Comparison: NARS Douceur vs NARS Laguna vs NARS Madly

Today I have comparison swatches of my three favorite NARS cheek products - Douceur blush (sadly discontinued), Laguna bronzer, and Madly blush. All three are beautiful nude cheek colors, so let's take a look at the similarities and differences.

NARS blushes retail for $30 for .16 oz and the bronzers retail for $39 for .28 oz. I bought all of these at Sephora with my own money.

L to R: NARS Douceur blush, Laguna bronzer, & Madly blush in indirect natural light 

L to R: NARS Douceur blush, Laguna bronzer, & Madly blush in direct evening light

Products

• NARS Douceur blush - sadly discontinued nude taupe rosy plum matte blush, I have a full review of Douceur here
• NARS Laguna bronzer - permanent warm toned tan bronzer with satin finish gold pearl, I have comparisons of Laguna to other bronzers here
• NARS Madly blush - permanent bronze warm toned muted pink with shimmer

I enjoy the formula of these - NARS cheek products are cult classics for a reason. Each of them applies easily and wears well.

Swatches

All of the swatches shown are on bare, unprimed skin and were taken in natural outdoor light. The left swatch is concentrated to show color, and the right swatch is blended with a brush to more closely resemble how the product could be worn on the skin.

As you can see in the swatch pictures, the lighting makes a big difference. I wanted to show Douceur, Laguna, and Madly in natural indirect light and in direct evening light to show the difference in color and texture between the three products. Madly is the most shimmery of the three, but the shimmer is not garish. Compared to a Milani baked blush, Madly's shimmer is refined, but Laguna's shimmer looks like a pearl satin instead. Douceur is perfectly matte, but never looks flat on the skin.

Douceur is more pink than Laguna, more rosy plum than Madly, and more taupe than tan by comparison to both. Laguna is a classic golden bronze and shows up less warm and less pink on the cheeks than Madly. Madly is a difficult color to classify, but is more brown, lighter, and earthier than Douceur, and more pink, warm, and pigmented than Laguna. Of the three, Douceur is the least muted, but all have a very natural effect.

I see Douceur as a classic nude blush and Laguna as a classic golden tan bronzer, with Madly in between a bronzer and a blush shade. Often, when I wear Madly, I place it similar to my bronzer placement and use it as a combo blush and bronzer. I do wish Madly was less shimmery - I would enjoy the product more in a matte formulation.

Overall, I don't think Douceur, Madly, or Laguna are dupes for each other. Madly is a nice bridge between Douceur and Laguna, but all three have a different impact when worn.