What beauty junkie doesn’t get majorly excited when the brands they love release much-awaited products? Even more so, when said products get nothing but brilliant reviews – surely I will love it too, right? Wrong. That’s where the excitement stopped for me. The disappointing release of the year goes to… the Too Faced Born This Way Foundation.
Honestly, I didn’t do a lot of research on this foundation when I added it to my cart. Usually, I thoroughly read/watch reviews on every purchase (especially expensive ones) like a mad woman; but this time I had a general idea from others on Instagram that it was the best thing since bottled water, so I didn’t hesitate twice.
Let’s discuss specifics. Born This Way is an oil-free, fragrance free foundation that contains coconut water, alpine rose and hyaluronic acid. It promises medium-to-full undetectable coverage and it doesn’t contain any parabens, sulphates, or phthalates. It’s said to be best suited to dry to combination skins.
The packaging for this product is beautiful. It comes with a pump in a frosted bottle, featuring classy gold writing and a black cap with gold detailing. The pump dispenses the perfect amount of product. Very á la Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk.
Now onto my experience. I don’t even know where to begin and I really hate being negative Nancy… But I’ll have to be excruciatingly honest. As a background, I have light-medium olive skin (MAC NC 30-35), with golden undertones. My skin is combination – I get a little bit shiny in the T-Zone, but also have a couple of dry patches here and there. I purchased mine in the shade Natural Beige (medium with golden undertones), and it was an OK match for me but it bordered on being too yellow. I thought it’d be a great time to trial a new foundation, as I’ve recently suffered from redness and pigmentation from blemishes.
On my first application, I went sans primer to give it a proper test run. The consistency of this isn’t thick but it’s definitely creamy. It did not run down the back of my hand at all. I applied one pump with my beauty blender and it blended in easily, but I quickly realized this wasn’t as natural looking as I had hoped. It definitely looked like I was wearing makeup, so I hesitated to apply another pump. I thought I could live with that, as it covered what it needed to quite well. It didn’t do anything to smooth out my pores but it didn’t settle into any fine lines, and it did not feel heavy on the skin at all.
Two hours later, the foundation was not only still feeling tacky, but my whole face looked shiny and it looked a smidge darker that it was when I first applied it. By four hours, I had turned into a disco ball and every time I looked into the mirror I would notice the foundation had moved a little, making me feel extremely self-conscious. It separated around my nose, and not only did it really seemed to over-emphasise dry patches, but it also created new ones for me that I hadn’t seen before (hint: they were no longer there when I removed the foundation).
Eight hours into wear time and I couldn’t wait to rush home and wash my face. My blush and bronzer were almost all gone, and I had no foundation left on my chin and nose. This had never, ever happened to me before!
The next two days I persevered, applying the foundation over two different primers – the Hourglass Veil Primer and the L’Oreal Infallible Matte primer, as well as trying out two pumps instead of one. It built nicely enough, and at first it looked acceptable just like on my first day of wear, but unfortunately a couple of hours later the results weren’t much different with a primer – it was still sliding all over the place and wearing off weirdly. On my third day of trying the foundation, at the 9 hour mark, I attempted to dull down the shine with some Rimmel Stay Matte powder, and I ended up looking like a caked-up hot mess.
For something that is oil free, and worn by a not-overly oily person, I just don’t understand what went wrong. I really tried to love it, but needless to say, Born This Way failed. I was so dumbfounded and disappointed that I resorted to watching YouTube videos and reading blog reviews seeking answers, only to realize that I couldn’t find any negative reviews; or at least not as negative as I knew mine would be.
There are so many better options for a lot less than $58. Please share your views if you had a similar experience as mine.
Available at: Sephora for AED 185 or $58
