For a long time I have loved the Fast Base Foundation stick from Revolution. It is generally the foundation that I use for travel and I have repurchased it on line for several years. On a recent trip to Ulta, I found out the Fast base isn’t stocked on their shelves, but another Revolution Foundation, the IRL Filter Longwear Foundation is. So I purchased it to try it out.
one pump
According to the brand page…
Drop the filter! Introducing the Revolution IRL Filter Longwear Foundation! It’s filter in a bottle! This medium to full buildable foundation has a soft focus breathable matte formula and is available in 30 shades. Enriched with niacinamide, it is oil free, shine free, creaseproof, lifeproof and smudgeproof whilst providing 16 hours wear time from day to night. Its super coverage with 20% more pigment makes it easy to build and blend the foundation depending on the coverage you desire. This foundation has been dermatologically tested and is clinically proven to be non-comodogenic, non-pore blocking, and is suitable for blemish prone skin. Housed in a luxe glass bottle with built in pump, this foundation offers precision and greater control, it is your in real life filter, what more could you want?!
I love that it is in a glass bottle. To me that always makes a foundation feel Luxe, even it if isn’t expensive, it makes it feel like it is. And this is not an expensive foundation On the Revolution site it is currently available for $9.10. (original price was in Euros which is why it is an odd looking price). I picked mine up in Ulta and I think I paid $12.It is not an expensive foundation.
it looks darker in the bathroom with just the foundation
But it looks like it is, and not just in the bottle. I have really enjoyed wearing this foundation and I am already planning to pick up a lighter shade for the cooler months.
One pump was all it took to cover my face. I do have a little redness and that took it out with a medium coverage look. I could apply a second pump’s worth of product to take it to more of a full coverage look without it looking cakey. But to be honest, even though it is buildable, I didn’t really feel the need to build it up. I was simply amazed at how good my skin looked when wearing this foundation. I think I have taken some of the best pictures of myself with it on.
full face in bright sunlight with the foundation on and blended
However, all is not perfect. The scent of the product is a bit strong. It does smell like paint. Then scent doesn’t really linger, but it is noticeable, especially if you haven’t used it for a few days. With regular use the scent seems to dissipate. If I used it every day the scent grew less and less each day. if I let it sit over the weekend and didn’t open it then Monday morning i would notice the scent was stronger. Perhaps part of that is me getting used to it, but I think that part of that is just the bottle sitting.
The pump is nice and I had no problems with clogging or sputtering. It was easy to use and is pretty easy to keep it clean. I would advocate using a pore filling primer under it if you have more mature skin, or laugh lines. Oddly I didn’t have an issue with texture or the lines around my eyes, but i have one rather deep line near my mouth that was problematic. It is always problematic. If I made sure to use a pore filling primer under this foundation, the line was less noticeable. If I didn’t then it was more noticeable.
It is my deepest facial line/wrinkle. The fine lines around my eyes weren’t a problem. I don’t know if they simply aren’t deep enough yet to cause issues. But I really only had a problem with the line by my mouth and the primer took care of that. I had the best luck with the Tatcha Silk Canvas, Elf Poreless Putty Primer and Stila’s All about the Blur, in case you are looking for primers.
I generally don’t wear my foundation for more than eight to ten hours, but in that time I didn’t have a problem with it. I didn’t find any oily spots or dry spots. After I put on my face products I do set my face with setting powder. The one day I didn’t use powder I did feel a little oilier, but I didn’t notice any actual greasy spots that i needed to touch up with my compact. I am pretty sure that it was simply a very humid day.
I would still use the setting powder with it though as I think it might lean more oily than dry. It certainly did not dry me out. It is a very breathable formula and in fact it is really easy to forget you are wearing it. and like i said earlier, my skin looked really good in the photos I took while wearing it. I was very impressed by this foundation and will certainly be using this IRL Filter Longwear Foundation more and picking up a second shade for winter.
Whenever I order makeup (or any beauty item from a makeup company) I almost always end up picking out a foundation sample if one is available. Every time. I think part of it is that for a really long time I had a foundation that I loved and purchased repeatedly and then of course it was discontinued. It was an old Becca Foundation actually. And of course now the brand is no more so, no more staple.
While I have found several I really enjoy using I haven’t gone back to the one foundation to rule them all. i just rotate through the ones I like and collect samples to try new ones. I think i am still ultimately looking for the one foundation. I have yet to find it.
What i have found are some good foundations, some bad foundations and a lot of mediocre ones. I have found some foundations that apply well with a brush but not with a sponge and a few that are the other way around. I have found some that don’t do well on their own but paired with the right primer are fantastic. I’ve even found a few that I can only wear in the summer and a few I can only wear in the depths of winter.
And while testing out a foundation is a bit like going on a blind date, trying out foundation samples is a bit more like speed dating. You have one shot to see if this formula is something you might want to actually have dinner with. Or purchase to wear. I often find myself wishing there was an in between. Something between foil packet speed dating and full bottle relationship.
If any makeup companies are actually reading this, might I suggest the two week long trial sized bottle. It’s enough to try a few dates without committing to a relationship.
Admittedly I love trial sized skincare. I rarely ever purchase moisturizer I haven’t tried in a sample size. I would love to be able to do that with foundations.
But today we are looking at three foil packets of foundations. Each one gave me one day of wear. And to get enough to cover my face I had to blend a couple of shades together. So shades are all over the place actually. I did identify the shade that matched me when I first opened the packets but with the blending it is not what ended up on my face.
24-hour, oil-free foundation with full coverage and a matte finish. Combines the longwearing coverage of a foundation with the transforming power of a serum to help visibly improve skin instantly and over time. So it’s long wear with skincare. Built with 3 serum technology, a powerhouse blend of good-for-skin ingredients: Clinique’s dark spot-fighting molecule UP302+ vitamin C, salicylic acid, and hyaluronic acid. Clinically proven to leave bare skin looking even better—smoother and more even. SPF 25 mineral sunscreens help protect skin from the look of discoloration. In 34 shades and a non-oxidizing formula for a perfect match that lasts throughout the day. Finish: Matte, Coverage: Full, buildable-coverage, Key Ingredients: Vitamin C, salicylic acid, hyaluronic acid, mineral SPF 25, Skin Type: Combination Oily, Oily
My skin type is in the Combination/normal range. In the summer I lean towards oily and in the winter I lean towards dry but never actually reach the oily or dry skin levels. It means there are some products, especially foundations, that are very seasonal for me. As spring has spring I am in the transitional stage of my skin where it is pretty well balanced. I am a little more oily in my t-zone but over all i am in that weird range that occurs for a few weeks in the spring and again in the fall where i am neither oily nor dry.
Over the course of these three foundations I used the same face products. They ae all products that i can use at any time of the year and they work well for me. As this was my first foundation test, I didn’t realize that I left off setting powder until I reached the second foundation sample packet and it wasn’t in the collected products makeup bag. That is because for me setting powder would have turned my face dry as a bone. With no setting powder I could wear this foundation. I liked the way it looked and the way it wore. I tend to write my daily makeup posts a little after lunch so that I can see how everything wears for at least half a day. By the time I write about the products I am wearing I have had them on for at least five hours. At that time, the foundation still looked good. It blended well into the skin and it was matte without being overly matte.
Since I had to combine packets to get enough product to wear I can’t speak to the buildability of it. I can say that towards the end of my day I was reaching for my facial mist a little bit more often and at the end of the day I was dry. My skin hadn’t dried out but as much as I liked this i knew it was not a product I could wear day in and day out. And I think that is the salicylic acid. It is great for drying up excess oil in your skin and i will turn to it in the summertime more than any other time, but even then I can only use salicylic based products for two or three days in a row before my skin starts feeling dry. The foundation looked lovely and performed well in the morning. It is simply designed for someone with more oily skin than i have. It is something i could use in a pinch, but only for a day or two. If you have dry skin you will want to avoid this foundation. If you have oily skin, you might want to give this Clinique Even Better Clinical Serum Foundation a go. It looks good and works well with oily skin. It just isn’t going to be for me.
valentino
Next up, we have the Very Valentino 24 hour wear Liquid Foundation with SPF 26. I am not sure why it is SPF 26 as that seems like an odd number to choose, but I found no reasons to explain it. While the Clinique also had SPF I didn’t feel it. With the Valentino I felt the sunscreen in the foundation. It had that slightly waxy oily feel that sunscreen infused foundations can get sometimes. It is what made me realize that there was no setting powder in my makeup bag actually. This was a foundation that needed a setting powder.
But first, the stats…
Very Light, Very Lasting, Very Valentino Foundation. This semi-matte finish perfectly balances three foundation dreams: buildable coverage, breathable and lightweight texture, and long-lasting 24-hour wear. Available in 40 shades, made for all skin tones. Very Valentino foundation features exclusive Light-Lasting™ Technology to deliver buildable, medium coverage with a comfortable, breathable feel. Formulated with an extra-light powder that can absorb up to 3 times its own weight, the formula allows for a perfect, hydrated, semi-matte foundation finish that lasts all day long. Available in 40 inclusive shades, made for all skin tones. The foundation range was developed in partnership with extensive research on 5,000 women in eight countries across every continent. To ensure perfect coverage and feel, our formula is tailored to each skin tone, ensuring the most perfect finish from the lightest to deepest foundation shade.
As it was a packet, I only had one day of wear with it. Since it is supposed to be 24 hr wear I tried to wear it as long as I could. I had it on for eleven hours and had absolutely no problems with it. the semi-matte finish was fantastic. I loved the way it looked. Again, I had to combine shades to cover my face, so I can’t speak to the buildability, but basic coverage looked beautiful. The issue is that it made me feel slightly greasy. I think part of that was the SPF in the product. Part of that may be that it was designed for someone with drier skin than me.
If you have oily skin then i would definitely suggest giving this a pass. I want to say that if you had skin that was drier than mine you might want to give it a try, but thee is still the sunscreen issue. The product had that ‘I have sunscreen mixed in’ feel to it. To me that read as greasy feeling when i wore it. If you have dry skin that might still be an issue but then again it might not. I would suggest sampling it before purchasing to see how you feel about it. For me, the feel made this Very Valentino 24 hr wear Liquid Foundation with spf 26 a pass. which is a shame because it looked good and performed well. I just know that because of the feel I would just find reasons not to reach for it.
Achieve a radiant, natural-looking makeup look with the iconic LUMINOUS SILK foundation by Armani Beauty.
LUMINOUS SILK is a multi-award-winning liquid foundation with a silky, lightweight texture that delivers all-day buildable medium coverage with a satin glow finish for naturally flawless-looking skin and a no-makeup makeup look. This oil-free foundation is formulated with exclusive Micro–fil & trade technology, a patented process that allows the pigments to lay flat on the skin’s surface for a seamless application and a natural, second-skin effect. A tried-and-true makeup artist and celebrity favorite, this hydrating foundation helps sculpt and brighten skin, improve skin texture, and blur imperfections, all while delivering a fresh, long-lasting, lit-from-within glow. Available in up to 40 shades to match every unique skin tone. Suitable for all skin types
Again I had to combine shades to get enough product for application so while I am sure i can find my appropriate shade within their 40 shades, the one I am wearing is a mash up of about three.
Of the foundation samples I tried this is the only one that wasn’t really a matte finish. Normally I go for matte finishes, but for this I am willing to make an exception. The foundation went on like, well silk. if silk melted into the skin and made my skin look better than it was. There is a slight luminosity to the foundation. I used a matte Primer (Tatcha Silk Canvas) underneath and the two paired beautifully. I think because I am okay with a little glow but lean more into matte than I do dewy I would stick to matte primers when using this foundation.
And oh yes, I would use this again. It did not settle into my fine lines and it made my skin look great. it felt weightless and was neither too greasy or two drying. I have to say i feel a bit like Goldilocks. the first foundation was too dry, the second foundation too oily but the third foundation was just right.
Seriously, this had everything I liked about a foundation and it was easy to see why it won awards. I think of the three it was also the most expensive. And while price doesn’t always equate to value, from what I tried with this sample, this foundation might actually be worth the price. In my spring clear out, I will be going through the foundation drawer and marking the foundations with low product out for using up. I have several foundations I need to use up before I actually purchase another one. However when I do, I believe this Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation will be on my list. At the moment their Velvet Liquid lipstick is already on my products I really want list. I had a few samples of that a while back and it just performed fantastically well. Those are the only two products I have tried from the Giorgio Armani beauty and both have immediately made my list. It does make me want to take more of a look at the brand. But for now, this Luminous Silk Foundation was a clear winner and a product i will try more of in the future.
For the last couple of weeks I have been using the NYX Professional Makeup Can’t Stop Won’t Stop Full Coverage Foundation. I picked it up as I was getting ready for summer. I adore the NYX bare With Me Skin Veil for summer wear. Unfortunately when I went to the store they did not have it, but they did have this foundation which I had never seen before so I thought I’d try it out. It has been a while since I tried any new (or at least new to me) NYX products. I loved the butter glosses for a long time and still pick them up on occasion, but mostly I tend to pick up the bare with me, wear it all summer and then forget about NYX until the spring. Which I know I shouldn’t do, they have other great products.
I tend to do that with brands though, find the one or two things I like from them and then forget about the brand until I need to restock that one item. It is something I am trying to change and so I have been branching out with a lot of different brands lately. With NYX, and this foundation, I am really glad I did.
Before we get into the foundation, I do want to say a little something about shade. I picked up a shade that is too light for me. You will be able to see it in the photos. Especially in full sunlight. Part of that is because I bought it when my skin was still winter pale and then spent the last few weeks more and more outside. The second reason is that I went by the color on the side of the bottle. When you look at the bottom of the bottle it is a much more accurate gage of the color of the foundation,. so if looking to buy, look at the bottom of the glass bottle to find your shade. The shade doesn’t really oxidize so double check the bottom. They do have 25 different shades so there should be plenty of shades to go around.
two pumps
So what should we expect from this foundation?
Shockingly lightweight, waterproof and pigmented AF, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop Full Coverage Foundation is our full coverage classic foundation that hustles as hard as you do. This comfy, long-wearing waterproof liquid comes in a wide range of flattering tones that don’t transfer. Every creamy liquid shade glides on smooth, delivering matte coverage that stays true up to 24 hours. This over achiever also works to control shine and mattify your complexion all-day long. This classic foundation is noncomedogenic and suitable for normal, oily, combination, and sensitive skin types.
Not a bad list of benefits for a foundation. I used two pumps and had some left over product. One pump was just not quite enough to cover unless I wanted to sheer it out. There were some days I did want to sheer it out and then one pump worked beautifully. For everyday wear I went two pumps and just excepted there would be a little waste.
For me I dispense it onto my hand and then dot it onto my face, using a makeup brush to blend it out. This is a foundation that works well with that approach. It blends out well, covers amazingly well and feels absolutely weightless. It did settle a little bit into the fine lines around my mouth unless I used a pore filling primer. If I did I had no problems. I did not use a pore filling primer for these photos so you can judge for your self with the settling. It didn’t settle much and where it settled after application was where it stayed the entire length of time I wore it. If I used a pore filling primer it wasn’t a concern.
dotted application
I did not test it out for the full 24 hours because in my world something truly calamitous has to happen if I am wearing my makeup for that long. I did push it to 10 hours which is really as long as I ever wear makeup. It looked great the entire time.
It worked well with any product I layered on top of it, but it was slightly more difficult to work with when I used a gripping primer like the Milk Makeup Hydro Grip. That was the only real product I had issues with. I think because it is such a long wearing foundation that it has it’s own gripping ingredients and so the gripping primer jus made it not want to blend out very well. I would stick with pore filling, mostly because it helps with my fine line blurring, but also because it just works well with the foundation.
To be honest I had no issues with this foundation other than my picking the wrong shade. I went out into the warmer weather and it didn’t melt off me (although it only got up to 80F so it isn’t a real summer test. That will happen towards the end of June when we start getting brain melting triple digits. And by then I will have switched to BB cream and tinted moisturizers. However, I did get hot and sticky and there was no reaction from my skin. No breakouts or clogged pores.
bare face on left, just foundation, no porefilling primer, on right
I had no transfer problems and the coverage was great. It is water proof so you can’t really use a micellar water cleanser and you are going to want to use a makeup remover before you use a regular face wash. If you don’t the cleanser will more or less take off the products on top of the foundation and a little of the foundation and then your toner pads will mock you as they turn foundation tan. I used a cleansing balm to take off the makeup and then used the cleanser to wash my actual skin instead of the makeup and my toner pads were just the coup de grace. Just remember it is waterproof and you will be fine.
This was an impulse purchase because I found I only bought the same things from NYX and the things I bought (or one of them anyway) wasn’t around. I was very pleased with this foundation. I will probably save the rest of this bottle for fall and then purchase a darker shade for summer, but over all it was a spectacular success.
This is one of those foundations that gave me a bit of a run during my trial. I received this bottle in my Boxycharm premium and tried it out with the other makeup that arrived in the subscription box. I really enjoyed the first use. And then I looked at the bottom of the container and saw the expiration date. It was written 1/8/2023. As the subscription box didn’t arrive until mid January, I thought that Boxy sent an expired foundation. I sent in a message and they responded right away with an e-mail letting me know that instead of month first it was written month second so the foundation actually doesn’t expire until August 1st, 2023.
Which was a relief. Foundation is one of those products that is by definition put all over the face and so I really pay attention to those expiration dates. Actually foundation and all eye products are really expiration dates I don’t ever mess around with.
So relieved that it was not expired, I went ahead with my foundation test of this HIDE Foundation. According to the product page…
Achieve the perfect natural look with this soft matte foundation that easily builds to medium – full coverage. The custom oil-free formula is made to resist sweat and won’t clog your pores.
They also claim that this is medium to full coverage and is a buildable formula. Although listed as a premium foundation it retails for $30. Which is a pretty reasonable price. (One Foundation I consider premium, and well worth the price, is the Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation which retails for $96 if you are looking for a comparison).
The container feels like cheap plastic. It is square and white with black lettering. It looks nice but it doesn’t look expensive. However you should never judge a book by it’s cover, or a foundation by it’s packaging. This foundation has a pump and I generally found that two pumps would give me enough product to cover my face. This shade is my perfect shade. It blends beautifully and gave great coverage. I used a brush as an applicator and then went back in with a damp makeup sponge to smooth out any brush strokes.
Like the description claims, it gives a soft matte finish. It is also a long wearing foundation. The longest I had it on was ten hours and it wore beautifully throughout. Personally it is really rare for me to be in makeup longer than ten hours. So this duration was perfect for me. Start to finish it looked good.
There are a couple of considerations though. The first is fine lines. If you don’t use a primer, it will emphasize those fine lines. Interestingly enough if I wore the foundation without a primer the lines were emphasized but they didn’t get worse throughout the day. So if I could keep the foundation from seeping into the fine lines during application then I was good all day. This foundation worked best with a pore filling primer such as the Tatcha Silk Canvas Primer or the Elf Poreless Putty Primer. Those were the two I had the best luck with when using this primer. The pore filling nature of both of them (along with the added Tatcha skin care benefits) worked really well.
It also helps if your skin is hydrated before applying this foundation as that helps keep the foundation from filling those fine lines. For me, part of that is that my skin is a bit more dry in the winter and we have had the central heat running more often during my trial of this foundation.
The only other issue I had with this foundation was when i tried to build it up. One application (2 pumps worth of product) gave me absolutely beautiful medium coverage application. When I tried to build it up closer to full coverage, it tended to look heavier. With the medium coverage it was light and beautiful and felt like I was wearing nothing at all. Even though it didn’t feel any heavier with more product, it looked heavier. Personally medium coverage is what I go for so I am perfectly fine with this. I feel no need to build it up to full coverage. If you want full coverage, it is going to look a little heavy.
Over all I really enjoyed this foundation. I will happily use the rest of this bottle and when it is out (hopefully before August) I will certainly consider purchasing a replacement bottle of this HIDE Invisible Oil Free Foundation.
For the last few years my in person shopping has dwindled considerably. Truth be told I wasn’t doing a lot of in person shopping, but when the would went a little crazy, I limited myself to groceries and the occasional Target run. Everything else was more or less done on line. And there it more or less stayed.
While there is nothing wrong with that I do miss strolling through the drug store and getting inspired or simply interested in what is there. Recently I found myself in a drug store and spent a little while strolling and reveling in just seeing the products available. While I could have easily filled a basket with things I wanted to try, I did attempt to limit myself (my budget appreciates my lack of routine drug store visits even if I miss them.).
It is in essence, a cream foundation with sunscreen mixed in. For me SPF 20 isn’t enough and I do have my regular sunscreen layered with my skincare prior to applying makeup so I wouldn’t wear this on it’s own and expect it to provide me with the sun protection my skin needs. However I don’t mind a little bit of makeup back up to my skincare or my sunscreen.
As you can see in the package the product comes with a little foam applicator. I’ll be honest, I tried to use it but I have never had any luck with those little foam rectangle applicators so I rolled in a makeup sponge. While I typically prefer a makeup sponge with an angle, this foundation worked best with just your typical rounded makeup sponge. The one I used was actually the Luxie Makeuep sponge (the set is actually on sale at the moment if you are looking to stock up on some good quality makeup sponges). It had a good solid density to the sponge. There were a couple that were just too light and squishy to work well. While I really liked the Luxie sponge for this, look for a firmer makeup sponge as it makes application a lot easier.
half foundation, half not, this was a no primer try on and you can see why it needs a primer
Normally I also use a makeup brush and then touch up with the makeup sponge but this is not a brush friendly formula. I’ll go into that a little bit more in a moment, but essentially you are going to want a firm makeup sponge with this foundation.
The Aqua Smooth applied really well actually. I wouldn’t say it turned from a solid into a liquid like an alchemical trick, but the cream formula did melt into the skin for really good coverage. If used without a primer, it did tend to sink into the fine lines and pores. I definitely needed a primer underneath.
Interestingly, which primer I used mattered a lot with this foundation. I don’t know if it was the sunscreen or the potential solid to liquid formula, but if I didn’t use a gripping primer, the foundation never really settled. It continued to be movable. I don’t mean that it went off to lunch on it’s own leaving me bare faced, but when I went in with powdered products using brushes to apply them, the brushes for powder products would always streak the foundation and lave brush marks. Going back in with a sponge fixed them,. but it was still there. It also meant I needed brighter powder products because the sponge always took off a little bit of the powder.
just the full face of foundation
I had better luck with cream face products, but even with a finger application, the foundation could move a bit and leave some spots of less coverage.
All of this was easily remedied by a gripping primer. I went with the Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer, because let’s face it if the Milk Makeup Hydro grip can’t grip it, it isn’t staying in place. With the gripping primer underneath it stayed beautifully. I still preferred to use cream products over it as the cream products sort of melted into the foundation to give a better natural sort of look.
this isn’t a foundation I would wear for a formal and really dramatic look. This is the sort of foundation i would go for when heading out to a barbeque or picnic. It is an more natural everyday foundation. The added sunscreen makes it good for the out of doors as well. there is a slight sunscreen scent to it, but it is very light. I did find that it also wasn’t the sort of foundation to sweat off easily. which for me was a bonus.
complete look
the one concern I have is that it is not a long wear foundation. You can get about four to six hours of wear before it starts to sink into fine lines. I especially had trouble around my mouth. I also needed to pat it down with pressed powder after a few hours (2-3) because I was getting a bit of shine. If you go for the dewy look it shouldn’t bother you. I’m just not a dewy look sort of person. Over all I would say this is a decent foundation to wear to a casual out door event or to put on when you need to look good for a meeting in a hurry. It is very quick to apply. Just remember to use a gripping primer and pair it with cream products and it will look beautiful for four to six hours. As my in person meetings rarely last more than two, I most certainly have a place for the Covergirl Aqua Smooth Foundation in my collection even if it will never make my favorites list.
I have been trying to be better about rotating products and using them up in a timely manner. I am also trying to whittle down some of my products so that I only have the products that I like to wear. In general I am pretty good with foundations. I will give a product a week or two long trial while I play with it and try to determine the best application method and if I really like the product. If I don’t then it is almost always passed on immediately to someone who will use it. Foundations either work well for me or they are sent away.
It is one of the reasons that most of my daily use foundation reviews are fairly consistently positive. If the product makes it into the makeup rotation than I like it. I think it is because foundations are pretty easy to use without contaminating the product. Most of the ones I have are pump style. I pump them onto my hand and then apply from there so all that is needed is a quick wipe down of the pump and they can go to a friend with no worries. Which makes it a guilt free pass.
bare face
However occasionally products are forgotten, or come in with a subscription box and I forget to try them out. I pulled this RealHer I am Divine Power Wear Probiotic Foundation out of the drawer and while i think I may have tried it once, I honestly couldn’t remember trying it out. And so we have a foundation trial. Incidentally, I am Divine is actually the shade name. There are 20 shades and this is on the lighter end of the spectrum. Number 4 actually. So there are only three shades lighter.
In all fairness it is slightly too light for my current skin tone, but I am not actually bothered by that. while I have been darkening it a bit with bronzer, the reason it doesn’t bother me is because it is a true foundation rather than a tinted moisturizer. I tend to wear foundation products like this in the cooler months rather than the warmer ones so once my summer tan fades this will actually be the right shade for me. while there are foundations I don’t mind wearing in the summertime, this isn’t really one of them so I am okay with it only being my post summer shade.
application (1 pumps worth of dots)
But before we get into that, let’s look at the product page.
Whether it’s work-from-home video calls, posting flawless pics on social media, or simply giving your complexion a pick-me-up, Power Wear Probiotic Foundation will help you stay true to you and your natural hue with 20 shades to choose from. Allow your natural beauty to shine through with this natural-finish, long-wear foundation.
REAL TECHNOLOGY – Lactobacillus Probiotic This probiotic helps to maintain healthy and balanced skin, keeping you ready at all times. Lipigenine™ Extract This extract helps to keep your skin barrier strong, buoyant, and in tip-top shape. Blue Light Technology We love our tech devices, but an overabundance of the blue light they emit can be harmful to our skin, causing premature aging. Our Power Wear Probiotic Foundation features a unique Blue Light Technology in the formula that keeps your skin safe.
REAL APPLICATION– Give your foundation a quick shake before use. Pop the black cap off to access the rose-gold foundation pump. Use 1-3 pumps (start off with a little, then you can add more later!) and a damp applicator to begin tapping the foundation from the middle of the face, moving outward to evenly distribute the foundation throughout the entire face.
REAL TIPS– For a sheerer coverage application, mix with one or two pea-sized drops of your favorite gel or cream moisturizer.
Okay I know that is a lot of info for a foundation but i wanted to copy it out because there is a lot of interesting stuff in there. First, I’m pretty sure it has been proven that blue light doesn’t have any noticeable effect on the skin so I will just ignore that bit. But I do like the probiotic part and I did find that my skin did feel hydrated during wear. when I applied this foundation, I used one pump and it was more than enough product to cover my entire face. I could not imagine putting three pumps worth of product onto my skin.
For my application I pumped the product onto my hand and then dotted it onto my face. I used a foundation brush to blend it out. I found that there were streaks in the foundation and I did have to go over my face with a makeup sponge. Incidentally the Building my empire makeup applicator is a wand with basically two sponges on either end so this is a foundation designed more for makeup sponge application than brush.
This Real Her foundation does blend well and it has good coverage. It is the sort that needs a prefilling primer underneath. I tried it with and without primers and without primers it does cover up redness and blemishes, but it tends to show fine lines, wrinkles and pores. With a porefilling primer it turned out well.
just the foundation
Once in place it does tend to stay there. However towards the mid afternoon I did notice i had to apply a little powder to dial back the shine. I think with the probiotic element in there it leans towards shine rather than matte. It looks great in the morning, but just needs a little powder in the afternoon. I did try the sheer coverage application style as well with the foundation mixed with a moisturizer. It was a pretty good sheer coverage, but it too required a powder bot mid day.
foundation with other products in full sunlight
while this is a light feeling foundation, it is not as weightless as some of the other products I have used. In addition, it’s tendency to look a little greasy mid afternoon, makes me not want to use it in the warmer months. I think this would be less of a problem in the winter time, not only because there is less humidity in the winter but my skin is also a little drier. I think this foundation would simply pair better with my skin when I am less sweaty and my skin is in its ‘dry’ season. It is the reason I am not concerned that it is my winter shade. For me, this is a winter foundation. I liked wearing it now, but it wasn’t my favorite. I strongly suspect that it is a foundation that will simply wear better when the humidity is not that high.
If you live in a less humid climate this may be okay for summer wear for you. And again for me it was pretty good, I just know that there are some products that aren’t really summer wear for where I live. this is one of them. I am looking forward to wearing this foundation again once the summer fades. Of course at this point I am also just looking forward to the summer fading. But that is another story. In the end I would repurchase this foundation and it has earned a spot in my foundation drawer. I will keep this RealHer Power Wear Probiotic Foundation, I just won’t be purchasing it in multiple shades for different seasons.
I have to say, this Yensa Super Serum Silk Foundation had a lot to live up to. I recently tried out the Yensa BC Full Coverage Foundation and absolutely adored it. It was easy to see why it is a long term best seller. This Yensa Foundation is a bit newer on the market.
In general I like serum style foundations. I generally find I have good luck with them. According to Yensa…
the serum foundation that is supercharged with skin-loving peptides and an age defying complex of Vitamin C, E, Ferulic and Bakuchiol Oil. Helps brighten, firm and prevent fine lines and wrinkles. Provides full, flawless coverage. 8 BENEFITS: Full coverage foundation, Vitamin C brightens skin, Graceful aging moisturizer, Ferulic Acid reduces the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles & dark circles, Provides brighter and even skin tone, Helps minimize the appearance of pores, Nourishes skin with 8 SuperBlacks Essence, and Bakuchiol improves skin elasticity
I love the fact that when you open this foundation it smells like skincare. It has a very skincare like scent and I have to say my skin has looked fantastic during my trial. I have had no break outs and if I am going to wear a product on my skin for eight hours at a stretch adding in skincare seems like a really smart idea.
Two weeks isn’t enough to see if there were improvements in my fine lines, but over time my skin usually reacts well to Bakuchoil so I am pleased with it. I am also pleased they went with a skin care ingredient that doesn’t make me sun sensitive. For those who aren’t aware, bakuchoil functions like a retinol but doesn’t have the sun sensitivity that a retinol can give you. Which is great in a product you are going to be wearing all day long.
blended in just the foundation
I generally found that i needed one pump of product to cover my entire face. This gave me a coverage that was on the lighter side of full. I’m sure if I went in with more product i could get a fuller coverage, but personally I didn’t se the need. One pump worked well for me. Sometimes I used concealer and sometimes I didn’t. As my skin was looking really good while I used this, i didn’t have all that much to cover, just around my eyes and a few dark spots. There were days i forgot the concealer and didn’t mind it. With one pump I would still recommend using a concealer, if you go two pumps you really won’t need it.
I was a little concerned about the shade of the product at first. When it pumped out it had a slightly yellow cast to it. My shade is Light Medium. When blended it worked out well though.
There is a slight shine to the foundation. If you are a fan of dewy skin it might not be enough for you and in that case I would use a dewy primer underneath. I am not a huge dewy skin fan and found that I could wear any primer I wanted underneath but if I went for a moisturizing or dewy primer then I would most definitely need my setting powder.
Over all this was a good foundation. Towards the end of the day I did notice there was some slight settling around the fine lines of my mouth but it was really towards eight plus hours that I noticed it and it was minor. When i used a pore filling primer it wasn’t an issue. This was in general a good foundation.
My only real problem with it was that I tried it right after the BC Full Coverage foundation. It is a skin on skin formula that i just like a little better. That doesn’t mean that this isn’t a great foundation, it just means I prefer the other one from the brand. There is a lot to love with this foundation though and I am certain I will use the entire bottle. And if the skincare benefits prove excellent long term it may rise in my estimation.
Will I repurchase? Honestly I would probably go for the BC full coverage foundation first when shopping from the brand, however I would happily use this Super Serum Silk Foundation again or pick it up it the BC foundation was unavailable. It is a very close second, but it is still second.
Recently Yensa sent a package to me for the purpose of review. Inside were a few of my favorites. The Pumpkin Turmeric Exfoliating mask is a long term love and I have purchased so many of the Yensa Tone Up Primers that I have lost count. Under a matte foundation it is one of my favorite primers. Included in this box was the Yensa BC Full coverage Foundation from their Skin on Skin line.
I believe i might have tried out a sample size of this product a while back, but truthfully it has been long enough that I couldn’t remember. So I was thrilled that I had a full sized version to try out. I really enjoyed wearing this foundation for the duration of the trial and i can tell you that I will be reaching for it until not a drop remains in the tube. But let’s cover what the product is supposed to do before we get into the details of how it performed.
Achieve your SUPERFOOD GLOW with our all in one BB, CC and full coverage foundation. Our BC Foundation is our #1 best seller that provides killer coverage and is infused with our exclusive 8 SuperBlacks Essence to feed your skin while you are wearing it.
8 BENEFITS FOR A SUPERFOOD GLOW™: Full coverage foundation, SPF 40 protection, Graceful aging moisturizer, Built in concealer, Provides brighter and even skin tone, Helps minimize the appearance of pores, Nourishes skin with 8 SuperBlacks Essence, Blurs imperfections, fine lines and wrinkles
I love when brands give you a checklist for a product. I can say that as far as I can tell this foundation hit them all. It was full coverage, and it had SPF 40 in it so it had some sun protection. And while I appreciate that in a foundation, you should never count on your foundation as your only sunscreen. As good as it is to have in the product, it isn’t enough. You need a regular sunscreen. That being said this foundation layered beautifully over the sunscreen i am currently using. (Currently Sunday Riley Light Hearted).
dotted on
In addition during the trial I didn’t have to use any concealer. I ended up using it as a lid primer when I used it, but it wasn’t needed on the rest of my skin.
I think the thing that most impressed me about this foundation was that even though it was full coverage, it felt like a BB cream on the skin. For me this is especially nice to know going into the warmer months. Often in the summertime I will only wear tinted moisturizers and BB cream simply because foundation feels a bit too heavy. even the light weight formulas sometimes feel heavier due to the high humidity. This actually felt light enough that it felt like wearing nothing, hence the skin on skin name i suppose. It also looked really natural.
blended in with nothing else on
This is a somewhat glowy foundation which did take me a bit of getting use to. I tried it with a non matte primer and it was far too glow-y for me. In the spirit of fairness I have to admit that I did get several complements that day so it looked nice, it just wasn’t my personal preference. with a matte primer underneath it was the exact right amount of glow for me. It worked well with all of my matte primers. Once I found I liked it better with the matte primers I didn’t really try it with all of the glow-y/dewy skin ones.
while it does have some pore blurring to it, I still felt the need to add a primer underneath it. It did a good job on it’s own but it performed even better with a partner. The two primers I preferred to use it with were the Tatcha Silk Canvas Primer and the Elf Poreless putty. While I adore the Yensa primer (and it did really well with pore minimizing) it was too glow-y for me when I paired the two together.
full face
Those of you who have read my reviews for a while know that my go to foundation brush is the bdellium 999 Master Blender. I did try it with this foundation but a Yensa also sent a foundation brush (pictured up top) I also tried that out. My normal foundation brush was just a little too stiff to work well with this foundation. The foundation brush that Yensa sent worked perfectly with it. it is an angled brush and while the bristles are densely packed it has a little more movement to the bristles that made it work better with this foundation.
I am going to be trying this foundation brush with other foundations and I think there are several formulas that it might work better than my usual. I’ll have to get back to you on that when I do a brush review. The take away here though is that with this BC formula a really stiff bristled foundation brush might not be your best bet. I would go for a densely packed one that has a bit more flexibility in the bristles. Using such a brush meant there were no lines that had to be buffed away. I simply didn’t need a makeup sponge with this formula and that style of brush.
Most days I wore the foundation about eight hours with no problems. I did have one day where I was in my makeup for over fourteen hours. On that day I did notice a little sinking into the lines around my mouth. Admittedly I would have been surprise if it hadn’t. It was one of those days where I looked exhausted both with and without makeup. In the normal course of an eight hour day there were no issues, it simply isn’t a 24 hour foundation.
I was honestly very impressed by Yensa’s BC full coverage foundation and I would definitely use it again. I loved the way my skin looked during this trial. I had some minor break outs due to my Easter candy extravaganza (seriously I had more sugar this month than I have in the past two years) and this foundation worked really well in concealing those. It is a great light weight formula that worked well now but I think will still be wearable as the weather heats up.
Interestingly enough, in this month’s IPSY bag, I received a different Yensa Foundation. It is the Serum Silk Foundation. I will be trying that one out next and comparing it to this one. While I may have tried a sample size of this BC cream once upon a time, I have not tried the other one (I believe it is a newer product). It will be interesting to see how the two compare. But for that, we will have to wait and see.
This foundation was interesting to work with. It is full coverage which is not my everyday wear for foundation. However as my go too full coverage foundation was from Becca and Becca is sadly no longer with us, I do need to find one full coverage foundation that I can count on when I need it.
nice pump top
As Always I tried the foundation on it’s own with no primer. I then tried it with a variety of primers. I have also started using the Embryolisse Lait Creme as a pre makeup base (which I love, BTW) so I tried it both with and without the Embryolisse.
First off, tools. If applied with just a makeup brush there will be streaks galore in the foundation. You can then smooth them out with a makeup sponge, easy peasy. Even easier is if you just apply this foundation with a makeup sponge to begin with. It just applies better that way. So give the makeup brush the day off when you reach for this foundation and it will work better.
dotted on face then blended in with a makeup sponge
Second, Primer. This is a foundation that needs a primer. Actually it needs a pore filling primer. I had the best luck when I paired it with either the Tatcha Silk Canvas Primer or the Elf Poreless Putty primer. Both have a similar consistency and this seems to be with this foundation works best with as a base. Without it, the foundation will sink into the fine lines. I particularly had issues around my mouth. By mid afternoon, the foundation had settled in the lines and emphasized them. which is not really what i wanted.
witout a primer it immediately settles into the fine lines around my mouth
Third, Embryolisse. I know this sounds strange to add in as part of the foundation test, but in general I found that this foundation performed better if I had the moisturizer on my face before I started applying the makeup. I applied the Embryolisse and let it sit for ten minutes before I applied the other products and everything was great. Without the moisturizer this foundation tended to look a little dry by mid afternoon. With the extra hit of moisture underneath that wasn’t a problem. For those with oily skin, this might not be an issue for you. If you have dry skin then you really should look at the moisturizer pre makeup application with this foundation.
with primer, makeup sponge application and Embryolisse as a pre-makeup base it worked well all day
Having said that, when everything lined up, this foundation did look beautiful and it lasted all day. There were just a lot of conditions for getting it to look good and stay all day. None were impossible to over come, they are just things to remember when reaching for this foundation. In the end I think I will use up this foundation, but I don’t think I will be repurchasing it in the future. The Charlotte Tillbury Airbrush Flawless Foundation is good, it just won’t become my standard for full coverage.
For the past week or so I have been using the Natasha Denona Transformatte Foundation. I know some people know right away how they feel about a foundation, but for me it takes at least a week of use before I fully determine if I like a product. It may sound strange, but I’ve had products that I tried once and absolutely loved and for some reason that one time the stars aligned and it was perfection. A perfection that was never repeated on subsequent uses. I’ve also had products that I absolutely didn’t like the first time, but then as I figured out how to work with them, I cam to love.
Let’s start with what to expect from this foundation.
A medium to full coverage modern matte, liquid-luxe foundation that blurs pores, smooths uneven texture and protects your skin from environmental damage. Use any foundation brush or a damp makeup sponge, starting at the center point then moving to the sides.
When I first opened the foundation I expected a creamy foundation that was a little thick. I think it is because the coverage is medium to full and that is the texture i associate with fuller coverage foundations. So when I pumped the foundation out, I was surprised to find it has more of a serum consistency. For me that is fine, some of my favorite foundations have been more of a serum type consistency. So it was a pleasant surprise. I was also pleasantly surprised that there was no scent to the product. I may be a fan of perfumes, but i am perfectly happy with a foundation that is content not to have a scent to it.
Typically I do wear primer with my foundations and while using this foundation I rotated through a variety of them from mattifying primers, prefilling and blurring primers to brightening primers. I also tried the foundation without any primer at all.
clean face
Without the primer under the foundation, the foundation does show a little bit more of the texture of your skin. If you have large pores, you are going to want to put a primer under the foundation. The foundation itself is pore vanishing, but I found it vanished more if it had the primer as a back up singer. I also found the foundation applied more smoothly and lasted longer.
applied foundation before use of foundation brush
While I do prefer a matte foundation, in general I found that because this is a matte foundation, a brightening primer actually worked out the best with the foundation. The primer I preferred during this test (and will probably reach for the next time I use this foundation, is the Banana Bright Primer from Ole Henriksen. This primer worked fantastically well with the Transformatte Foundation. The two worked well, gave me beautiful looking skin and lasted all day.
just foundation blended out
In the description, it states that you can use either a foundation brush or a sponge to apply. Typically I use a brush for application (usually my 999 Master Blender from Bdellium Tools) but I have been known to use makeup sponges. In fact when I used the Bite Beauty Changemaker foundation I found it applied much better with a sponge than with a brush (and looks fantastic too actually). So I tried applying the transformatte first with a brush and a second day with the makeup sponge.
full face
what I found was that when I applied the foundation with the brush (Pumping foundation on the back of my hand, dabbing it on my face with a finger and then blending it in with the brush) I used only one pump’s worth of product. When I used the sponge, I ended up using two pump’s worth of product. The single pump gave me medium and edging into full coverage. Two pumps was flat out full coverage.
I do prefer medium coverage with my foundations. However it wasn’t just about coverage. With one pump, the foundation blended in smoothly with my skin and felt weightless. It lasted all day with no problems. With the two pump fuller coverage it looked nice and lasted all day, but I sort of always felt the foundation there. It looked fine and I received complements on both uses, personally I prefer the brush method with the single pump of product. It provides me with the coverage I want and pretty much does everything I want in a foundation.
I was very impressed with this foundation and I look forward to using it again. The Transformatte Foundation by Natasha Denona at it’s full price is $45. I think it is well worth that price. At the moment it is on sale for 50% off. While I think it is worth full price, I am never upset about saving money. I have no idea how long the sale is going to last (I’m not an affiliate, I just saw the sale was up when I went to the website)Over all this is a really easy to wear foundation and I felt beautiful wearing it. What more could I ask?
Ms. Mimsy Reviews 