Let me start by saying I LOVE the Fenty Beauty campaign. Beauty should always be inclusive, diverse, in all skin colors and backgrounds. In case you haven’t seen it, the promotion video has the most diverse, bad-ass looking ladies I’ve seen from any beauty brands. By now it’s been more than a month since they launched and yet I’m still giddy with it. There are pieces that I absolutely love and would even order shipping internationally if it runs out! (But please make it available in Germany!)
I was lucky to be able to check this collection out in the US last month. Especially for me, buying foundations are something I’d need to go to a store to try it out. Even as a seasoned beauty junkie, finding the perfect shade isn’t easy (hint hint, that’s why I’m developing twindly!).
In total, I spent something like an hour total at the Fenty Beauty counter (visited like 6 Sephora branches while I was there as well ~ more stories on this later). Basically, I kept on getting new stuff every time I came to a counter until I was finally happy with my purchases (one still needs to have a budget, unfortunately!).
Here are my purchases and what I thought of them!
Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation in 330
This is the one piece I have to get from this brand. As someone with a skin tone somewhere on the medium – dark range, how can I resist the promise of 40 shades? My quest begins at the first Sephora branch I visited.
Choosing the Right Shade
The beauty assistant matched me first to the number 330, which is a medium-dark warm shade. I had a bit back and fro of this shade because I thought it was a tad too yellow.
And perhaps in my mind, I thought if I had picked one blindly (based on internet swatch) I would pick out 310 because that’s what Karen of mbb uses (and she’s sort of my skin twins). I realized now though, I am tanner than her. The shade finder on the Fenty Beauty site also doesn’t help me much. To me, the models on 300-330 don’t look that much different in skintone, and how am I going to say for sure which one is mine?
The other option for less yellow is the 300 (neutral). But finally after two more Sephora tryouts with different beauty assistants (interesting how different people also has different opinions), tried all colors in the 300-330 range, and dragging dear hubs for a second opinion, I settled on the 330! Still, I’m curious on how this will perform on my sun-deprived / less warm skin later in winter.
TIP for using this foundation
- Prep your skin well before using this foundation. One of the Sephora ladies was very adamant about this and I couldn’t agree more. You really need to moisturize properly beforehand, because it dried and settled quickly to a sort of powdered luminescent consistency. If you don’t moisturize, it might turn into patchiness on your skin.
- Because of the quick drying thing, you need to apply on your face in sections. Do parts of your face and spread instantly, and not dot on the whole face and spread afterward.
- It oxidized a bit, so the color tends to get a bit darker. When you try it out, wait a bit to see how it looks after a few minutes.
- Fenty Beauty Full Bodied Foundation Brush works really well with this foundation!
Final Verdict
I can say my skin is loving this foundation. It stayed put the whole day, I don’t really need to powder it on, it plays well with my holy grail primer, Deciem’s Hylamide HA Blur.
It is so true with the description of “soft matte”. It’s basically matte but not dead matte. It basically looks like even-toned skin, but it’s definitely not dewy. I could get away with not setting it with powder (which I like), but I could see it would also look even better with the setting powder on.
Compared with my other foundations, Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation (my Holy Grail because it looks beautiful in wedding pictures) is more dewy-looking, IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream feels more moisturizing, heavier, and also dewy, Charlotte Tilbury Light Wonder Foundation feels oilier.
Match Stix Trio: Tan 300
I won’t lie, one pull for me to get more than one Match Stixs was because of the magnetic packaging. It’s so satisfying to have them click together!
First up though, getting the right ones!
When I asked which Match Stix colors I should get, the Sephora lady pulled out this cheat sheet diagram which shows which other products would match based on the foundation.
I tried all the shades mentioned here. Honestly, I didn’t plan to get the highlighter color (I happen to have enough and I don’t use it often). But OMG let me tell you about Rum.
The color, the consistency, everything.
It’s the most beautiful shade for my skintone. It has the perfect amount of gold and coral. It’s perfect for blush/highlighter, and yet it’s also a great color for the eyelids. Consistency? Creamy enough to put on the cheek, yet not too oily for the eyelids. LOVE LOVE LOVE.
Unfortunately, on the first Sephora I went to, this shade sold out. Me being quite paranoid given my experience with brands and their “limited” availability, I felt like I just have to have this shade. The alternative was to get a trio instead, which has Rum and Truffle. The only downside is that the concealer shade is Caramel instead of the recommended Walnut but it’s close enough so I decided to get the trio instead.
Which led me out to the next part of the story…
Match Stix: Also The Perfect Undereye Concealer
As it turned out the shade included here turned out to be too yellow for my undereye (esp when combined with the foundation). Looking back, perhaps that’s why I thought 330 was too yellow?
My previous experience with undereye concealers isn’t that great. I have relatively wrinkle-free skin, but my under eyes could be a real bitch. Almost everything either settles there and aged me or just impossible for me to get the right color. NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer was a great color, but it settles horribly (even when I set it with powder). Bobbi Brown is even worse (despite what everyone says). Makeup Forever palette was great in not settling so much, but the color is something I had to mix, and sometimes I’m in a hurry I didn’t get it right.
I told this to my Sephora beauty assistant, and she was telling me quite positively that “Match Stix won’t do that to you. It doesn’t crease.” I looked at her rather apprehensively since she basically has no wrinkle. But I was thinking, okay, let’s try this.
She tried this shade on me. And oh boy I looked like I have extra 10 hours of sleep.
Sold.
I could see why some will say it magnifies the problem because this concealer stix made the skin looks matte and not dewy, so if the undereye tends to be dry, then it will make it look dryer. As with the foundation, you have to prep the undereye area very well.
What it does very nicely is that it has great coverage, but at the same time, it is also very thin. So I don’t look like I put a ton of layers under my eyes. In fact, it does look like sleep!
Take caution though, if you do have very puffy under eyes. I have a feeling this could tug and became problematic to apply.
(… To Be Continued in Part Two with the Gloss Bomb and Foundation Brush!)
Hey I’m still confused as to which match stix shade worked well. Sand or Caramel?
Hi Tamara! Actually, both works, but Sand is better for covering undereye circle, and Caramel works for covering blemishes. If I were to get one shade, I would pick Sand because I’m usually more desperate to cover my undereyes than blemishes, but Caramel comes in the pre-packaged trio (and the other two in the trip is LOVE) and it works just fine. Hope this answers your question.