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I’ve been wanting to try using foundations again but have been hesitant to pick up some Western brands because they’re often a bit too heavy for me (though seeing Sophia use the NARS one is tempting me to pick up a bottle myself), so I was pretty glad when I went to Stylenanda to see that they do carry foundations and not only BB creams. I picked up two from one – a cream that was thicker and this water based foundation which had a light, natural coverage. I thought that this would be suitable for every day use, especially in the hotter weather when I don’t want to be caked on.
I picked this product up in Natural Ivory, which is actually a shade lighter than what was recommended to me. I find that most store assistants will recommend me a slightly darker shade (usually a 23) but I much prefer the look of a 21 on my skin. I find that it blends better and looks more natural with the rest of me too. Plus, I am also a sucker for wanting a pale complexion.
Read on for my full review!
So the packaging for this product is quite simple and I absolutely love it. It comes in a thick, frosted glass bottle which looks really classy – I think that it would be great for gifting too. It’s easy to store and sits well with the rest of my make up. The quality is really sturdy though I don’t suggest dropping this… like all glass bottle, you’ll probably end up with a lot of wasted product all over your bathroom floor. The material is sturdy but breakable.
The bottle comes with a dropper applicator, which is quite mess free and easy to use. Since the liquid is opaque though, it makes it a little hard to gauge how much is in the dropper so you just have to be a little more careful. The formula is thin and watery, so it’s easy to get on the back of your hand before application with a beauty blender. It’s very quick for morning applications!
The bottle is a bit heavy and still breakable though, so I don’t think that this will be suitable for travel purposes. However, the dropper means that it’s pretty easy to decant – as long as you can estimate how much of it you’ll need. Overall though, I don’t think that you’ll have any trouble with spillages.
You can see my swatch above. As you can see in the second image, the product takes a little bit longer to blend evenly (especially if you are using the fingers) as the formula is very much water based and ‘moves’ a lot. Once you do, you’ll get a very light and natural application with a slightly dewy finish – it doesn’t give much coverage at all but lightly evens out your skin tone. I would recommend this for people with really good skin who only want a subtle foundation base.
For me, as my normal complexion is quite decent, I was looking for a light foundation that I could use daily. My main problem, I guess, is that I’m used to more medium-high coverage BB cream bases that give me a brightening effect and a more full application. The product looks good, however, it does not give me any brightening and is a little bit too sheer for me.
At first, I tried to use only a single droplet but I found myself using closer to maybe three small drops in order to get an even, overall coverage on my face. With less, I felt like the product looked a little patchy. By layering on the foundation, I hoped for a fuller coverage (that is, building up the pigmentation) but the product was difficult to build up and I often just use more concealer or the matte ‘cream foundation’ from 3CE to match it.
Overall, I’m not completely taken with the product. It’s okay but it doesn’t wow me and I don’t find myself reaching for it often as it is just too sheer and difficult to build up.
Here’s my verdict!
THE GOOD
- Classy (and gift-friendly) elegant packaging
- Thick glass
- Mess-free dropper applicator
- Natural finish
- Easy to decant for travels
THE BAD
- Too sheer
- Difficult to build up coverage
- Takes a longer time to blend
- Need to use quite a lot of it due to thin texture
- Not travel friendly (as the bottle is breakable)
- No brightening effect and minimum coverage
WOULD I REPURCHASE?
I had high expectation for this product because I had found quite a few products from 3CE that I liked. Unfortunately, this wasn’t one of them and I don’t think that I will be repurchasing. It would be suitable for someone who is looking for a very sheer foundation but, for me, I only wanted something lighter – not almost invisible. I find that the water formula was a bit harder to blend too, which doesn’t work for how quickly I have to do my make up in the morning.
WHERE TO GET IT FROM
I got mine from the 3CE store is Haeundae, Busan but here is where you can check for it online. StyleKorean is a sponsor for Oh My Stellar and is a trusted website amongst many of us bloggers and beauty lovers. Please note that the below banner is an affiliate link and purchases through this do help in the support of my blog but do not affect my opinion nor cost you:
