What it is: A tinted moisturizer in solid form that offers light coverage and a natural dewy finish. 

Price/Quantity: $34 for 0.63 oz / 18g

Availability: Ulta, IT Cosmetics

Shade Range: 15 Shades

Packaging: Glass jar with twist off lid. 

Smell/Fragrance: I don’t see fragrance in the ingredients but I also do not see anything that says fragrance-free in the product description. I don’t pick up on any fragrance-like scent when I sniff at it and what I do smell is ultra faint. 

Expiration/Shelf Life: 12 months after opening.

Ingredients (from itcosmetics.com):

AQUA / WATER / EAU, DIMETHICONE, ISOTRIDECYL ISONONANOATE, GLYCERIN, CANDELILLA CERA / CANDELILLA WAX / CIRE DE CANDELILLA, DIPROPYLENE GLYCOL, POLYMETHYLSILSESQUIOXANE, PEG-9 POLYDIMETHYLSILOXYETHYL DIMETHICONE, DIMETHICONE/POLYGLYCERIN-3 CROSSPOLYMER, POLYGLYCERYL-4 ISOSTEARATE, CETYL PEG/PPG-10/1 DIMETHICONE, SYNTHETIC FLUORPHLOGOPITE, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, PHENOXYETHANOL, ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN, TOCOPHEROL, DISODIUM STEAROYL GLUTAMATE, SODIUM HYALURONATE, ALUMINUM HYDROXIDE, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, CARBOMER, SODIUM LACTATE, POLYSORBATE 20, PENTAERYTHRITYL TETRA-DI-T-BUTYL HYDROXYHYDROCINNAMATE, PALMITOYL TRIPEPTIDE-1, PALMITOYL TETRAPEPTIDE-7.

[+/- MAY CONTAIN / PEUT CONTENIR CI 77891 / TITANIUM DIOXIDE, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 / IRON OXIDES]

Performance/Experience

Choosing A Shade: I picked up a tester of this several times at a local Ulta store before I ended up buying it so I didn’t have a difficult time choosing a shade. I went with Shade 125 which is described as being fair with cool pink undertones. Under the store lighting, I felt this shade was a very good match for me. When I bought it and opened it up at home, the product in the jar looked a little dark to me and I was afraid to use it, thinking I’d somehow chosen the wrong shade. I decided to try it anyway and the shade worked out just fine.

Application: So far I’ve tried applying this with fingers, a damp sponge, and with a Sephora #56 foundation brush, which is a bit fluffy and good for buffing foundation out. Using my fingers seems to take longer than using a brush or sponge because I can only pick up and apply a small amount at a time. Using a brush to apply the product doesn’t seem to give me as seamless an application though. I prefer how it looks applied with fingers – gives me a smoother finish and more coverage. I held off on using a sponge for a long time for fear of absorbing too much product but it works surprisingly well. It almost reminds me of how cushion foundations apply and actually gives me a bit more coverage compared to the other two methods.

Texture/Consistency/Finish: I’d say the texture of this is the second biggest selling point, with the finish being the first for me. It feels so hydrating. It’s mostly a solid in the jar but as I swipe my finger over the surface, it melts instantly. On my face, it blends out effortlessly. You can totally use this with no tools at all except your hands. The finish is natural-dewy and as skin-like as you can get. When I look at it super up close, it is difficult to tell that it’s actually makeup. Although it’s hydrating, it is not greasy or slippery. Once I blend it out, it has the feeling of “setting down”. No slick feeling. 

Coverage: It can go from ultra sheer and be built up a bit to light, approaching medium depending on what you deem necessary to even out or cover up for your own situation. If you have slight redness and areas of your face that vary in tones (some more yellow areas, some more pink, etc.), this will even it out noticeably enough. It doesn’t do much of anything for me in terms of freckles, excessive pigmentation from sun damage or red spots from previous acne breakouts. I still need a concealer if I want to cover any of those things. It does a good job of smoothing out the look of pores without looking like it’s sitting in the pores. That’s another huge selling point for me.

Longevity: This can wear well for a long day but it depends on the weather and what I wear under it. On a hot/humid day, this gets a little too dewy for me early in the day. In cooler weather, it looks good for much longer without needing extra powder throughout the day. I typically wear sunscreen under my makeup which can greatly affect how the foundation looks later in the day. Over Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen SPF 40, I found this tends to get shiny on me earlier in the day (especially warmer days) but it does not cause the makeup to gather in lines/pores and it doesn’t cause it to be more prone to transferring. When I wear it over Supergoop Mineral Matte Screen SPF 40, I have far less shine later in the day but a tiny bit more gathering in larger lines. Personally I prefer the second combo.

Pros and Cons

Things I like:

• How it sits on the skin
• That it gives a true no-makeup makeup look
• Great shade match for me
• Super easy to apply and blend out
• Generally a fast product to use and I don’t feel the need to use other makeup with it if I don’t want

Drawbacks and other considerations:

• It doesn’t offer a whole lot of coverage
• It could possibly be overly hydrating/dewy for some skin types
• It is pretty expensive when you consider the amount in the container vs the price. Foundations are usually around 1 oz. This is a little over 1/2 an oz. 

Before and After

For both of these, the foundation is applied to bare skin and no powder or concealer were used.

I’ve been testing this for quite a while because I couldn’t decide whether I liked it or not. I think I was in denial about the quality not being quite up to snuff because after all it is a handy palette full of neutral matte eyeshadows – and I LOVE that concept. But I feel like I HAVE to use a primer if I want it to look good and I have to blend very carefully because they can have a tendency to look patchy on the eyelid. And yet, I still reach for it because I like the colors and it’s convenient having them all together in one palette! Argh, I still have such an internal conflict but I want to get this review out, so here it is.

Price/Quantity: $42 for a total of 13.02 g of product. The 14 smaller shadows are 0.8 g each and the 1 larger shadow is 1.82 g.

Availability: It Cosmetics, Ulta

Shade Range: 15 shades (14 matte / 1 shimmery)

• Sheer Joy – Light slightly pink-toned nude. The sheerest shade in the palette.
• Soft Lights – Light grayish taupe. Fairly sheer.
• Warmth – Light warm brown. Has okay pigmentation and is a little powdery/chalky.
• Soulful – Rosy brown. Fairly sheer.
• Mocha – Greenish light brown. Fairly sheer.
• Violet – Cool light grayish purple. Fairly powdery/chalky but has better pigmentation.
• Midnight – Navy blue. A little powdery/chalky and has average pigmentation.
• Noir – Charcoal (not super black). A little powdery/chalky and has average pigmentation.
• Love – Light pinky nude. Good pigmentation.
• Sunrise – Warm terra-cotta brown. Good pigmentation.
• Sunset – Warm reddish brown. Good pigmentation.
• All Heart – Warm dusty purple. Average pigmentation.
• Java – Cooler dark brown. Average pigmentation.
• Iconic – Blackened indigo. Average pigmentation.
• Transforming Pearl – Light neutral pearl (neither yellow, nor pink). Swatches fairly pearly but on the eye, it looks less shimmery.

Packaging: The outside of the palette is covered in a light pink velvet with the palette name printed in gold metallic paint. I’m not so sure about that paint lasting for a long time but so far I haven’t seen it flake off at all. It closes shut with a magnet like Urban Decay’s Naked 1 Palette. Inside, there is a good sized mirror in the lid and the whole face of it is covered in a gold metallic overlay.

Smell: No fragrance that I can discern but it does have a strange earthy smell to it. It’s only noticeable if I am trying to smell it, not during normal application.

The Good:

1. There are lots of nice neutral matte colors to choose from that will suit many skin tones.
2. The color range is versatile so you could create a variety of look with them.
3. It is convenient having all these colors together in one palette.
4. The shadows aren’t too tightly packed in the pan so it’s not difficult for a brush to pick up color.
5. The price isn’t too high for the number of eyeshadows you get.
6. When I wore these over a primer they lasted 8 hours without creasing or fading.
7. For matte shadows these are pretty forgiving. Some matte eyeshadows can make eyelids look dry, dull, and crepey. These didn’t make my eyelids look better but they didn’t make them look worse either.

The Not So Good:

1. Pigmentation is lacking. It’s not terrible but I do need to use a primer and I need to put on several layers of the same color because the process of blending sheers out the color too much. It takes a lot of time to apply these and have them look even and smooth.
2. Some shades are fairly powdery which is a bummer.
3. These eyeshadows can look a little patchy on the lid which is worse if I don’t use a primer.
4. The transforming pearl shade is very light on the shimmer and applying it over color for the purpose of “transforming” it into a shimmery shade seems to mostly wash out the color. It is not bad on it own though.
5. After wearing these on unprimed eyes for 8 hours they looked patchy, faded, and slightly creased.
6. Some fallout, especially from the darker shades

Worth Buying?

I’m going to say no, regretfully. Of 15 shades, the only 3 that were high quality were Love, Sunrise, and Sunset. The rest were just okay in pigmentation and texture. It’s not a terrible product by any means, it’s just not the quality I’d expect for $42. For the same price you can get the Lorac Pro Palette with 16 shades and AMAZING quality across the board, but of course, not as many matte choices. I feel like the value isn’t quite there.