora UK and Bloomingdale’s listings describe the pressed powder as regulating shine through the day for mid-day touch-ups. That is the brand’s pitch for carrying the compact in a bag.
How to Choose a Shade
Match the shade to your skin depth. Every shade is translucent, so the powder adds very little color of its own.
NARS publishes depth ranges for the four core shades rather than undertones:
- Crystal covers very light to light.
- Shore runs medium to medium-deep.
- Mesa is medium-deep.
- Sable goes deep to very deep.
- Fog, a pressed shade on NARS US, is light, with neutral undertones and a slight pink tone.
The four core ranges come from NARS copy as printed by John Lewis and Harvey Nichols. Fog is the one shade where NARS names an undertone.
Pebble joins Fog in the extended pressed range on the NARS US site, but the copy retrieved gives it no depth descriptor.
Depth matching follows the same logic as any base product, so the habits in a guide to matching makeup to your skin tone apply here.
Where the sources disagree on Crystal
Lyko’s product page calls Crystal a transparent powder for light to medium skin tones. NARS lists it as very light to light.
That leaves a light-to-medium skin tone with two plausible picks, Crystal and Shore. Swatch both and keep the one that disappears.
A Feelunique reviewer describes the pressed powder as white in the pan but fully transparent on skin, so the pan color tells you little.
What the Light Reflecting Complex Does on Skin
NARS says the Light Reflecting Complex changes how light bounces off the skin, which creates a soft-focus effect that optically fades fine lines and wrinkles as well as pores. Photochromic Technology covers the camera side.
Photochromic Technology and flashback
NARS describes a photo-friendly hybrid formula whose powder adjusts complexion tone to the intensity of light, so skin never looks washed out.
The brand’s Canadian how-to page frames the result as no white cast and no flashback.
A 2013 review on The Non-Blonde was more cautious about photos. The blogger describes a white powder with a translucent effect on skin, and in the comments she warns that piling it on and buffing it in flattens facial depth in photographs.
Ingredients by format
| Format | Listed first | Hydration | Colorants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loose (Ulta, US) | Silica, then dimethicone | Glycerin, tocopheryl acetate | Iron oxides, mica, titanium dioxide |
| Pressed (Harvey Nichols, UK) | Synthetic fluorphlogopite (a synthetic mica) | Glycerin, tocopheryl acetate, squalene | Iron oxides, titanium dioxide |
Both lists are what the retailers print, and lists differ by market, so check the pack in your hands.
A Bloomingdale’s listing for the loose powder calls it dermatologist tested and non-comedogenic. Those are brand-side claims.
Translucent coverage
A translucent powder adds little color, so technique decides the result more than shade does. A guide to applying translucent powder covers the general method.
When the Powder Falls Short and What Goes Wrong
Anyone who wants a dead-flat matte finish, extra coverage or a baking powder will probably be happier with something else. The handling quirks sit mostly in the pressed format.
Who should pick something else
- A Beautylish forum user says people with super-oily skin, or a taste for really matte skin, tend not to like it.
- A Feelunique reviewer says it is not for baking methods.
- One Sephora reviewer prefers a matte setting powder without mica, so mica avoiders may want to look elsewhere.
- The same forum user adds that anyone who likes coverage in a powder may be disappointed.
NARS itself describes the finish two ways. Its Canadian how-to page promises an invisible, weightless-matte result, while product copy elsewhere says luminous.
If you want a flatter finish, a guide to choosing a setting powder lays out the alternatives.
Wear-time claims such as “all day” are the brand’s. The rest of the routine decides how long makeup actually lasts, which a piece on making makeup last all day covers.
Handling problems and fixes
| Problem | Reported by | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Pressed pan films over with use | Beautylish forum user | Swirl the brush to soften it |
| Last powder is hard to reach | Forum user, Bloomingdale’s reviewer | Pick the loose format |
| Pan detaches from its base | Sephora UAE reviewer | Return it to the retailer |
| Flat, over-powdered look in photos | 2013 blog review (comment thread) | Use a light hand and stop buffing in extra powder |
All four reports are user accounts, not lab tests, and one dates from 2013. Read them as patterns to watch for, not guarantees (as of October 2026).
NARS Light Reflecting Setting Powder FAQ
How do you touch up the powder at midday?
Use the pressed format. Retailer copy positions it for mid-day touch-ups because it regulates shine through the day.
Tap off the excess and press it onto shiny areas with a puff rather than sweeping a fresh layer over the whole face.
Is it suitable for dry skin?
Yes, going by the brand’s formula claims. NARS says the microfine mineral powders carry glycerin and vitamin E to guard against dryness.
The parfumdreams listing for the loose powder also places it as suitable for all skin types.
Does it work on mature skin?
NARS says the Light Reflecting Complex optically fades fine lines, wrinkles and pores. A promotional review collected by NARS says the loose powder does not settle into fine lines.
Treat that as a single user report, not a test result.
How does it differ from NARS regular Loose Powder?
They are separate products. A 2013 review on The Non-Blonde says the regular Loose Powder goes on as a sheer veil, while the Light Reflecting version can be buffed in for an airbrushed finish.
Is Light Reflecting Prismatic Powder the same product?
No. NARS lists Prismatic Powder separately as a limited-edition, pastel-shaded powder that counters a dull-looking complexion with subtle brightness.
Gold Dust Light Reflecting Setting Powder is also its own listing.
Does NARS Light Reflecting Setting Powder Hold Makeup All Day?
NARS carries an all-day claim for the powder, but it publishes no wear time for the powder alone.
The one figure on its US product pages is 16 hours, and it applies when the powder is paired with a foundation from the same Light Reflecting line (as of October 2026).
For longer wear, get the shade right first, because a wrong depth shows no matter how well the powder goes on. Keep the first layer light. Finish with a spray over the powder, since it covers the whole face, and a guide to applying setting spray covers that step.
The catch is the finish. A soft-focus translucent powder keeps skin looking like skin, so anyone who wants a flat matte hold needs a different formula.
She started writing on the site after fielding the same questions from clients and friends often enough to just write the answers down: which red won't turn orange on a warm undertone, how to keep lipstick from feathering into fine lines, why a "12-hour" formula rarely survives dinner.
Every review on the site follows the same rule she uses with paying clients: wear it first, then decide if it's worth recommending.
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