Monthly Archives

January 2016

Highlighters Hourglass Cosmetics

Hourglass Ambient Strobe Lighting Powders

January 21, 2016

This spring Hourglass has launched some additions to the Ambient Lighting family with the Ambient Strobe Lighting Powders ($38 each for 0.16 oz/4.6 g) and the Ambient Strobe Light Sculptor ($22). I stopped by the Hourglass Store in Venice Beach last week to check these out and fell in love. One of the strobe powders Incandescent Strobe Light was introduced to us before in the Ambient Lighting Palette (Trio) as an exclusive. If you have this palette, you’re familiar with the beautiful natural glowy finish and smooth texture of the strobe powders. They look sheer on the hands/arms. On the face they add the perfect natural glow and highlight. The sparkle isn’t over the top and it makes the skin glow without being too frosty and they do not emphasize pores.

There are four shades of the Ambient Strobe Lighting Powders. If you ask me if you think all four are necessary to have, I would say no – but after seeing them at the store, I had to buy all four. The colors are:
  • Euphoric Strobe Light – A pearlescent beige powder bestowing a natural highlight
  • Iridescent Strobe Light – An illuminating pink powder imparting a soft highlight
  • Brilliant Strobe Light – A shimmering gold powder imparting a lustrous highlight
  • Incandescent Strobe Light – An opalescent pearl powder bestowing a celestial highlight
Euphoric is the darkest option available. Iridescent and Incandescent are very similar, Iridescent is slightly deeper and more pink. Brilliant is a gorgeous yellow/gold option. I find the powders very finely milled and apply flawlessly with the Ambient Strobe Light Sculptor or a regular powder brush.

The packaging of the Strobe Powders is similar in size to the Ambient Lighting Blushes, except the color is silver.

A quick look at size comparisons:

Ambient Lighting Powders $45 for 0.35 oz/10 g (review)
Ambient Lighting Bronzers $50 for 0.39 oz / 11 g (review)
Ambient Strobe Lighting Powder $38 for 0.16 oz/4.6 g
Ambient Lighting Palette $58 for 0.35 oz/9.9 g (review)
Ambient Lighting Blush $35 for 0.15 oz/4.2 g (review)

Close ups of each powder in sunlight:

The product in the pans will look different depending on lighting situations. The shimmer particles are highly reflective. I have a couple shots to show the base color and the shimmers depending on light. Both sets are in the same order.

Top: Incandescent Strobe Light, Euphoric Strobe Light
Bottom: Iridescent Strobe Light, Brilliant Strobe Light

Swatches and three sets of comparison swatches, first in natural light:

With sun + flash – they look frosty here, but I can assure you on the face they are more finely milled and naturally glowy:

A quick look at the Ambient Strobe Light Sculptor – it applies these perfectly to the cheek bones by tapping on the areas you want highlighted. A regular blush brush works just as good, although if you want to apply the powders damp for more color, I found the brush worked better.

Comparison Set 1: Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders in Luminous Light (reviewed here), Diffused Light and Dim Light. Luminous Light has a shimmery quality that acts as a highlighter while some other shades like Diffused and Dim Light are less shimmery and can be used as an all over setting powder for me without looking too glowy. Below the swatches are done with a heavy hand to show the color differences.

Comparison Set 2: Kevyn Aucoin Celestial Powders in Starlight and Candlelight (reviewed here) are a lot more shimmery. On me Candlelight looks too white for my olive/yellow skin although it looks good on many of my friends. I prefer the Hourglass Strobe Powders by far. Also shown is Becca Champagne Pop (swatched here) and the Tom Ford Skin Illuminating Duo in Moodlight (review). The Becca is one of the most shimmery highlighters I own (and adore). By comparison the Becca Champagne Pop almost feels sharp because the shimmer is so pigmented.

Comparison Set 3: MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Lightscapade is one of the softest most finely milled highlighters from MAC that I own. It’s a lot paler than any of the Ambient Lighting Strobe Powders but has a similar effect. MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle by comparison has a lot more shimmer/frost. I added a swatch of the MAC Extra Dimension Highlighter in Whisper of Gilt (d/c, review here) to show texture comparison. The effect of the powders is similar to that of NARS Hot Sand Duos (review here). If you already own Hot Sand, you can probably skip Incandescent or Iridescent.

Quick look at the beautiful store on Abbot Kinney:

One last shot, clockwise from top left: Euphoric, Iridescent, Brilliant and Incandescent

Bottom line all winners. I tested these over the past week and am thoroughly impressed. They lasted all day on the cheek bones without getting too glowy or dewy looking by late afternoon. I’ve been testing them over a number of foundations from Tom Ford, NARS, Laura Mercier and Natasha Denona. They all held up remarkably well. I am already on highlighter/glow overload – I’m completely obsessed with glowy highlighters, but I thnk these are well worth a look. If I had to narrow down my picks, I would say Brilliant Strobe Light offers the best strobe highlight for my olive skintone. It brightens the complexion with a gorgeous candlelight glow. Euphoric is the most natural on me since it’s deeper, but it still shows up like skin but better. I would say there’s a tie between Iridescent and Incandescent – I think the pink tones in Iridescent make it more special, but you can’t go wrong with either. The sponge is nice to have, but not a must.

You can find the Hourglass Ambient Strobe Lighting Powders ($38) and Sculptor ($22) at Sephora and Hourglass Cosmetics right now. It is expected to launch at other retailers later this spring.

Have you checked these out yet? What’s your favorite highlighter right now?

29 Comments
Bronzer + Blush Eye Makeup NARS

NARS NARSissist L’Amour, Toujours L’Amour Eyeshadow Palette and NARSissist Cheek Studio Palette

January 20, 2016

NARS is killing it this spring. There seems to be something to love in every launch so far this year from the Hot Sand Collection, Velvet Matte Skin Tints and freshly launched Spring Color Collection (a few items to be reviewed on the blog soon but in the meantime check out swatches on my friend Café Makeup’s page). I’m particularly smitten with the Hot Sand/Laguna Cheek Duo and the Velvet Skin Tints are  There are two new palettes this spring, one for eyes and one for cheeks, both limited edition. For eyes we have the NARSissist L’Amour, Toujours L’Amour Eyeshadow Palette ($59 for 12 eyeshadows) and for the cheeks there is the NARSissist Cheek Studio Palette ($65, Sephora Exclusive). Both of these come in some seriously sturdy packaging – they are cased in hefty mirrored compacts and I think the presentation is exquisite.

The NARSissist L’Amour, Toujours L’Amour Eyeshadow Palette has twelve eyeshadows that seem to feature a new formula. Many of you have expressed dissatisfaction in the quality and texture of shadows in previous palettes (in particular the NARSissist Eyeshadow Palette from 2014ish). I haven’t tried all of the palettes NARS has launched, but never had an issue with texture. Size of pans has been significantly smaller in previous releases which I found a bit challenging to dip larger brushes into, but it seems as though NARS took all the complaints of past palettes and made changes for the better with this one.

The texture of these is feels slightly creamy, but they are all powders – pigment is smooth and easy to layer. Some of the dark matte shades will go on a bit patchy if you use a medium to large brush – so I recommend trying a small detail dense brush to layer and blend the dark mattes. Overall performance is really good. With the exception of the one coppery shimmer shade, I would say the effect of this one is cool-toned. I do think you need a slightly creamy eyeshadow base to help bring out the pigment richness of the colors, but they perform really well alone too. My favorites are the Edward Bess Illuminating Eye Base, Laura Mercier Caviar Eye Sticks in Rose Gold and NARS Velvet Shadow Sticks. Application is excellent – there will be a little bit of fall out from the powders when you apply on the eyes, but once you have them on the lids – they stay put without fading or smudging. I found they lasted all day long nicely.

Descriptions and swatches:

Row 1 features four larger pans each 0.11 oz/3.2 g, shades are named I, II, III, IV:

  • Matte creamy neutral with slight pink tones
  • Shimmering champagne with beige/ivory tones
  • Shimmering mauve taupe
  • Matte charcoal

Rows 2 and 3 have smaller pans, but are still large enough that you can easily fit an eyeshadow brush into without having to worry about mixing colors. These are 0.05 oz/1.5g each:
  • Frosted white gold
  • Shimmering warm copper orange
  • Matte mauve
  • Shimmering steel with slight olive undertone
  • Shimmering steel blue grey
  • Matte navy indigo
  • Shimmering cool grey-brown
  • Shimmering grey-black with blue tones and silver flecks

Here’s a quick eye look with the neutrals using the four shades in the top row 1 and a little bit of the last color in row 2. I love that online at the NARS website, they did eye swatches of all 12 shades on three skintones. Check it out here.

If you’re wondering how this compares to the Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette (reviewed + swatched here), I would say both are excellent options. Picking one over the other is challenging because I think they are different in color options and texture. If you’re looking for something cooler-toned and want a palette that can take your look from neutral to smokey, go with the NARS. If you want something with warmer more neutral options, go for the UD x Gwen Stefani Palette. The textures of course are very different in each palette. The NARS has a creamy smooth buttery texture. The Urban Decay palette has a wider mix of mattes, shimmers, and sparkles – also the pink and bright blue offer a more vibrant/less neutral option.

Onto the cheeks with the NARSissist Cheek Studio Palette ($65, Sephora exclusive). Many asked how this compares to the Steven Klein One Shocking Moment Palette from Holiday. I wasn’t able to buy (it sold out quickly) so I can’t compare the two in great detail. The top three shades are the same in each palette. Based on a google search, it appears the newest one for spring offers two shades that are lighter options on the bottom left half and then darker options for the bottom right half. I do believe that the one from holiday had two existing blush colors in Luster and Dolce Vita. The new one for spring offers four new shades on the bottom. This seems to be an all-in-one kind of palette for the cheeks. It has contouring powders, a bronzer, and four blushes (two of which I think could pass for highlighters, at least on me).

The colors in this palette include:

  • Paloma Contour Duo which is available separately. It offers richly pigmented matte powders in a soft pinkish cream color and a deeper contour shade that pulls mauve on my skintone.
  • Laguna Bronzer is a classic shade (also available separately) that warms up the complexion and adds depth without looking orangey or too dark. It’s easily buildable for a natural glow or deeper bronze. In my college days there were many times where this was all I would apply on the cheeks.

The bottom row has colors that are listed as blushes:

  • I is a pale pink that glows. It’s a matte base but if you look closely at the pan you will see tiny bits of finely milled gold shimmer. I was worried this would not show up on my skin, but it offers the prettiest baby pink glow. I hope this makes an appearance in full-size eventually.
  • II is is light pink in the pan, but applies darker on my skin like a soft natural rose pink glow, I adore this shade. It has tiny flecks of silver sparkle but it’s not glittery on the skin.
  • III is a deeper warm reddish color but as you can see from the swatch below, it’s not orangey (however it will pull darker, warmer and almost orangey on fairer skin tones like The Non-Blonde)
  • Goulue is a new shade, currently a VIB Rouge Exclusive at Sephora, it’s a stunning medium-deep rose with golden shimmer

I think this palette will be a versatile one that will go with a wide range of looks for lips and eyes, but the overall color scheme seems to be on the medium to dark side which may be too much for fair skins if you find blushes tend to darken/oxidize on you. For me – I love a strong blush to add a bit of color and life to my face when I wear neutral lips. The texture of the blushes is smooth and easy to blend. I think it contains classics one can wear every day. The colors with the exception of the Paloma duo are all shimmery, but they don’t emphasize my pores or look frosted.

There are a few new launches for face palettes to choose from this spring including the Urban Decay x Gwen Stefani Blush Palette (new shades) and MAC Contour and Sculpt Palette (value set with cult classics). You may want to browse stores or research swatches online before committing to a palette. I feel like this season we are on highlighter, foundation and blush overload. I just got both of the other two, I’ll try to review and compare them as soon as I can.

I deem both of these palettes winners in terms of color selection, quality and packaging. They are travel-friendly and I love that they come with in a sturdy compact with a decent sized mirror which makes it easy to apply them on-the-go. They are both limited-edition. I think given the size and packaging the prices are very reasonable for a luxury beauty palette.

You can find the NARSissist L’Amour, Toujours L’Amour Eyeshadow Palette for $59 online at NARS, Barneys New York and Saks Fifth Avenue (for some reason right now it’s listed at a higher price at Saks). The NARSissist Cheek Studio Palette retails for $65 and is exclusive to Sephora online and in stores.

Have you checked out these NARS palettes yet? What did you think?

Both palettes were sent courtesy of the NARS team for review consideration.

13 Comments
Uncategorized

YSL Spring 2016 La Lacquer Couture Nail Lacquers: Love Pink and Peace Green

January 19, 2016

For spring YSL has launched two limited-edition La Lacquer Couture Nail Lacquers in Love Pink and Peace Green ($27 each). I ordered these as soon as they popped up online directly from YSL but they appear to be sold out everywhere now, at least online. I never saw these at counters – I’m not sure if they sold out, never arrived or haven’t launched yet in stores. If you’re interested in either shade, I suggest you try calling your local counters to see if they have any sooner than later. Update: thanks to my Cathy for letting me know they are now available online at Nordstrom!

Both are iridescent shimmers with medium coverage. Two coats offers smooth coverage but with a slightly transparent quality. I preferred three coats for both of the shades. They are both duo chrome in the bottles. Love Pink flashes a little bit of green and Peace Green flashes a little bit of opal pink. On the nails the shimmer is more subtle. These have a milky kind of sheen and shimmer and the duo chrome quality is very subtle. I love aqua colors for the nails but often times feel like they look so un-natural on my olive skin tone. Peace Green is soft enough that it doesn’t look sharp. Sometimes greens + my olive skin just doesn’t look good together. Peace Green has a softness that makes it pretty wearable, even for me.

I haven’t been able to test these for lasting power since I’m in the midst of swatching and shooting some photos for nail polishes. In my past experience with YSL nail polishes, lasting power is very good (at least 5 days without tip wear and no chipping). The brush and formula are really good – there is a noticeable difference in application, pigment and shine to me to justify the high price of these over other brands like Zoya, Essie or OPI but that’s just my personal take.

Onto the swatches. The duochrome is very subtle so I took several photos to try and capture the dimension of the shimmer. It was a bit difficult since the blend of shimmers in these meld together into a milky kind of sheen. Love Pink is a really pretty soft pink shimmer.

Sometimes I like matching nails to accessories. Do you do this too? Shown with 3 coats:

Indoor natural light, no flash:

In direct sunlight with flash:

Peace Green, shown below with three coats:

In sunlight with flash:

Indoor, natural light, no flash:

I think both are really pretty soft pastels for spring. The shimmer makes these really unique with the milky kind of blurred shimmer effect. It gives them a soft sheen that I don’t see in many other shimmer polishes. I’m not really familiar with the launch dates of the YSL collections so even though these are sold out online, it’s possible they might still be available at counters and stores. If you’ve spotted the collection – please let us all know in the comments.

Both Love Pink and Peace Green are limited-edition shades. If you’ve been eyeing these I hope you can find them somewhere! Available right now online at Nordstrom.

33 Comments
Uncategorized

YSL Rouge Pur Couture Glossy Stain – Spring 2016

January 18, 2016

This spring YSL has launched two new Glossy Stains ($36 each) in Tangerine Boho and Rose Folk. Both are warm-toned glossy tints. I couldn’t find these anywhere at counters near me so I ordered these online sight unseen. The colors are warmer than I anticipated but offer a medium to bright wash of coral to the lips that will brighten the complexion. I’m a huge fan of many of the YSL Glossy Stains (in particular the Pop Water colors). These are different from your normal lip stain because they don’t dry out my lips and remain glossy once dry.

Love Pink nail lacquer (available for pre-order at Saks)

Tangerine Boho is a warm bright coral red. Rose Folk is a few shades lighter but runs peachy on me (instead of a pink like the name rose implies). Your mileage may vary depending on your lip tone – these pull very warm on me but have a slight transparent quality which allows the lip to show through slightly. These are slightly scented with a pleasant sweet fragrance but it’s subtle and not overpowering.

In case you’re new to this formula, the tips are beveled for easy application:

Swatch comparisons:

YSL Pop Water Glossy Stains in Wet Nude, Juicy Peach, Eau de Corail (swatched here)
Tom Ford Lip Color in Twist of Fate (review here)
Tom Ford Bare Peach (reviewed here)
MAC Huggable Glass in Such a Sweetheart and Cool & Cute (reviewed here)
Tom Ford Sweet Spot (swatches here)

If you already own some of the other Pop Water Glossy stains I think you can probably skip these two. Tangerine Boho is a redder version of Juicy Peach and more red version of Onde Rose. Rose Folk is a slightly deeper version of Wet Nude and lighter than Eau de Corail. I do think they are both lovely – although these are from the spring collection, they have more of a summery vibe.
I’m drawn more towards Rose Folk (the lighter option) as I love a good peachy color. I do think it pulls more peach than rose, but if you’ve seen/tested these in person, I’d love to hear your take on these as well.

Both of the YSL Glossy Stains from the spring collection retail for $36 each. You might want to see if your local counters have these. Also online at Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Barneys New York and YSL.

10 Comments
Uncategorized

IMATS Los Angeles 2016 + My Mini Haul

January 17, 2016

This year I finally made it to IMATS Los Angeles in Pasadena, California. This event has been on my radar for such a long time so I was thrilled when MustaeV invited me to attend the Makeup Artist Pro-Card Event on Friday. Since I had never attended one of these events before, I wasn’t sure what to expect and it was significantly larger than I expected. For makeup professionals who have attended The Makeup Show, the concept of IMATS is similar – but is open for anyone to attend. I didn’t do an exact booth count, but there seem to be a lot more vendors and brands featured at IMATS.

IMATS in Los Angeles is held at the Pasadena Convention Center and the booths were split into two different halls. I looked through the list of attending brands and had a list of booths to visit including Beautylish, MustaeV, Kat Von D Beauty, Make Up For Ever, Anastasia of Beverly Hills, Le Metier de Beaute, Temptu, tarte, Hakuhodo to name a few. I was told by a few other fellow beauty bloggers to expect booths to be extremely busy and packed and they weren’t joking. I arrived at 4:30 and stayed until closing at 7. I only made it to a portion of the vendors I had on my list, many had crowds or lines I didn’t have patience for. The first brand I went to was Anastasia which had a long line just to submit your purchase requests on a form, and then a 2 hour wait to pick up your items.

I snapped a few pictures as I walked throughout the event. A look at the floor layout, wish I could have gotten an aerial view of the entire setup.

Amazing demonstrations of body art and special effects. The artists are phenomenal.

A look at the MustaeV setup some exciting releases coming out this year were not yet on display, but I can’t wait to share them with you later this spring.

Setup on one of the stages (right), a look at Kryolan Professional Makeup Palettes (left):

Viseart Palettes:

Palettes from BH Cosmetics, brushes galore from Hakuhodo:

Beautylish featured a new line from makeup artist Natasha Denona. Right now they offer the Glow System (complexion products) online. The remaining items are expected to launch by the end of February (shadows are supposed to launch end of January). Natasha herself was in attendance and she was so kind to take the time to explain some of her products. I was also thrilled to see @trishalee_w from A Glittery Life working the booth – she’s an amazing artist and helped me pick out a blush (I wanted like all of them, but she helped me pick 1 to start with). I will be reviewing the Glow System and more from the Natasha Denona line soon, texture and pigments are really phenomenal and so unique.

Several have asked for a haul post. I didn’t buy much – there were a few booths where I had intended to go back to pick up  items, but I didn’t have time and I did not have tickets for the other days of the event, so here’s a snapshot of what I picked up. I’ll have reviews + swatches in the next couple of weeks (as soon as I can). Most items you can buy elsewhere right now. I’m most excited about the Beautylish x Natasha Denona launches that are coming in a few months.
The items I looked at were at full retail price (they might have had discounts for pro-card holders). The Glow Kits were offered at $40 each without sales tax.

I was also very fortunate to receive a generous gift of the Natasha Denona 28 Eyeshadow Palette in Green Brown. It’s just so dreamy and from what I swatched at the booth – the textures are super saturated, highly pigmented and gorgeous. I have several of the 5 pan palettes on my wishlist but this one is just phenomenal. I die for the texture! The packaging:

28 shades of stunning green and brown. I am not a green eyeshadow wearer but I lightly swiped the top row on my eyes this morning – texture, pigment and shimmer = OMG.

If you are able to attend one of the IMATS events I highly recommend going. It’s a beauty lovers dream come true to visit all the booths and see makeup artists in action. Do be sure to carve out as much time as possible if you’re going on 1 day – I thought I could make my rounds in 2 hours, but I guess that was being overly optimistic! You can check out the IMATS website to see where else they will be traveling this year in 2016, there are three dates listed so far: 

New York, April 8 – 10
London, June 3 – 6
Vancouver, July 16 – 17
If you’re in the Los Angeles area and missed out, be sure to check it out next year. Otherwise if you are a makeup professional, you might want to consider attending The Makeup Show (see their FAQ page to check if you qualify to attend). They will be in Los Angeles later this year in March.

Many thanks again to MustaeV for enabling me to attend this year! Have you been to IMATS before? If yes, please let me know!

32 Comments
Base Makeup NARS

NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint Review

January 15, 2016

Today NARS is launching their new Velvet Matte Skin Tint ($44 for 1.7 oz/50 ml). I am a huge fan of NARS foundations and face products and this new one is quite amazing. Long time Beauty Look Book readers know that I adore the Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer because it’s not like a traditional tinted moisturizer but more of a natural looking skin tint that offers medium buildable coverage with a slightly dewy sheen. Anytime someone asks me for a recommendation on a natural foundation, the NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer is the first one on my list, but many of my friends are hesitant to try it because they think it will be too dewy for their normal/combo to oily skin (I still think it’s suitable for oily skin). Well the new Velvet Matte Skin Tint offers the same kind of beautiful medium buildable coverage and natural finish – but without any glow and with a slightly velvety matte finish. 

The Velvet Matte Skin Tint (oil-free) comes with broad spectrum SPF 30 just like the Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer. The texture is similar in that it’s easy blend, applies smoothly, covers redness and evens out the skin. It dries to a velvety finish without looking flat or too dry like the name matte often implies. It’s like skin but better and on me it’s lasted an impressive amount of time. All day without separating, fading or creasing. Coverage is medium – enough to even out the skintone but not too heavy. It allows your skin to breathe so to speak and feels slightly hydrating but still weightless.

In addition to evening out the skin, it has Rose Fruit Extract to minimize pores and control shine. Vitamins C and E and broad spectrum SPF to protect the skin from environmental stress.

It’s pure love.

For the Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer, I have alternated between
two shades in Groenland and St. Moritz. Right now I am in between shades but am a closer match to St. Moritz because I still have some of my summer tan.
St. Moritz is my summer shade and Groenland is my most-of-the-year
shade. I found that the Velvet Matte Skin Tint colors in corresponding
shades look slightly different when swatched but once you blend it out
on the skin, they are identical. So you should be able to use the same
color of Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer and Velvet Matte Skin Tint. For reference you can find swatches of all the colors on Karen’s blog at Makeup and Beauty Blog.

First a look at the packaging differences of some of the foundations. The Velvet Matte Skin Tint comes in a sleek squeeze tube similar to the Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer, but it’s slightly skinnier and longer in size.

Here are two sets of swatch comparisons to Groenland and St. Moritz:

Set one above includes:
Buxom Show Some Skin in You’re a Natural and Meet Me Latte (shown here)
____________________________

Set two above includes:

Tom Ford Traceless Perfecting Foundation in Bisque and Natural (review here + here)
NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Custard and Ginger

____________________________

Bottom line amazing and definitely worth checking out. It’s just as good as the Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer without the glow, but still natural looking. You can find the Velvet Matte Skin Tint now online at NARS and at NARS Boutiques. It will launch at Sephora, Nordstrom, Barney’s New York and all other NARS retailers starting February 1st. 

Do you have any NARS foundation favorites? (P.S. I’m behind responding to e-mails and comments, but will catch up later on Sunday this weekend, I’ve been super busy this past week and I’m also attending IMATS for the first time today!)


The Velvet Matte Skin Tints were sent courtesy of NARS for review consideration.

29 Comments
Base Makeup Edward Bess

Edward Bess Flawless Illusion Transforming Full Coverage Foundation

January 14, 2016

Last fall, Edward Bess launched a new foundation formula called the Flawless Illusion Transforming Full Coverage Foundation ($49 for .27 oz/7.7g, made in Italy). It’s a compact cream foundation that I’ve been putting to the test for a few months now and I deem this another winner from his line. There are five shades in total: Fair, Light, Medium, Tan and Deep. It’s completely scent free and comes in a solid cream format. It does offer full coverage that I find is easy to build and unlike many other solid cream foundations this one feels completely weightless on the skin. The finish is truly flawless – it melds into the skin for a natural finish, not dewy or matte, but somewhere in between. It smooths out the skin beautifully with really good coverage but looks like skin. It minimizes pores and fine lines. It’s pure love. Here’s a look at all five shades, first is with flash:

Under natural light, no flash:

Swatches below, applied with fingers:

As with most full coverage foundations I do believe you need to prep the skin properly before you apply foundation. I’ve tested it with and without primers, I don’t think you need to add a primer with this one, but make sure your skin is properly moisturized and the foundation will glide onto the skin smoothly (I really love this one over beauty oils like the Laura Mercier Infusion de Rose Nourishing Oil or Kate Somerville Dilo Oil).

In terms of wear and lasting power, I found it lasted all day without separating anywhere. I do set with powder like I do with all my foundations. Over the last part of the year when we had a heat wave and lots of sunny
weather here in Southern California my match was Tan. Now that I’ve
started to lighten a bit my match is currently Medium – it’s a neutral
beige, not yellow or pink, but a true neutral. Additionally there is a new brush that Edward launched called the Retractable Buff and Blend Brush. It’s one of the larger kabuki brushes I’ve tried and incredibly soft. It’s made of synthetic hair and is very dense, but still very soft. You can use it with this foundation or powder. I prefer to apply the cream with fingers or a damp beauty blender sponge. This brush can act as a nice foundation buffer if you work it in with a circular motion.

A few swatch comparisons. I’m a huge fan of many other Edward Bess foundations and creams – unfortunately I’m out of a few of them because I’ve used them up. Here’s what I have to compare, with a couple NARS shades as a baseline in case you’re my skin twin. In my foundation testing experience, NARS Punjab is one of the most yellow/olive toned foundations I’ve tried. Santa Fe is one shade lighter but pulls more neutral/pink. I hope this helps show the undertone of the Edward Bess foundations below.
Edward Bess Complexion Correcting Mousse – thicker and richer in coverage
Edward Bess Sheer Satin Compact Foundation – sheerer and more dewy in coverage
NARS All Day Luminous Foundation – has a more coverage

Bottom line yet another winner from Edward Bess’s line – he can do no wrong. This spring seems to be the season of new foundations – many of which seem to be focused on a getting a glowy and dewy look. If you are in search of something that is more natural in finish but still offers full coverage, the one from Edward Bess is worth a look.

You can find the Edward Bess Flawless Illusion Transforming Full Coverage Foundation at Edward Bess counters. Online at Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, QVC and Edward Bess.

Foundation kindly provided courtesy of the amazing Edward Bess.

16 Comments