Next to nothing sounds like my approach to cat naps.
Hey, man! When I want to take a nap, it’s pants off, window cracked open, and then I peace out! Like, instantly.
Connor Claire does it too. She’ll pull off her pants in her pack ‘n’ play, and bam! — she’s asleep in 5 seconds.
Seriously, try it sometime. De-pants, then nap. It’s totally a thing. 🙂
A new sheer foundation from MAC
Next to Nothing is also the name of MAC’s new sheer liquid foundation, which really does feel like you’re wearing next to nothing. It’s a barely-there whisper of opalescence in a 1.2-oz. glass bottle with a pump, and it’s $31. Nine shades are coming to the permanent line, along with a line of Next to Nothing Pressed Powders and two synthetic fan brushes, starting April 6th.
I think of Next to Nothing as almost like a liquid CC or a BB cream. It blurs my pores and covers juuust enough of my freckles to have a place in my arsenal.
Along the MAC family spectrum of sheer foundations, it sits about halfway between Face and Body (which is sheerer and doesn’t blur my pores as well) and MAC Studio Waterweight (which has fuller coverage and a matte-er (more matte?) finish.
If you like Face and Body but wish it was better at blurring pores, you should totes give Next to Nothing a try.
Next to Nothing is very much my style. Very “less is more,” but still, it’s there when you need a little help. It doesn’t look obvious, which is my main skin M.O. every second of every day. NO JOKE!
I mostly wear Medium Plus (I’m an NC42), but Medium Dark works pretty well for me, too.
It evens everything out but doesn’t create an impenetrable full-coverage mask. I can still see some of the freckles on my upper cheekbones, nose and mouth and ever-so-slight color variation in the red areas on my cheeks.
Because of that, when I’m going to take pics and post them in HD for my cat to scrutinize, I’ll add a layer of concealer (Make Up For Ever HD is my fave at the moment), but I won’t go that extra step for regular life.
Great for dry skin
My skin is usually dry on my cheeks, nose, chin, jaw and around the corners of my mouth, but it’s pretty oily on my forehead. Next to Nothing handles the dry parts like a dream. It doesn’t settle or catch on any flakes, and I think it gets better on the dry areas as the day goes on.
My forehead, on the other hand, looks a little like the La Brea Tar Pits by the end of the day (read: oily), so its ability to control oil is minimal.
It doesn’t break up or anything, but it definitely doesn’t absorb oil as well as MAC Waterweight or Face and Body.
I don’t mind when my skin looks a little dewy at the end of the day, but it could be problematic if you have extremely oily skin.
I hope you like orange…
Because these shades go slightly orange on me.
Not like Oompa-Loompas or anything, but I’m just saying. Thankfully, these are also pretty sheer, so it’s not jarring. Like, there isn’t an orange line of foundation around my face where the foundation stops and starts.
Fine lines
One last thing to note: I have a little wrinkle action when I smile, and I noticed late yesterday afternoon that my foundation had settled in those areas, so if you have fine lines, that could be an issue.
What’s the verdict on Next to Nothing Foundation?
I think it’s a lovely sheer foundation for minimal coverage. It’s easy to apply with your fingers, but MAC is also releasing a couple of synthetic fan brushes to go with the collection. Either way, you won’t have to do intense blending.
I like it a lot and highly recommend it if you just want to even out your skin tone and slightly blur your pores.
If, however, you want full-on glam and opaque coverage, this won’t do it for you. And it might lean orange and settle into your fine lines, depending on your skin.
Quick thoughts on the brushes and pressed powders in the collection
There are also two brushes in the collection — the 141 Synthetic Face Fan Brush (the one with shorter bristles) for $35, and the 140 Synthetic Full Fan Brush for $24.
I like the 141 for the foundation and the 140 for the powders, but you can also use your fingers for the foundation and a regular face brush for the powders.
The brushes do make it a little easier to create elegant, natural coverage that looks super blended, but the difference between using them and just using my fingers doesn’t blow my mind. If you’re crushing hard on the products, though, the brushes might be worth the investment.
The collection also includes a line of pressed powders called the Next to Nothing Pressed Powders, available in nine shades for $27 each.
I’ve tried them in Medium, which, granted, is probably a little light for my skin tone, but from that I think I can still say that I prefer MAC Mineralize Skinfinish.
These have an almost creamy consistency, which I love, and they don’t make my dry spots look drier or break up as the day goes on, but I think they also look a little more obvious on the skin than Mineralize Skinfinish.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Nah, Waterweight was barely enough coverage for me and not as matte as I would have liked it to be, so that one for sure is not for me. A pant-less nap on the other hand… Yes!
Interesting and that’s a launch I’d love to check out! I wore face and body for my wedding and love it, but it doesn’t make me oily and that’s the last thing I want. I don’t set with powder always so oil absorbing properties are important to me. For that reason I think I’ll pass but worth checking out at least. Makes me think how amazing face and body is ?
Eleni x
Face and Body is amazing!
I’ve been eyeing this foundation since I saw a tease about it on Instagram a few weeks ago. I love my Face and Body during the summer, as it holds up my oils somewhat. I was hoping this Next to Nothing was a bump up, but the orange tones scare me lol… I’ll still go test it in stores 🙂 I appreciate your review Karen!
Karen, you do realise that here in the UK ‘pants’ means ‘panties/knickers’??
Nope, but that’s hilarious! LOL I definitely have my knickers on. Pants off though!
Thought you’d like to know that for future reference! Next time you say something about pants you can put “and for my UK readers I mean trousers/jeans!”
This reminds me of when I was in London and I kept asking people where the nearest movie theater was, and nobody understood what I meant! Finally someone realized that what I was trying to say was the cinema!
I love Face and Body! This sounds like a definite pass for me I’m afraid. I’m a gal who needs some major oil control! Hilarious on the pants thing-I live in the North East of England, though I’m from Scotland – the north east is the only place in the U.K. where USA pants = UK pants! Everywhere else pants=panties! Took a bit of getting used to!
Any chance you can do a video comparison of this vs water weight?
I’m a nude napper and sleeper since my early teens. I highly recommend it. I was on board here until I heard orange 🙁
Yay for pants-less naps!!! I do it and so does my two year old but I think that’s because he is always warm. My sis-in-law finds it weird but I think she is weird for laying on her bed wearing pants that she had on while riding public transportation.
Huh, I need to think about this, even after looking at videos and reviews I can’t decide. I love face and body, I like waterweight (but don’t love), my current love is Josie Maran vibrancy foundation, so I do think this might be a great match, but then I go “do I need more sheer foundations” So I dunno yet. If it had SPF I’d do it for sure. I’m also not 100% sure if I need the lightest or next to lightest shade.
Your posts are always some of the most informative posts… however, PLEASE PLEASE start adding the ingredients, especially of foundations!! I promise you, you will gain for followers if you do. People really care what is in the products and will greatly appreciate either a picture of the ingredients list on the box or just a list of them. Bloggers NEVER post ingredients and I really wish they did!! However, I love your blog and have for years I’m just giving a tiny bit of advice 🙂 XO
Super late comment here but I HIGHLY recommend layering the Mac Next to Nothing with the Diorskin Nude Air Serum. It’s magic! I did that today and it looked absolutely beautiful on my skin, like I woke up flawless.
Hi Karen!
Thanks for the review. Which concealer you are using? Hmmm. I have the medium plus shade of this one but wondering what undereye concealer would blend in perfectly. Thanks!