You may have seen my review of Make Up For Ever’s HD foundation awhile back and discovered that it’s only this year that I started buying high end foundations in my shade and stopped all the guesswork with random foundation samples and BB creams. This is another one of those purchases that I thought long and hard for because I was tired of having foundations that were just too dark or too yellow on me.
You may have also heard of Urban Decay’s BB Cream as a lot of online resellers here have it available, but they also have a nice foundation line with 18 shades ranging from this shade (0.5, which is the lightest) up to a shade called shade 12 which is legitimately for African American people (as in it’s not tan or kayumanggi, it’s really in their shade).
This is the box itself. The product boasts that it’s paraben free, and is peptide infused. This product itself is Made in Canada, and amusingly there seems to be no parts of this product made in Puerto Rico or outsourced in a Latin country as what Urban Decay usually does.
For those concerned, too, here are the ingredients.
The product boasts a weightless, invisible coverage that transforms complexions.
“Naked Skin uses light-diffusing spheres to ‘blur’ imperfections for a luminous, demi-matte finish that feels invisible but looks professionally retouched. Naked Skin is oil-free, paraben-free, fragrance-free, and loaded with nourishing ingredients.”
You can also see on the box that it’s infused with Matrixyl 3000, Litchiderm, antioxidant green tea, and loads of vitamins.
Matrixyl 3000 is the peptide that’s infused into this formula. It promises to improve the skin’s elasticity while restoring and maintaining the skin’s youthful appearance.
Litchiderm is from lychee fruits and promises to hydrate the skin and prevent accelerated aging for a bright and radiant complexion.
Green tea and Vitamin E help to promote collagen production.
Sodium hyaluronate holds and attracts water to make the skin soft and supple.
And here are additional promises:
This shade, like I mentioned, is called 0.5. Their 18 shades include shades that end in .0 and .5, for easier selection. All shades ending in .5 are pinkish toned and cool toned, while shades ending in .0 are yellowish toned and warm toned. The lightest is 0.5 which is this shade, end the higher the number, the darker the shade. The darkest is 12.0.
As with the usual UD loot, the box is really pretty, and even the inside has this nice purple floral print on it. It feels so luxurious.
For those concerned about product shelf life, it’s indicated to last for 6 months. I do think that I’d be able to keep it for a bit longer, but in general I don’t like to keep foundations for over two years.
Inside the box comes this insert containing product information and promises in a lot of foreign languages. I have yet to see UD do this on their other products!
The packaging is very very luxurious. And very very attractive to fingerprints, just like most of UD’s other products.
This may look like a big tube, but inside is just 30mL of foundation. This is a lot like Make Up For Ever’s bottle which is so big, bulky, and with really thick plastic holding such a small amount of foundation. Like MUFE’s I think they also made this bottle very thick so that it can withstand falls.
The shake before use part is amusing because this actually comes with metal balls in the bottle to facilitate faster shaking! I just couldn’t get a photo of the metal balls in action as they’re so small and I think a lot of you who do photography can understand that it’s not easy to take a photo of something that will be above the camera’s lens aside from the sky. As in if this bottle is lying down, the balls are in the back. When I put the camera facing upwards and put this product above the lens, either I’ll have to stand up and not see the monitor, or see the monitor but need a stick of some sort because my arm is not long enough to get this in proper focus. TL;DR hahaha.
On the butt of the bottle is also an indication that this is shade 0.5.
As seen, it’s got a silver pump with a silver lid. I have no idea why but the white spout feels tacky for some reason…
And this is a pump’s worth of foundation on my hand. You can see that it’s got bubbles as a result of shaking, and that it looks whiter than my skin.
This is further illustrated by the arm swatch. I got this lightest shade for several reasons. One is that I have acidic skin and will darken any foundation quickly. Another is that I have generally light skin but it’s darkened by a lot of reddish blotches– I get foundations that seem light on me because once it’s on my face more or less it’s just right after all the red blotches has been covered. Last is that in a makeup artist perspective, it’s easiest for me to mix colors if I have this really really light color compared to if I have quite a medium dark color in my hands already.
As for the arm swatch, the first swatch is the product swiped as is. Second is when it’s spread a little bit. Third is when it’s blended in and feathered out.
When unblended you can see a lot of bubbles if you shake the bottle a lot before using. This isn’t a bad or a good thing, just thought some of you would like to see this.
And for swatches’ sake, here’s another photo of my arm swatch in case you need it.
The product has a nice finish and all, but I won’t lie that it virtually requires a brush for blending and has quite a strong chemical odor. The reason why I didn’t feel that this was a holy grail product is that I do feel that MUFE’s foundation is better in terms of easier blendability, less chemical scent and longevity. This UD foundation does last all day, and it does feel lightweight even at the end of the day. It’s not that resistant to sweat, but it does well against oil, though.
This retails for $39 at UrbanDecay.com and its stores. I got this for Php2450 from Beautyholic Manila.
In terms of value for money, I find that it’s geared for everyday use with all the vitamins and special ingredients it has. It’s also very lightweight and does not pack very strong coverage, so you don’t look like a doll on a daily basis. I do feel that it’s quite pricey relative to how I have quite a lot of other base makeup products that come with the same finish and coverage that come at much cheaper prices. I was also saddened by the 6 month storage recommendations because I don’t think that I can consume a lot off this bottle after 6 months.
This isn’t inherently a bad product, but I just feel that it’s much suited for colder climates and for more makeup addicted people who have good brushes to apply this with.
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