This week’s Foundation: Yensa BC Full Coverage Foundation

This week I pulled a travel sized tube of the Yensa Color + Face Skin on Skin BC Foundation from my dressing table. It is one of the few remaining sample sizes left in my dressing table and it is a summer shade I want to get some use out of before my tan fades. In case you are wondering the BC part of the name stands for BB cream plus CC cream. It is listed as a full coverage foundation with eight superblocks essences and SPF40.

I recently watched a You Tube video with Wayne Goss explaining the amount of foundation you would need to wear before you actually managed to impart the SPF potential in foundation to your skin. It is very eye opening and I highly recommend watching. The basic review was you need far more product than you would ever rationally use to get the sunblock benefits so it isn’t a good idea to rely on its protection. He demonstrates it beautifully.

Which I didn’t rely on foundation spf before to be honest, so it feels like confirmation of me doing the right thing. Which is sort of unusual, but nice. I like spf in the products I layer onto my face, but I add a full on sunblock as well. So it’s nice to have the spf here, but it is more of an additional perk if it does anything.

As for the foundation itself, according to the Yensa Website …

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

Ingredients in Tan Neutral Shade
Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Zinc Oxide, Cyclohexasiloxane, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Butylene Glycol, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, CI 77492, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Arbutin, Dimethicone, Sodium Chloride, Beeswax, Stearalkonium Hectorite, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, CI 77491, Phenoxyethanol, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, CI 77499, Ozokerite, PEG-10 Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Aronia Melanocarpa Fruit Extract, Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Extract, Nigella Sativa Seed Extract, Rubus Fruticosus (Blackberry) Fruit Extract, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Extract, Undaria Pinnatifida Extract, Laminaria Japonica Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Aluminum Hydroxide, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Adenosine, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil, Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Cananga Odorata Flower Oil, Pelargonium Graveolens Flower Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil, Cymbopogon Martini Oil, Michelia Alba Flower Oil, Eugenia Caryophyllus (Clove) Leaf Oil, Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf Oil, 1,2-Hexanediol, Jasminum Officinale (Jasmine) Oil, Sodium Hyaluronate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, Lentinus Edodes Extract, Urtica Dioica (Nettle) Extract, Salvia Hispanica Seed Extract, Linalool, Limonene
yensa website

Those are all things I am down for. I have to admit that I do like the fact that each shade has it’s own ingredient’s list. As you can see from the one I copied out, it is for the shade Tan Neutral, which is my summer shade and the shade I used. It is the seventh shade on the eleven spectrum range.

To be fair, I think that I will be able to use this shade more or less until Halloween. Then I would blend it with one shade lighter until the end of November and then use the one shade lighter until May, when I would gradually start blending the Tan Neutral into the Medium Gold, thus returning to Tan Neutral.

Anything lighter than the one below my current shade would be too light for me even in the deepest winter and any shade darker than Tan Medium would be far too dark for me even in the deepest of summer. While I can’t personally judge the effectiveness of the range on either darker or lighter skin tones, the shades do seem to have a great deal of flexibility in them. Currently I hover somewhere in the middle of the spectrum.

bare skin on the left and foundation on the right. While it covered most of my dark spots it left my freckles which I kind of like

With full coverage foundations, I am always a little worried that the foundation will end up coming off looking like a mask. When people wear the full mask like foundations it actually sort of creeps me out a bit. It is fine on camera, I get why you might want to look flawless on screen. And don’t get me wrong, I am working with my skin care routine to make my skin look as good naturally as I possibly can, but I still like when skin looks like skin. With the mask like appearance of some full coverage foundations I start to have Phillip K. Dick based nightmares.

Do androids dream of electric sheep?

This is not something I need to worry about just before I go to sleep.

That being said, I adore Yensa’s primer from this line and I do not mind keeping a full coverage foundation around as long as it isn’t mask like.

This was in no way mask like. It went on like a dream. It covered my dark spots and felt like a moisturizer. It covered everything I didn’t want to show but wasn’t mask like in any way. It wasn’t cakey and didn’t settle into my fine lines. It looked just as good at the end of the day as it did at the start. While it was matte in finish, which I really like, it didn’t give me dead looking skin which sometimes matte finishes can do. I didn’t have any noticeable shine by the end of the day either, which is a minor miracle given the heat. Admittedly this week is less humid than it’s been in a while, so that helped. But I didn’t have to powder my nose midday.

To be honest, I can’t find anything wrong with this foundation. The sample sized tube I used contained 10 mL of product. The tube was packed full, there was virtually no air space left in the tube when I opened it. The amount dispensed on my hand in the photo was way too much product. It was my first use and I simply squeezed out too much. I needed about half that amount to cover my face. Looking at the tube now, I estimate I have about another two weeks left of use in the tube.

end of the day, lipstick and eyeshadow gone but the foundation remains

The full size of this product retails for $38. I have to admit I have looked all over and I can not find the amount of product in the full size. I know from the photos it is far larger than the trial size so I’m guessing between 30 and 50 mL, but I couldn’t find anything that listed it. Either way, since you need so little, it should last a while.

And $38 is not bad for a product that works as nicely as this. I’ve certainly spent more. I can’t say I’m actually surprised by how well I like it. The primer from this line as well as the Pumpkin Turmeric 2-in-1 radiance polishing mask (and exfoliating mask) are both on my list of favorites. The mask smells so good you almost want to eat it instead of wearing it. This foundation by the way had no real scent to it at all.

Over all, I can’t really say enough good things about this foundation. I don’t generally go for full coverage, and to be honest I think I ended up only applying enough product for medium and a little extra rather than full on full coverage, but I didn’t see the point in adding more product, when this amount worked so beautifully. This is definitely making my list for products to repurchase.

Jouer Essential High Coverage Crème Foundation Review

The package of samples (each foil packet was in a slightly different shade in the Medium range

This week was an interesting week for foundation. As opposed to my usual pick a product and try it all week, I chose to use a sample I received as a gift with purchase. This wasn’t a tube sample, this was a foil packet sample. Each of the little foil packet samples came from the shade range of medium. My plan was to use the foil packet to test it for a first impression and then see if I liked it enough to try a larger sample. I figured on the days between I could use one of the foundations I currently have open. At least that was the thought initially.

Surprisingly the Jouer foil packets gave me a full week of product. Now I will say that I got a full week’s worth of product because I didn’t always use my correct shade. For me Cashmere (a light medium shade with pink undertones) proved to be the best match for me, although it was a hair to light in direct sunlight. Mixing the shades wasn’t possible because of the way the foil packets were set up. I think I am between shades right now but I think Cashmere would do well for me in the winter.

Even though you only need a little drop of the foundation to cover your skin, when you open one of these foil packets, all of the product in the foil packet is going to come out. At first you squeeze hoping for a drop and nothing comes, then the entire packet squirts out onto your hands.

So to find my foundation shade I started by opening one packet and when I realized it was out whether I chose it or not, I went ahead and used it for the day. (there were ten packets so I started at the lightest and have a couple left over – I’d like to say I’ll use one tomorrow but I know the last few really are way too yellow in tone for me so I probably will just start using next week’s selection starting tomorrow morning.

Since this week mostly involved me sitting at my computer with no witnesses, I just went with off shades to do the test. I surprised my babydoll when he stopped by my office but as all of my other conversations were on the phone, no one else noticed. So in case you look at the photos and wonder why things look a little off with my coloring, that is why. I So with some work I found my correct shade. But I also wore the incorrect shades to lengthen the trial.

So let’s take about the Jouer Essential High Coverage Crème Foundation.

According to the website…

A lightweight foundation with supreme coverage and an impeccable airbrushed, matte finish. Available in 50 shades, a small drop is all you need to achieve a flawless look all day.

Chamomile Extract:Calms redness while moisturizing and inhibiting the growth of bacteria. Cucumber Extract: Softens and hydrates skin. Hyaluronic Acid: Supports skin’s natural moisture retention. Tripeptide Complex: Supports natural collagen production for smoother, more youthful-looking skin.

Okay so those are the claims. How did it live up to them? Pretty well actually. I wasted a lot of product because of the foil packets, but on my face I needed a touch of the finger to each cheek, on to the forehead, one to the nose and then another to the chin. Then I went in with my foundation brush (incidentally I am loving my Bdellium foundation brush and it is no longer as pristine as it was last week but still pretty)and blended it in, touching it up in the corner of the eyes with the makeup sponge.

New arrivals at BdelliumTools.com

Very little product was needed. In case you are wondering, after using the product I needed on my face, the left over product I blended into my arm to see how far it would go.

Blending it in I covered my arm completely from knuckles to elbow before I ran out of product. So when they say a little goes a long way, they mean it. And when it says full coverage, it means full coverage as well. It is also extremely light weight. In case you are wondering, the day I took these photos I was running on about two hours sleep. No product in the world was going to touch the bags under my eyes. I will say, that while the foundation looked better on other days, the product didn’t make the bags worse.

Once it was on, I no longer felt it on my skin. My skin didn’t feel cakey or dry as it often can with full coverage foundations. It was also quite matte. I had no shine, not even in my t-zone.

I tried this foundation both with and without primer and this is definitely a foundation you will want to use with a primer if you have any enlarged pores or texture to your skin. I tried using it without a primer and it showed every pore.These photos were taken on a day without primer underneath. I think it is due to the consistency of the foundation.

Because it is called a crème foundation I expected more of a cream consistency. It is not. The formula is a thin liquid. I can see how the consistency really helps with the application, and allows it to cover the face with so little product as well as to feel light weight. The other side to that is it really showed off my pores if I didn’t use a pore filling primer. You can see in the photo of it on my hand that when I tilted my hand, it ran to the other side. This clearly wouldn’t be a problem in a pump container, it was quite a mess with the foil packets.

When I did use the primer with this foundation, I felt sad that I had no where spectacular to go as my skin really did look good. Well, good when I had the right shade on my skin. Plus since I generally wear full coverage when I am going somewhere, just putting it on makes the day feel like an event.

Even though it has some pretty good skin care like ingredients listed in the description, those elements don’t make it feel like skin care, or even skin care adjacent. They are more like neighbors who live in different apartment buildings on the same street and occasionally use the same coffee shop.

Full face with no primer underneath the foundation

I think those ingredients like chamomile, cucumber and hyaluronic acid just keep the skin from feeling dry and the foundation from being cakey. Both of which are very good things. They make the foundation pleasant to wear, but not really skincare.

I did notice that the foundation did seep into the fine lines around the corner of my mouth towards the end of the day, but that tended to happen after about six to seven hours of wear. Up until then, it was really good. It didn’t peel around my nose or show oil in my t-zone. It also didn’t emphasize my very deep bags on the days when they couldn’t help being present. (It was a loooong week this week my darlings)

Even if my head occasionally looked like it belonged on a different body due to the mismatched tones, the foundation performed well. I am glad I tried this sample and I have to say I am surprised that a full sized bottle of this foundation is only $38. It feels like a much more expensive foundation. I don’t often wear full coverage foundation, especially not in the summertime. The sun and humidity where I live just make full coverage a disaster waiting to happen. At least for me. I know there are people who can pull it off, I just am not one of them.

I tend to stay in the medium coverage lane in general, however I like having a full coverage foundation around for special occasions. I can definitely see this being a contender for that spot in my makeup collection and now that I know my shade, I think that once the weather cools down, I may be picking up a bottle to see how it fares against the Becca Ultimate coverage. I think this coming week though, I will try for a product with just a single shade.

Testing out Becca Ultimate Coverage 24 Hour Foundation

I have to admit, I started this trial with pretty high hopes for the Becca Ultimate Coverage 24 hour Foundation. The reason was that my old foundation, the one that I stockpiled when I found out it was discontinued, was a Becca Foundation. Plus, I tend to like a lot of Becca products. The pink tinted loose powder is absolutely amazing on a day when I don’t wear a lot of makeup. I can just put on a primer and a light dusting and be good to go all day. The tint gives a nice healthy glow to the skin.

So with several excellent products behind me from Becca, hopes were high at the start. But first off, what does this foundation have to say for itself.

the pump was a little messy but not that bad

A lightweight, full coverage foundation with 24-hour wear. A balance of water and concentrated pigments give skin a flexible, natural finish that is water and transfer resistant. Camouflage acne, redness, hyperpigmentation and discoloration with breathable coverage that won’t clog pores.

That is quite a list of claims for just one bottle.

Now first off, I need to admit, I picked the wrong shade. Or maybe I picked the right shade but not for this time of year. Either way, it is a little too light on me at the moment. So please try to ignore that in the photos.

Luckily, I didn’t really leave the house during the week I was testing the foundation so even though my baby doll shook his head at me and asked if I was doing kabuki theater, the color wasn’t that big a deal. My outside time was mostly working in the back garden and if anyone minded the non-match and called me out on it I could have just yelled at them for looking into my garden. No one did though.

Now normally when I apply foundation, I put it on my hand and then dab it on my face, use a brush to blend it out and then a sponge to make sure there are no brush streaks and to complete the blending and get into little edges.

This foundation did not like the brush at all. If you have ever dragged a broom across a muddy floor, then you know the lines the brush put in the foundation. I finally just had to abandon the brush and go with the sponge from the get go. Application went much better after that. Also remember that with this foundation, a little goes a long way.

There is no wiggle room in the coverage of this foundation. It is full coverage. Period. You can’t really sheer it out for medium coverage if you are having a good skin day. It is a full coverage foundation. Which is fine. While I don’t like full coverage on a daily basis, I do like it for when I go out and at the moment I don’t have a really good full coverage foundation that I like.

This was full coverage without being cakey. I did not experience any oxidation, so keep that in mind when determining your shade. It did feel lightweight on the skin which isn’t typical of many full coverage foundations I’ve tried in the past. While I didn’t wear it for a full 24 hours, because quite frankly I simply don’t tend to wear makeup for a full day and night, I did push it to ten hours and had no problems with it creasing.

However you really need to wear a primer with this foundation. I found applying a pore filling primer and then waiting a few minutes to let the primer sort of settle into the skin really helped with this foundation. It made my skin look amazing. There was no creasing and I didn’t have to apply any powder during the day to decrease shine coming through. The final picture below is after 10 hrs of wear (I did reapply the lip gloss, but not the face powder, admittedly I did use a lot of powder and bronzer to try to adjust the color). There is a little shine in the t-zone but it really isn’t that much, it just no longer looks fully matte, in my opinion. And it is something I could definitely live with.

I think if I got the color right I would consider keeping the Becca Ultimate Coverage around for nights when I went out to an event or something. I like the pump of the bottle and the glass bottle itself. It may actually be the full coverage foundation I keep around for such things. However I know that it is not a foundation that I am going to wear on a regular basis, just because I don’t wear full coverage every day. For that reason, even though it passed the wear-ability test, I am not going to keep it in the running for my daily foundation search.

I know I am not going to reach for it right now, partially because of the coverage level and partially because of the color. What I am going to do is put it back in the drawer to use this coming winter (This week was the first time the foundation was opened so I have some time on it.). I don’t know how many holiday parties there will be this year, or how many of them will be via video call instead of in person, but this is the foundation I would use then.

I think the color would match my winter skin and the full coverage would be useful for events and gatherings. To try and keep it out for use now would just be wasteful. So even though I like it, the Becca Ultimate coverage will not be going up against the previous three foundations. If I like the way it performs over the winter with the shade actually working better with my skin, then I will get a darker shade to wear for warmer months events.

I know that is sort of a mixed review, but I think what this means is that I may have to go and search out a more medium coverage foundation from Becca to test it out for daily wear. I do think that this will end up being my go to full coverage foundation for when I need a full coverage foundation.

This was the fourth foundation of this five foundation set. The next up is a product from Nars. However I do also have several trial sized tubes of foundation to try as well as a couple of BB and CC creams and I think even a tinted moisturizer or two as well as at least one stick foundation. So this quest is far from over. Given the fact that I love to try new products, I’m perfectly okay with that.