| Review | KVD Beauty Good Apple Skin-Perfecting Hydrating Foundation Balm

The foundation that launched a thousand sales, not to be confused with Helen of Troy who launched a thousand sails. Bad joke and reference aside, this foundation has been going viral over TikTok and Instagram for being a phenomenal complexion transformer. While I was curious, myself, I couldn't get my hands on a single shade because it was sold out everywhere! I was very lucky to be accepted into Influenster's  KVD Beauty Good Apple Campaign, so I was kindly gifted this foundation from Influenster. Although I was gifted this product, these are my honest and true opinions about this formula. 

If you don't know what Influenster is, it is a free platform that is open to anyone! You don't have to have a large social following to receive free products to review! You just take several surveys and they will occasionally send you boxes of products to try. I highly recommend signing up here. 

The KVD Beauty Good Apple Skin-Perfecting Hydrating Foundation Balm retails for $38.00 USD and is available at Sephora and other retailers. This foundation is packaged in a simple clear plastic compact that is 100% recyclable! The brand has made it very clear that they have packaged this foundation like this on purpose to limit waste, which is something I really appreciate. So many foundations have very extravagant packaging with mirrors and other components that is is frankly a waste. 

The packaging is designed to be simple and therefore, it does feel a little cheap. I'd like to think the brand is trying to be sustainable but I'm a bit of a cynic from working in the industry and it is possibly more likely that this packaging is extremely inexpensive and allows them to get maximum profit. 

SHADES 

This foundation comes in an inclusive 40 shades with three different undertones for each shade family! These days, this kind of shade range is a standard because brands are trying to be more inclusive to all skin tones. It is still a very impressive feat because there aren't many brands willing to launch a new formula with so many shades. I also appreciate the inclusion of various skin undertones because I feel like many brands often skip over neutral undertones and I personally find that although I have a more medium to tan skin color, my undertone isn't warm. Many brands only make warm or cool undertones, which means foundations are often too warm for me. 

I had to choose my shade blindly, only using the included promotional photos that are also on the Sephra website to determine my match. Shockingly, these photos are a very accurate representation because I was able to match myself off of the chart with the faces of different people and off of the actual description of the shades. I often find many brands don't properly describe their shades and don't provide enough shade references for someone to shop online but this foundation can easily be shopped for online. 

Medium 039 - I chose this shade because it was described as "medium skin with neutral undertones" and the model they used has a very similar skin color to mine. This shade looks warm in the pan but it actually has just the right amount of warmth, where it isn't too yellow or orange. This shade actually has a beautifully neutral tone and suits my NC30-35 skin tone perfectly! 

Swatches from left to right: Medium 093 (heavy),  Medium 093 (blended)

Swatches from left to right: Medium 093 (heavy),  Medium 093 (blended)

FORMULA 

This foundation is PIGMENTED! If you haven't seen the viral videos using this foundation, it covers EVERYTHING! There is no doubt that this is a full coverage foundation, which isn't a surprise because the KVD Beauty brand has always been about full coverage and they have many formulas that are designed to cover tattoos. This explains why they are so inclusive in their color range because you can't have a full coverage foundation and limited shades. Thankfully, the shade range is very extensive so, there should be a match for most people. 

You can wear this formula sheerer by just dotting a bit on and buffing the foundation into the skin. I wouldn't recommend dipping your brush directly into the product unless you want full coverage because the brush will pick up a lot of product, due to the creamy texture of this formula. This formula will completely cover all pigmentation, discoloration, and imperfections on the skin. You'll have a doll-like painted finish to your skin because the coverage is so flawless. The nice thing about this formula is that although your get full coverage, it doesn't feel or look heavy on the skin! This is impressive for the amount of coverage it offers! 

This foundation is described as a "balm", which isn't exactly accurate. It does have a slight balminess to it but it is much more creamy and rich. I would definitely describe it as a cream foundation. The texture is incredibly creamy and spreads very easily across the skin. A little goes a very long way in terms of coverage and this formula will provide coverage to a large area with very little. This extra creamy formula is effortless to blend into the skin, which makes full coverage easy to achieve. 

One of the issues I have with this formula is that the foundation is so creamy and moves with the skin. While it makes it easy to blend into the skin, it also gets kind of streaky. Unless you're applying a very heavy layer with a flat brush and downward strokes, the foundation can be a bit streaky. When I tried buffing it with a dense buffing brush, I still had to go in with a sponge to get rid of the streakiness. Since this formula is so creamy and it is so pigmented, each stroke leaves a visible mark on the skin. So, it isn't exactly the easiest formula to work with. 

The other issue with how much this foundation moves around is that it will move around on the skin throughout the day if you don't set it. As a dry skin type, I try to avoid powder as much as possible and because of the creamy texture, the foundation migrates and collects in certain areas, like fine lines! It will also transfer easily and if you touch your face, you're likely to remove some foundation or make a mark on your face. This foundation migration issue is more apparent the longer you've been wearing this foundation.

This foundation claims to be versatile enough to suit all skin types and is adaptable to how you prep the skin; however, I disagree. Again, I don't like setting my makeup because of my dry skin but if I don't the foundation will move around my face and collect into fine lines. Now, I don't have a lot of fine lines and it still emphasizes the ones I do have. Particularly, in the areas where I am most expressive, like my forehead. So, if you have fine lines or wrinkles, you may need to consider a pore-filling/line-filling primer that won't cause the foundation to collect in those areas. 

The other issue I have with this foundation is that it doesn't work for dry skin even when you do prime your skin really well. When I first tried it, I used the Tatcha Dewy Skin Mist, Serum, and Moisturizer underneath and it made the foundation pill! It applied really smoothly but as soon as I started to blend the foundation, there were little clumps or foundation that started to appear all over! So, that priming method did not work. Be aware if you have skincare with similar ingredients and texture as Tatcha ones that this foundation will not work on top of it. While it did pill, it actually ended up looking very fresh and did not emphasize dryness. 

When I tried it again with a less emollient moisturizer, it emphasized dry patches! I had actually felt my skin was very hydrated and healthy with no visible dry patches but when I applied this foundation on top, it gave me these little areas that looked dry and textured! This isn't something you will notice on camera or from a distance but if someone was standing next to you, they may think your skin is particularly dry. The annoying thing is I didn't have dry patches on my skin at all but this foundation seemed to have created dry patches across my skin. 

My last attempt for priming and adapting this foundation to my skin was using it over face oil. Again, it somehow created little texture and dry-looking patches on my skin! Usually, when a foundation is too drying for me, a facial oil works like a dream as a primer but in this case, it didn't. This formula is not nearly as adaptable and versatile as it claims. I feel like I have exhausted the ways to prime my dry skin and make this formula work for me. 

Now, I must say, that it doesn't look bad. In photos and from a distance, my skin will look really flawless and perfected. I just don't like the look of my skin close up. While the finish of the foundation is adaptable and will look a little dewier when applied over a dewy base, close up, my skin looks more textured! It has more lines, dryness, and texture overall with this foundation on. 

This formula lasts beyond eight hours on the skin without fading but again, the bigger issue is how much the foundation moves around and collects into lines. This occurs over time and I feel like certain areas don't look as good later on in the day. I do notice that the oil on my nose does peek through about the five or six-hour mark but I also don't set my foundation. To limit and prevent your natural oils from peeking through, I recommend using an oil-controlling primer and setting the foundation with powder. 

While this doesn't work at all for my dry skin at all, it may work for someone with oily skin. However, it feels like you need a very select skin type for this foundation to look flawless on you. You have to have oily skin without texture, acne, and wrinkles. Realistically, we all have some lines, wrinkles, and texture. You'd have to be really young to have perfect skin and in that case, you probably wouldn't even wear that much makeup. 

The funny part is that I looked at verified purchased reviews on Sephora and many people with oily skin said that it was too emollient that it doesn't work on oily skin and won't last on oily skin. So, who's skin type would this work on? Not many. It seems the described "fresh matte finish" doesn't work for oily skin types and it isn't fresh enough to work for normal to dry skin types. 

I think this formula has gained so much popularity because of its dramatic look on camera and the way it instantly transforms the skin but is it worth all the hype we've been hearing so much about? No. The lightweight texture for the full coverage is impressive but this is a foundation that looks great on camera but really isn't great in person. 

THE LOOK

You can see how flawless and seamless the foundation looks on my skin, on camera. While it looks great on here, it doesn't look as good in person. There are imperfections caused by the foundation, like little dry patches, that do not appear on camera. 

FINAL THOUGHTS 

This is a foundation that is all internet hype but doesn't hold water when it's put to the test. It seems those of all skin types have an issue with this formula. It is too emollient and fresh for an oily skin type but it isn't hydrating enough for a normal to dry skin type, which is what I have. It claims to be a versatile and adaptable formula but I continued to have issues with it no matter how I prepped my skin. I have rarely ever encountered a foundation that I couldn't make work for me. Especially, one that claims to be so versatile. They claim that this can work any skin type and that it all comes down to how the skin is prepped, yet, I tried several different preparations without success. 

This is very much an Instagram foundation, beautiful on camera but in real life, it's less than perfect. While it looks photo-perfect, what I want in a foundation is one that will look as good in photos as it does in person. This foundation doesn't make me feel good when I'm wearing it because I feel insecure about the texture that it creates on my skin. I think a foundation should make you feel good and confident. For me, this foundation fails at its fundamental goal, which is to make people feel good and confident. I own many foundations that look good both in person and on camera so, this foundation doesn't feel worth it for me. 

This is a very particular formula and it just won't work on most skin types. I love it for photography and camera but this is definitely not a foundation that I will reach for daily, nor one I would buy. I'm not ruling this foundation out completely because I'm sure it can work for some people but because that's such a small demographic of people, it's hard to recommend this foundation. I would say you should only consider this foundation if you're not a fan of really full coverage. Other than that, I feel like most people will not enjoy this foundation as much as the internet is making it seem. In this case, the hype is just all hype, in my opinion. 

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