Around this time last year, ColourPop launched its No Filter Concealer, and honestly, it completely changed the way I do my makeup. It’s not often that a product comes along that exceeds expectations and actually gets me excited to get ready, but the concealer did just that. It's pigmented, beautifully blendable, and perfected my skin in a way that no other concealer had before it. But this article isn’t about the concealer.
Once the concealers dropped, I knew there would be a foundation — it was just a matter of when. I waited, breath bated all year, for ColourPop to announce the foundations that I knew had to be on their way. Through every ColourPop launch (of which there are many) I knew we were getting close. I just had to bide my time.
And now, finally, a year later, the ColourPopNo Filter Foundation is upon us. There are 42 shades, and they're only $12 each. Each bottle contains 0.85 ounces of product, which is only scarcely less than what you'll usually get with any other foundation by like 0.05 – 0.15 ounces. (Did I do that math right?) Since the wait was so tremendous, I had to break down whether these were well worth it, so here we go.
The Packaging
The bottle is glass, which I don’t necessarily love because of portability and durability. (Listen, if it's glass, I will drop it.) But the pump locks, so you won’t be at risk of squirting foundation all over your bag when you’re on the move.
The Formula
The ColourPop No Filter Foundations are oil-free, and they claim to be full coverage and long-wearing with a natural matte finish. The foundation itself is on the thinner side of things. The liquidy consistency of the foundation actually makes application really nice. I’d say it’s medium-to-full coverage, and you see just how pigmented it is right when you dab a little bit on. Just a small amount blends out and covers more ground than you'd expect.
The Application
Here's me pre-foundation, for reference:
I applied a pump or two to the back of my hand and then bopped it around my face to place it, before using a Beautyblender to blend it all in.
Like the concealer, you can cover a lot of ground with just a small amount of product.
The lightweight, highly-pigmented, liquid consistency, does all the heavy lifting for you, and you can get a lot of coverage without feeling caked up. It builds on itself nicely in places where you need more coverage and blends out seamlessly where you don’t.
Finally, I took the excess foundation on the back of my hand on a flat kabuki brush and worked it down into the skin under my facial hair. I don't always do this, but for foundations that are both full coverage and matte, it's good to have at least a small wash of color on any visible skin.
Since it’s a matte foundation, the oil-free formula takes to skin with almost no glow. I found myself having to pay just a little bit more attention to blending everything together evenly because the matte finish accentuated any areas where it’s not perfectly blended together. I applied as usual and then worked it around my face one more time just to make sure I knocked out any streakiness or hard lines.
Each time I've worn the No Filter Foundation, I've paired it with the ColourPop No Filter Concealer in a shade or two lighter than the foundation.
Though the foundation and concealer feel noticeably different (the concealer feels thicker and hydrating, while the foundation is very thin and has an almost liquid-to-powder finish) they blend together seamlessly. It's almost like they were… made for each other.
The Wear
The first few times I wore this foundation, I really put it through the ringer. The first night, I wore it to a concert where I was packed in with a bunch of other people pretty close to the stage, dancing, sweating, YOLO-ing, etc. Here I am a few hours after the show:
The next night, I wore it for an eight-hour bartending shift, which is honestly always a great way to test a foundation because if it can make it through a night of sweating and scowling then I know we’ve got a winner on our hands.
While the No Filter Foundation doesn’t keep skin perfectly matte throughout the wear, it definitely helps keep shine at bay. I have combination skin, and whenever I wear a foundation that has any glow factor, my face looks like an oil slick within two hours, so matte formulas are just a better match for my skin. I didn’t notice any creasing or breaking up throughout wear, either, and it didn’t wear down throughout the night, even on my nose, where foundation always has a hard time staying put.
The Conclusion
I truly didn't know what to expect from the foundation, but ColourPop nailed it again. It’s lightweight, pigmented, blendable, and incredibly easy to work with. The foundation's "soft blurring pigments" (whatever those are) really work to make you look airbrushed, like you've been Facetuned in real life. Whether you're wearing a little or a lot, it applies beautifully, it stays where you put it even through the longest nights, and it works well with other products.
ColourPop has been changing the game ever since it introduced itself to the beauty world. With each new product, the brand continues to build its empire of innovative and affordable products and prove that luxury does not always have to come with a huge price tag, which is important. The No Filter Foundation is the final frontier of products needed to be able to do a full face of ColourPop, and now that it's here, there's no telling what the brand will do next. But if this foundation is any indication, it's going to be well worth the wait.
Source: Read Full Article