| Review | Lisa Eldridge The Foundation - Seamless Skin

| Review | Lisa Eldridge The Foundation - Seamless Skin

The most anticipated foundation launch this year, the Lisa Eldridge The Foundation is the talk of the town right now. There's a good reason for that! The iconic celebrity makeup artist, Lisa Eldridge, never disappoints when it comes to her makeup launches. Her iconic complexion technique has been highly coveted and emulated among beauty lovers for years now and now it will be even easier to create her signature flawless complexion with this foundation formulated by the makeup artist herself! This unique formula is not only formulated by Lisa but it is exclusive to her brand and exists nowhere else! 

PRICE & PACKAGING 

The Lisa Eldridge The Foundation - Seamless Skin retails for $61.00 USD and is available at Lisa Eldridge. This unique packaging is architectural in design. The bottle itself is composed of thick frosted glass and the cap is matte gold, the same matte gold that the lipstick tubes are designed of. The bottle has a pointed tip and is a unique geometric pod shape. One side of the bottle is flat, which allows you to place the bottle on its side without it rolling around, this is ideal for a makeup artist. However, you can't place the bottle upright easily. This can be annoying depending on how you like to store your makeup. While I love the unique design, I find that the packaging doesn't make it easy to store. The pump packaging is really lovely and allows you to pump a small amount of product at a time. 

SHADES 

This foundation is available in a massive 40 shade range! You never see such an expansive shade range with a small independent beauty brand but as a makeup artist, Lisa Eldridge made it happen. There really is a shade for everyone and these shades will suit your skin exactly. You will not have to settle for "the closest shade" with an expansive shade range like this one. 

This foundation range comes in three undertones - warm, cool, and neutral. As a neutral undertone, I greatly appreciate a brand that offers a true neutral tone because I often have to settle for a warm-toned foundation, I am a medium to tan skin tone but these shade offerings are much too warm to look like my real skin tone. I am very happy to see Lisa has considered that medium to tan skin tones don't necessarily have to have a warm skin tone. 

Each shade category contains four shades in different four undertones to suit virtually every skin tone. What I like about the neutral tones in this shade range is that they still have a slight warmth to them, which makes the shade look realistic and natural. I also often find that brands that do offer a neutral tone make them have an almost-grayish cast to them! This makes your skin look unnatural and flat, like a concrete wall. 

Lisa Eldridge offers sample cards with each of the four shades in each shade category. I HIGHLY recommend picking up these sample cards first to test and select your appropriate shade. This formula is not easy to shop for using only swatch images. These foundations appear darker in the bottle than they appear on the skin. I initially thought the sample card I got was too dark but after trying the shades, I actually found my perfect match! 

Shade No. 15 - This shade is a light-medium beige with a neutral undertone. This shade falls under the "Light-Medium" category of this shade range. It initially appeared too dark for my skin in the sample card and bottle but when applied to my skin, it suited me perfectly! I am approximately a MAC NC30-NC35 with a neutral undertone. 

No.15 Straight from the bottle

No.15 Heavily swatched

No.15 Lightly Blended

No.15 Fully Blended

Swatches from left to right: No.13, No.14, No.15, No.16, No.21, No.22, No.23, No.24

Swatches from left to right: No.13, No.14, No.15, No.16, No.21, No.22, No.23, No.24

FORMULA 

This foundation has a medium to full-ish coverage. The reason why I say full-ish is that the formula can build up very well but it doesn't get to a true finish. I define full coverage as something that can be used as a full coverage concealer. While this formula can be used to conceal, I wouldn't say it is full coverage. The formula only builds up to a certain point before it starts looking really heavy and the natural finish of the foundation implies it isn't intended to look heavy. I would say this formula is best used as a medium coverage foundation and if you need more coverage, I recommend using a concealer. 

I find the first layer of this foundation will cover minor redness but stronger redness will require another layer. You can get away with a third layer, if you really need it but I think the ideal amount of foundation is about two layers. Even with three layers, the sunspot on my cheek still shines through. I have to use my concealer to completely conceal it. 

The foundation has a creamy and somewhat slippy texture that is reminiscent of a silicone primer. It doesn't have that silicone feeling but there's something about the formula that reminds me of those kinds of primers. I think it's because when you initially start to apply the foundation, it does appear a bit streaky but it does easily blend into the skin with a little bit of work. 

Lisa Eldridge recommends using a flat foundation brush, which is offered from her brand, The Foundation Brush, for $76.00 USD. I personally own quite a few of these basic foundation brushes and you can find them from many brands for much less. I passed on purchasing this brush because this is my least favorite foundation brush style and for the price, I can't imagine it is that much better than the ones I have used before. When I applied the foundation with a flat foundation brush, it provides the most coverage during the initial application but there is a fair amount of streakiness that needs to be blended out. You can continue to use the brush to blend it out but it could take more time. If I'm feeling particularly impatient, I will use a sponge to blend out the foundation. 

You can apply the foundation with a sponge but with this formula, I find too much of the foundation gets absorbed and the application is quite sheer. When the application is more even, you will have to use more foundation to get coverage. I like a sponge only for blending after application. 

A large buffing brush can be a decent applicator if you use more of a stippling motion than an actual buffing motion because it minimizes the stealing of the foundation. If you buff, you may get more streaking. Also, if you buff, the foundation will sheer out significantly. 

I found that I, shockingly, enjoyed using my fingers to apply the foundation. It is the fastest and easiest way to achieve an even, streak-free application. Also, the warmth of your hands really works the product in the skin, bringing it to its true finish. What I mean by the true finish is that this foundation looks different some time after the initial application. 

When you first apply the foundation, the foundation does look a bit more makeup-heavy than I would like but after 30 minutes or so of wear, it really starts to melt into the skin and look really natural and skin-like! Initially, the formula can look cakey, especially, if you apply a little bit too much. It also caked up a bit when I applied it over concealer. I had to go back in with a dry blending sponge and press the intersecting areas to smooth them out. If you have a lot of texture on your skin, I recommend starting with very little and using thin and light layers to prevent any cakiness that can occur. 

This foundation actually looks better the longer you wear it because it really forms and melts into the skin. The finish in general is very natural and has a soft satin finish. This finish will suit a range of skin types. I have a normal to dry skin type and normally I prefer more of a glowing finish but this natural finish is very beautiful and it doesn't emphasize any dryness or texture. I do get a bit oily in the center of my face but this foundation definitely controls for that oil and keeps my complexion looking fresh all day long. 

Now, the formula is supposed to be versatile and can be manipulated to be more of a dewy or glowing finish. However, this formula is not compatible with water-based primers. I find that this formula pills really badly when used over balmy or water-based primers. If you want to create a more dewy complexion, I highly recommend using a facial oil or oil-based primer. The foundation applies smoothly and evenly on a facial oil. It adds a really nice healthy glow to the typically satin finish. The formula also mixes well with liquid highlighters. I reviewed the Lisa Eldridge Elevated Glow Highlighter here.

This foundation wears beautifully, like I stated previously, it looks better the longer your wear it. This foundation lasts beyond eight hours without fading or wearing away. If anything, it just looks more like real skin as the day goes on. You can prolong the wear of this foundation with primer and setting with a powder but you really don't need to. This really depends on how much longer you'd like to wear your foundation beyond eight hours. 

THE LOOK 

You can see how flawless my skin looks in these images. This foundation not only photographs well but it looks great in person after it fuses with the skin. It looks really flawless and seamless, which is impressive for how comfortable and lightweight it feels. 

FINAL THOUGHTS 

I will say that I really enjoy this formula, despite it not being the usual foundation finish I go for. For my dry skin, it is a little bit of a finicky foundation because I feel some days it wears better than others. I'm not sure if it's the condition of my skin that day or how I have prepped it. I will say that most of the time it looks good and while not as effortless as I hoped, working in light layers yields the most flawless finish to my foundation I have ever had! This is my special occasion foundation because I typically prefer a much lighter and sheerer coverage for day-to-day. I believe that this foundation formula works for all skin types and the finish is universally flattering. I highly recommend this formula and I think it is well worth the price! The shade match, alone, is worth paying the price! I have not come across a foundation formula that has such an accurate, flattering, and wide shade range as this foundation!