 |
| photo courtesy of http://www.stilacosmetics.com/ |
Application
It works best applied with my fingers I find as a sponge kind of just soaks it up (but I still love you, Beauty Blender!) and with a brush, I kinda face a similar problem as when I used a sponge. This foundation does set after a while so you can sort of take your time applying it.It is so smooth and erases the look of pores and redness on my face, which is all that I need for everyday wear. The smoothness and pore blurring properties might be due to the fact that it does have silicones in it, which may be a problem for some people. For me, I don't have a problem with silicone and it works wonders and evening the texture of my skin. I do have hyperpigmentation marks from post-acne and this doesn't really do anything for them.
Likes
I am most definitely a matte finish girl but the dewy finish of this foundation looks natural enough (most days) that I don't bother using a powder on top. Sometimes, i want to add a powder because I want a matte finish but this foundation has changed my dislike of dewy into something I can tolerate now.It also promises to diminish the look of fine lines and wrinkles. I don't really have any of these yet but I do tend to wrinkle my forehead a lot. The foundation doesn't settle into my forehead creases, even if I didn't use a setting powder. That's really nice since a lot of other foundations I use need to be set around my forehead or else it'll settle into my forehead creases.
Lasting power with this foundation is so-so. Around 4 hours, I see redness around my nose peeking through. I do tend to rub and touch my nose a lot throughout the day. My hyperpigmentation spots also show through a lot more, but this foundation isn't full coverage so I can understand why. It doesn't get patchy when it wears off, which is a nice bonus. I see considerable wear around hour 7. It does tend to settle in my large pores around my nose at hour 7, but that happens with every foundation I wear.
Packaging is a bit of a draw-in for me and this one was no different. I do like cute-sy packaging but sleek and sophisticated makes me feel like an adult when I use it (even though I am, technically, already an adult). The pump dispenses evenly each time, though I only use half a pump for my entire face. If I'm feeling especially fancy that day, I'll use an entire pump for my face and neck. The swirl pattern going on inside the bottle is also really pretty. Every time a friend of mine sees the bottle, she asks me what it is lol.
So my skin isn't perfect lol--but what is is new? I do have redness on my cheeks and my nose area as well as some post acne hyperpigmentation marks all over my chin and some on the sides of my cheeks. They're mostly fading pretty well so you can't really see it in this picture. So theses are my main issues when it comes to foundation needs. I have tried it without powder and I feel the need to blot like, almost immediately because I love my completely matte finish. Today, I did set it with a translucent powder because I felt like having a matte finish.
As you can see, my redness is pretty much all covered up. The pictures made my face a lot pinkier than in real life.The hyperpigmentation marks on the left side of my nose is still visible but all the older ones (more faded) are no longer visible.
So this is after roughly 4 hours. As you can see, my oil has broken through and I look like an oil spill T___T Coverage is still good, though redness around my nose is starting to peek through.
This is just how everything looks like after I've re-powdered my face, using Innisfree's No-Sebum Mineral Pact.
This is how everything looks by the end of the night. As you can see, I'm not as oily as before I powdered the second time. Coverage is still really good. I did not touch up the foundation or anything; I only used translucent powder to absorb the oil.
Dislikes
This foundation also claims to hydrate and balance the skin. Now I definitely moisturize well before I apply any foundation but I find that this foundation does tend to look dry over my blemishes. My skin is sort of dry where I apply a spot treatment and this product does help those areas to look less dry but it doesn't completely get rid of the dry spots.Though it contains boron nitride and kaolin to act as oil absorbers, I find that I do need to use blotting sheets or powder throughout the day to absorb excess oil but that's with every foundation I use, even ones like the Covergirl Outlast Foundation and the Revlon Colorstay. I find that I can go two hours before the oils go crazy, without setting my makeup in the first place. Blotting sheets don't add extra product but I feel that I get oiler faster so I alternate between blottings sheets and using powder. When I set with a powder, I get roughly 4 hours before I see some shine breaking through.
Color range is okay, with 8 shades. I have a light-medium skin tone (MUFE HD Foundation in shade 120 Soft Sand) and Tone is slightly orange on me. Since the foundation is so sheer, you can't really tell that it doesn't match unless you're really close to me. During the wintertime, I hardly get any sun and so I tend to be my lightest (like a good majority of people). I think the color will match me better in the summer when I get outside more often lol. It does oxidize a bit after wearing it for a couple hours, making the foundation more obvious. Since the color was already a bit off for me, I think I noticed it sooner.
This foundation is a little bit more expensive than I'm used to paying but half a pump is enough for my entire face. My skin isn't as troubled as some people I can get away with the light coverage that this gives me yet I can layer concealer when I do have an active breakout if I need to.
Bottom Line
I'm a bit on the fence about this product. I know I raved about it a lot in my favorites and such, but now that I've had more time to look at the ingredients and its claims, I'm starting to wonder if it really is a miracle product. Don't get me wrong, I first fell in love with it because it truly looked like there was nothing on my skin, yet redness and pores, my biggest concerns, were gone. However, there are many primers, drugstore and high end, that can also achieve similar results. Since I have to use concealer with this foundation for my hyperpigmentation marks, I might as well use concealer to cover the redness. This foundation is nice if you want to streamline your morning routine but it's not a big difference in my routine. There's a lot of claims that this product makes about its Youth Revival Bio-Available Mineral Complex, which comes from the spring waters of Canada and France but water is water, it doesn't have special properties that help suspend the special minerals to increase absorption. Checking the ingredients list, there are some questionable ones, like parabens (for some people), silcones (again), mica, and titamium oxides. Nothing really stuck out to me as amazing but that may be because I haven't looked deeper into each ingredient.I recommend people trying this out if they want a buildable light-to-medium coverage foundation, natural finish, and truly undetectable foundation. It doesn't control oil as well as I thought it would nor is it the most long-lasting foundation ever. However, I think it's perfect for everyday wear, as it is easy to apply and blend, gives light to medium coverage, depending on how you build it up (I'm comfortable with light coverage for everyday purposes), and looks pretty darn close to real skin, which is important to me. If you don't want to splurge for a fancy tinted moisturizer, you're not missing out on much. If you are crazy like me and do want to spend the extra money, you can get yours at Stila and Sephora.
MWAH Musings ♥
- It's been raining like crazy lately! I haven't been able to go to the grocery store to get food--been living on ramen and canned soup for the past 4 days X___X
- I really like Raisin Bran Cereal. Some people don't like it but it reminds me of my grandma and early morning breakfasts with her.
- I went to Starbucks today and got the Caramel Flan Frappuccino--pretty amazing stuff!
*Bonus FOTD*
 |
| This was done a while ago so I can really remember everything that I used...but I for sure used Maybelline's Color Tattoo in Inked in Pink as my base, Naked 3 and Lorac Pro on the eyes (Burnout all over the lid and Taupe in the crease), and Etude House Kissful Choux Tint in 01 Red Choux on the lips |
XOXO,
MWAH ♥
•´`•.¸.» •´`•.¸.» ¸¸.•´°•´`•.¸.» •´`•.¸.» ¸¸.•´°•´`•.¸.» •´`•.¸.» ¸¸.•´°•´`•.¸.» •´`•.¸.» ¸¸.•´°•´`•.¸.» ¸¸.•´°•´`•.¸.» •´`•.¸.» ¸¸.•´°
Disclosure Statement: All products mentioned were purchased with my own money. I am not sponsored by any of the companies mentioned above and was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own. Links are not affiliate links and are provided for the readers' convenience. I cannot guarantee that the product(s) will work for you. I do not approve or endorse the products or information available on these sites. Proceed at your own risk.
No comments