I don’t know what it is about foundation that makes me such an addict. Oh wait. I do know. I’m always searching for a foundation that’ll be an asset to my collection.
And when I find a foundation that makes the cut–it is welcomed into my universe!!
Seriously. I’m big on rotating my cosmetics—whether it’s seasonal or the fact I don’t want to overuse—there’s always room for another foundation to rotate.
Today I’m reviewing a foundation that I purchased at Sally Beauty. It seems that there’s always something at Sally that I find and like. The foundation is from the Sally Beauty Col-Lab brand and is getting a lot of love in reviews except from me.
It’s tough to find a foundation that works on mature skin and that is affordable. And when I say affordable, I’m talking more about price per use. My Fenty foundation may have cost $34, but such a small amount needs to be used that the price point is a great value.
And for the price, you would THINK the name of the shade would be SOMEWHERE on the bottle. It isn’t! So I can’t even tell you for sure which shade I purchased!
The Col-Lab foundation comes in at $14.99—I think I paid $14.29 with my Sally discount. Regardless, I think that’s a high price for a foundation that is more akin to a drug store brand.
There are two formulas. The “Meet Your Matte” foundation and the more dewy “Bright Spark Radiant” Foundation. I purchased the Bright Spark.
First of all, I had a bit of an issue with the range of shades. This is why I prefer to buy some foundations at Sephora—you can try before you buy and see what the color looks like rather than play the guessing game. Since I’m fair skinned, it is a challenge because the choice is either the palest shade, which is ghostly looking or a shade that ends up being too dark. I’m pretty sure I went with Sand, Number 3. Seriously–for $14.99 they can’t put the name of the shade on the bottle?
Here’s the range of shades. There are no in-store testers either so it’s a complete gamble.
Before reviewing, I wanted to give this foundation a few tries before getting down to the nitty -gritty. I wore this foundation three times before placing fingers to keyboard. So here goes.
When I opened the bottle, and pumped a small amount on my wrist, I noticed it was a bit “yellow”—and that’s why I can’t wear MAC or Bobbi Brown foundations. The yellow washes me out. But hey, I bought it, so let me use it. Besides, with color corrector, concealer, contour and highlighter, this could work.
This is the first time I used the Col-lab Foundation. The lighting is weird but it looked yellow.
Again–from the first time I wore this foundation. Applied on my forehead. It’s very yellow
I applied the foundation on one side with a dampened beauty sponge and the other with a brush so that I could get a feel for it. The sponge worked better. Now—this particular foundation is low-to medium coverage and is buildable. But—there’s something to remember when it comes to aging skin and “buildable”. The more you build—the more the chance of foundation settling into the lines and creases on our faces. That’s why I try to look for full-coverage foundation.
First time after applying to my entire face. I’m just not impressed …
…but with the contour, concealer, highlighter, blush, it was doable. I don’t WANT to settle for doable.
Many of the reviews were giving this foundation love for the hydration factor. I’m sorry. I didn’t notice any hydrating at all. The finish had a very, very slight and subtle dewiness but not enough to “wow” me.
Here’s how it went on my third day of wearing this–actually Wednesday!
Good morning! Hope I didn’t scare you!
Now you can REALLY see how yellow this shade looks when I apply it…
All blended into my skin and I’m still not impressed. I ended up spraying water three times and blotting the foundation that settled into my many lines!
These were my assistants to try to make this foundation look decent. Fenty Match Stix in Amber for contour. Benefit’s Girl Meets Pearl, a nice and very creamy highlighting cream, Chanel concealer, I also used Nars Universal stick for blush and the Laura Geller highlighting powder to add a bit of extra highlights.
This photo was taken in the room where I apply my makeup. I’m just not wowed by this foundation. It is not hydrating at all..
In the light of my kitchen. This is after two applications of the foundation. You can see the freckles on my forehead. I dared not apply a third time because it would have looked very caked upon. The lipstick and brighter eye shadow brighten up my face more than the foundation does.
I mean, it ended up not looking bad—but it just wasn’t great.
And for the price of $14.99—for less than six bucks I can get two bottles of Wet n’ Wild’s fabulous PhotoFocus foundation that has amazing coverage!
I love the Wet n’ Wild PhotoFocus—as you can see, below are three bottles that I have. I blend two of them and the darker shade, I use for my YouTube videos. (when I remember to apply it).
I mix the Soft Beige with the Nude Ivory to get a nice shade. This is a matte foundation and is, hands down, fabulous!!! I use the Peach Natural for the YouTube videos. But the darker foundation will work well during the summer when I’m fake tanned! At less than six dollars a bottle, this is the best buy ever!
e.l.f. Foundation, at six bucks still remains one of my go-to foundations. My love/hate relationship with e.l.f. continues, but as long as this foundation is not discontinued, I’ll use it.
This color–Porcelain–it works. And I like this for traveling because it’s so inexpensive, if I leave it behind I won’t freak out!
The Ordinary. I have both the foundations and one of each that is on reserve. This foundation is second skin!
Well-worth the less than eight bucks each, a little goes a long way! This foundation IS truly like a second skin!
Fenty Pro Filt’r foundation. At $34, this is the most expensive foundation in my collection and is worth every cent and more. When and if I ever become hired again, I’ll be wearing this to the office every day!
This–I love the Fenty foundation tons. And the selection of shades–everyone can find their shade and if you go to Sephora, you can try before you buy!
Laura Geller’s Baked foundation is the only powder foundation I’ll use. It is so finely-milled and gives a gorgeous finish. You can always find a good deal on QVC or on Geller’s site.
This Balance-n-Brighten Foundation is a fantastic summer foundation. Man–I love this!!!
Marc Jacobs Genius Gel foundation. Don’t get me started. This was an absolute favorite of mine and it was discontinued. I’m not sure if it has been rebranded as Marc Jacobs Re(marc)able Full Cover Foundation Concentrate, but I know I’ll most likely end up making the purchase and comparing it to the Genius Gel.
Marc Jacobs Re(marc)able Full Cover Foundation Concentrate. At $55, this better be full coverage. And I don’t know why the brand discontinued the Genius Gel–it was the best higher end foundation I ever had!!
Finding that “right” foundation is a challenge and I was looking forward to Col-lab’s foundation being one of those “right” ones that I could put into rotation with the others. I’ll use the rest of the bottle but I won’t be repurchasing.
I just cannot, for the life of me, recommend this foundation. There is nothing spectacular about it and the shades are just not fair-skinned friendly nor darker-skinned friendly. The shades are just somewhere in the middle and are too yellow.
Let me know if you’ve tried this foundation and your thoughts. You know—I could be wrong. This could work for others. We all don’t have the same skin type.
Sally Beauty just missed with this—I may try something else from the line, but at this point, I’m not sure.
My grade would be a C Minus. And that is because it does give a subtle dewy finish.
I’m curious–and not curious yellow like the foundation. I’m curious to find out if any of you have tried the new Marc Jacobs foundation. I’m so upset that the gel foundation was discontinued. But if you’ve tried the Col-lab foundation, please comment on your thoughts!
Thanks!! Let’s discuss!!!
Here’s my YouTube review!
