The foundation I have been the most excited about this season is the new Marc Jacobs Shameless Youthful-Look 24 Hour Foundation ($46 for 1.08 fl oz/32 ml). I was thrilled and thankful to receive a few samples to test in R310, Y320 and Y360. It comes in a wide range of shades with 29 options and different undertones. After trying this I found the samples didn’t match me. Y320 was too light and Y360 too dark/yellow. Anything with an R would definitely be too pink. I ordered Y340 hoping it would be the perfect in-between. I also have their new The Seamless Brush ($38) to review. After testing this for quite some time now I have a luke-warm review on this formula. More thoughts below.
First some notes about the Marc Jacobs Shameless Foundation. It’s a medium natural looking foundation that comes in the cutest squeeze tube packaging. I find it gives enough coverage to make dark spots and freckles disappear in a natural way. There’s no detectable scent. The SPF in the product is 25 but there is no flashback in photographs with a flash (full application below). I like that on these bottles they list the expiration date because so many times I can’t keep track of how long I’ve had a foundation or skincare product. I know that often times the 12 month, 24 month or whatever time period expiration is based on when you open the product, but sometimes having a date is nice.
I had issues with application. I couldn’t get it consistently smooth without the patchy finish. I tried a number of moisturizers and primers and since I know some foundation formulas are not compatible with all kinds of primers, I decided to try this the most with the Marc Jacobs Under(cover) Perfecting Face Primer. As much as I’d love to have 1 universal primer, sometimes it’s just best to use the same brand of primer/foundation because they usually design them with their entire line in mind.
If you have any kind of dry skin, I’d say this is not a base for you. I have normal combination skin but due to the weather right now I’m slightly dry. I found the Shameless Foundation worked best over the Marc Jacobs Under(cover) Perfecting Face Primer and applied with a damp beautyblender. I do really like the new Seamless Brush for other cream products like cream highlighter or blush, but for me it made this foundation streak.
Color-wise the Ys are very very yellow. Most of the time I cannot find bases yellow enough. These are borderline too yellow for me. My best match is Y340, as you can see below Y360 is VERY yellow. I added the Estee Lauder Doublewear 3W1 (also my match) below so you can see that even though that shade is yellow it’s still a little bit more neutral.
The pros of this foundation are the natural looking coverage, lasting power and after it sets it does look nice. It photographs extremely well. The cons are the application – it just never set 100% well on my skin probably because I have some dry spots. All this being said since Florida is about to get hot and humid in a couple of months I’m going to set these aside and revisit in the spring.
The brush is something I really like, just not for foundation. It’s very smooth and soft and perfect for cream highlighters or blushes. For foundation I just really prefer sponges for a seamless blended finish. The size is really perfect – I find most cream brushes too small.
Wearing Marc Jacobs Shameless in Y340 all over the face below, The Seamless Brush held up for scale (although I prefer using a beautyblender to apply). No powder or concealer. Brows are Diorshow Browstyler in Universal Brown. Lipstick is Sonic Truth. Photo is taken with a flash, you can see without any setting powder the foundation has no flash back. I’d still 100% recommend a setting powder for this though. As you can see below I think it photographs pretty well. An up close and personal look in real life would show you this base just sat on my skin, it never really blended 100% to my preference.
Bottom line this formula doesn’t work for me right now. If you have dry skin I think it definitely is best you try something else. Given that my skin will change once Florida gets hot again I have high hopes this will work in the spring. There are things I like and things I dislike about this formula. For now I can’t say I love it. I do love the new brush though.
You can find the Marc Jacobs Shameless Foundation out now. Available at Marc Jacobs Beauty, Sephora, Neiman Marcus and Net-A-Porter.
Have you tried this? What kind of skin do you have and what were your thoughts?
Many thanks to Marc Jacobs Beauty for sending this to review. Y340 purchased by me.
