#DamnGood Foundations Guide! Why Armani, NARS & Estée Lauder Re-Formulated (and Our New Faves to Buy ASAP)

26:35I went back the next day, half of it was gone. Yeah, wow. And one of my nieces who is in her 20s knew that I was coming to New York and asked me to buy it for her. Yeah, wow. So this is the power of Mary Phillips. It really is beautiful. When it goes on, you're just like, wow, I feel like I'm putting skincare on my face. Did you get to try it? No. You can have a little pump of it there. It also comes with, it doesn't come with, but she has a very amazing foundation brush as well that kind of makes you like airbrush it onto your face. It's very, very beautiful. Doesn't it feel like skincare? Yeah, it absolutely does.

27:10It feels, this isn't the right word, but it is a bit more oil-based, I would say. Yes, exactly. Now, of course, Mary Phillips, she's really well known for her underpainting technique. She had the underpainting palette that you talked about. And so this foundation is meant to go over the underpainting palette. But the idea is the contour from the underpainting palette is still showing through. So I think that also gives you an indication of the sheerness of this foundation. So I really liked it again at first. But there's not a lot of staying power. And I have heard my niece, who is in her 20s, loved it, is going to rebuy it.

27:49Oh, interesting. A few people I know that tried it that are a little older said it sunk into every single pore and line. Right. So I think it really is dependent on how you want to look, what your skin type is. And if you're going full clean girl or if you want a little bit more coverage, this is probably not going to be for you. But there's no doubt it's a beautiful formula. It's just not necessarily for me, but I think she's crushing it. I think it's a star product from within her universe. Yeah, it very much suits her demographic. Like if you think about Haley Bieber, which is reportedly one of her clients.

28:26Yeah. If you have that skin type, then it probably looks sensational, right? Yeah. And I think that I also did email the PR to ask if Mary had any tips on how to work it for oily skin. And I never heard back. I tried, everyone. I tried. Okay. So that's the review on that. But I think you're exactly right, Carleen. This is a trend. There's no doubt about it. And Natasha Denona came out last at the end of last year with a serum foundation. It's all about the serum foundations. Yeah. Now let's get to this one, the one that looks like a flying saucer. This is Outside In Silk Serum Foundation, Jill.

29:08Have you seen this before? So I've heard of the brand, but I've not seen the foundation. Okay. So for those of you who are just listening and not watching, it looks like a little ink well that in the olden days, you'd have like a little jar and then a fountain pen. and then inside you pull it out and it's a dropper. Lovely. So I'll get it on this white couch. So I'm going to drop it on Jill's hand there. And it also, it's frosted glass at the bottom, but then it's like a gray and white speckled mat. So it's giving kind of like Japanese Zen modern, but natural is kind of the vibe of it. This foundation is$64 in the US,$88 in Canada, not inexpensive.

29:53It has 24 shades. It launched late last year. And the most noteworthy thing about this brand is that the founder is Carissa Jaynes, the original founder of Hourglass Cosmetics. And current founder still. And current founder. If you're familiar with Hourglass Cosmetics, love this brand so much. So many iconic hits that we love, including their Veil tinted moisturizer. I wear the Hourglass Unlocked Mascara almost every single day. Yes. And the ambient powders. So, so, so, so beautiful. Texture, yeah. So Carissa went on to, she did sell the brand Hourglass to Unilever. And so she launched this new line with just three products.

30:40The foundation, a face oil, and a brush. Yeah. So I think that is very telling that this new line is obviously about complexion, skin first, a little bit more. Again, that skincare makeup hybrid. And it feels like it could be like a grown up road. Maybe I could be wrong. Interesting. So the Silk Serum Foundation, it's considered a hybrid foundation. So, of course, with the benefits of serum, coverage of a foundation. It's said to give you light to medium buildable coverage. Just so you know, again, those actives, niacinamide and hyaluronic acid. Here we go. The favorites right now. This foundation, Katie Jane Hughes blew it up on TikTok late last year.

31:28The makeup artist. The makeup artist. She's been on our show. She's incredible. She probably, did she have a hand in that? Well, this is it. Is that apparently they worked with... That doesn't surprise me at all because Carissa, when she talked about Hourglass, I'll never forget. She said she wanted to bake the makeup artist into the products. That's right. So I'm sure she really values makeup artists' opinions. Exactly. So she did work with several makeup artists in the creation of this product, Invetit, all of that. And Katie apparently had said like, it really feels like silk. Now, what I find that's interesting about this product is that when you drop it out, this was my experience, is that even though it's very fluid, again, it's remember, it's coming in this dropper.

32:13It sets quite quickly is what I found. It's reminding me of the Ilia. Really? Yeah. Oh, interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I haven't used Ilia in a while, but yes, it also just kind of reminded me of that product from the ordinary that I talked about in best of spring episode where it's a skincare, it's a moisturizer, but it's comes in a dropper. So So it's like very condensed nanoparticles. So when you put it on, it's like you get so much moisturization, even though it's this liquid. It like gives you this real moisturizer feel. I feel like with this one, even though it's so like thin and viscous, when you put it on, you just get this immediate coverage.

32:58I was like, whoa, I wasn't expecting that. My apologies. I meant to say it's the seal, the CL one, like C-I-E-L-E. Oh, OK. Got it. That's a serum, also a medium coverage serum foundation. Right. That a lot of, like, I know that the Sephora sale is just wrapped up and a lot of makeup artists had that seal one in their cart. I saw them making TikToks about it. So similar idea. Yeah, exactly. So what they say about the technology is that it suspends weightless spherical powders within a liquid serum base and it's designed to blur imperfections, refine pores and create this soft focus effect. I do really like this product.

33:39I do think it's like, it doesn't take a learning curve, but I want to use it more. I think you need to like really work your skincare underneath because it is, it's designed to be self-setting. It's got this self-setting light technology. To me, what that means is like it dries down pretty fast is what I'm trying to say. So you want to like really have your skin nice and moisturized before you apply it. Get the juice going. And interestingly, they say that it's not recommended to use with a sponge. They recommend using it with the brush or your fingers. So, yeah, I'm going to play with it more.

34:15But I did buy that brand and outside in at the moment. I think they might have. Oh, but here's late breaking news, everyone. Spring will mark the opening of its first flagship store in Soho, New York. Oh, gosh. OK, we got to make a field trip. Very good. OK, so that was a winner for you, right? Yeah. We're talking about takeaways here. Double serum was a winner. That was my favorite. I love. And the next one would be, well, another favorite. I liked the outside in. You liked it. I did like it.

34:53Today's episode is brought to you in part by Timeline. So Jill and I just got back from the American Academy of Dermatology, and we've been talking about how longevity is the word on everyone's lips, every dermatologist, every brand that was there. So what's it all about? It's about the concept of cell care, looking after your cells as much as you do anything else. So whether you're talking about your skincare routine or whether you're talking about what's going on inside the body that impacts everything, it's all about cell care. So one essential component is mitochondria. Those are the tiny energy factories inside your cells responsible for your entire cellular energy system.

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36:21In fact, participants experienced 12 % improvement in muscle strength in four months with no change in exercise using Timeline. And yes, they did have a booth at the AAD. So this is something you're going to want to try this year. You can stack it with your protein, your creatine routine. That's what I've been doing at home. And Timeline's clinically proven formula is now available at a new lower price. MitoPure now starts at$79 when you go to timeline.com slash breaking. Glissi is supporting our show this week. Who knew there was so much power in a pillowcase, but honestly, there is. I made the switch to sleeping with silk pillowcases a few years ago now, And I really noticed that my hair is less frizzy and I'm the type of person that I sleep on my side.

37:10So I notice I get less of those creases on my face when I'm sleeping with a silk pillowcase. And something that not a lot of people talk about is the fact that silk pillowcases, they are actually cooling. Like I really find that they keep me more comfortable when I am sleeping. And the reason that I love Blissey, and it makes such a great gift too, by the way, with bridal showers coming up and graduations and Mother's Day. The reason I really like Blissey is because they have 100 % pure mulberry silk. So it's top of the line. They have over 100 colors, which is incredible. And they're easy care.

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38:46we are halfway through this episode we haven't even talked about double wear yet so let's do it yeah so estee lauder double wear i think it is one of the most iconic foundations that's ever been born absolutely wearing it today beloved by bridal makeup artists beloved by gymnasts i know simone biles wore estee lauder double wear unsponsored at the olympics like Yeah. Crushing it, you know, so it just really performs. It's the long wear of the long wariest. Yeah. The longest wear of the long wear. That's right. And they have reformulated with their new double wear. So the full official name is the new double wear stay in place, lightweight matte foundation with 36 hour wear, 52 US dollars, $67 in Canada, 57 shades.

39:32Wow. So it's up there. Yeah. I laughed last week when we had Erica Taylor on the show because she called the original one. Again, I think the original was very much love it or hate it. Yeah. She was a hater of the original and she called it cadaver wear. And I think there were a camp of people that wouldn't have gone near this. Because it's long wear and because it's full coverage. And matte. Yeah. Very matte. Yeah. Stay in place. It's like it's almost waterproof. Yeah. You know how how much it stayed in place. So the new formulation is technically longer wear because they've tested it with 36 hours, but very different formulations once again.

40:10I think if you really were ride or die for the original one, this is going to be a shock to the system in the sense that it doesn't go down on the skin the same. When I put it on, I was like, oh, this feels like a completely different foundation. Like it goes on nice, but it ain't double wear from the past. Yeah, so I liked it more than I thought I was going to. And I actually wore this in Denver when we were on doing our live podcast there. And I thought my skin looked really good. And I thought that it did last. But it's not like this one is more weightless feeling. Yeah. Would you agree? Have you tried this one?

40:49Yeah. So I'm wearing it right now. Oh, you are. So earlier today, Jill and I did a live podcast with Shiseido and Lucy Hale. And it was very like high profile. Tune in if you didn't. So we were swatching makeup on my hand with the makeup artist deciding which one to use. And I was like, that one. And it was double wear because, and I chose it because it was clearly fuller coverage. And it's long wear. And I was like, for camera, on camera, it is the go-to. And I could tell the difference. I could immediately tell the difference. But now it's several hours in and I'm still happy with it. I think your skin looks great.

41:27Yeah. But I will say that you probably would have hated the original formula. Yeah, I wasn't. It's not that I hated it, but I just I wasn't a fan where like it was I just yeah, it was too full coverage. And even today, I would say that this is not my everyday foundation. I would use this for, like I said, special events when I need long wear. But for me, I just like a more natural finish. Yeah. So I would choose something else. Yeah. So they say that the new Double Wear immediately balances skin with oil control and hydration. so it has glycerin in there, hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, brown algae extract.

42:03So that apparently helps to reduce oil production over time, which is a pretty big claim. Yeah. I can't speak to that. I haven't used it long enough. I just have these little baby bottles of it, the little samples. And they did extensive research on this. They did real consumers across every depth and undertone, 14 ,000 plus skin tone measurements from thousands of people across five continents, validating each real shade of real skin. Now, I don't know, did they have the assistance of AI to do that? I don't know. They called it the craftsmanship and they said it was 50 hours to handcraft each shade with scientists masterfully calibrating the right balance of pigments to match every skin tone measurement that they had come up with.

42:48So it is still oil-free. It's still dermatologist tested. And I can tell you after wearing it a few times as an oily skin person, I didn't break out, which is great. And you just have to shake it really well, much like the old formulation. I will come back to this. I will come back to this to probably wear it on camera as well. So that's a good thing. I think it's not all lost. Now, Erica Taylor said she hated the old one, loves the new one. Yeah, exactly. Right? Yeah. There's going to be a lot of that. Yeah, exactly. There seems to be a consensus, I think, that if you never tried the original, you'll probably love the new one with these reformulations.

43:22But if you were a diehard on the old one, they are different. And if you are a diehard on your foundation, you're probably not going to want any change. But one little thing I will say about the Estee Lauder double wear is I read that it took seven years, 100 scientists and 300 formulations to get the reformulation right. I mean, I feel like Estee Lauder knows where their bread is buttered. Yeah. And they weren't going to take this lightly. definitely not yes by the way they say it's the full of life mat we're getting creative over here wow wow yeah the whole new descriptions of the mat dimensional mat soft focus mat all of that okay i'm gonna do a really quick drugstore buy going back to that serums foundation because maybelline came out with plump and glow foundation it's the lit from their lifter franchise from their The Lifter franchise.

44:16Yeah. The Lifter Foundation. Lifter Plump. And this is a radiant foundation that is so inexpensive. And I traditionally, I really like a lot of Maybelline foundations. I've talked about them plenty of times before. So it's$16 in the US and$20 in Canada. it has hyaluronic acid has 24 shades and this is said to be a dupe for Patrick Ta's foundation obviously a fraction of the price now it's interesting because I put this foundation on and I was like oh no this isn't going to work for me at all like it gives you this instant glow and I'll be honest with you same thing happened with the Patrick Ta and then the second that I touched my face, that foundation is gone.

45:07It's just like, bling, totally gone. And I'm like, who can wear that? I don't know what kind of setting spray or primer you need, but it's that very, very glowy, luminous look. So in that way, I could see the parallel. I was like, maybe they nailed it, but it's not for me. And sure enough, again, I was talking to this makeup artist. By the way, whenever a makeup artist is doing my makeup, I am drilling them about everything. Like I am using that full hour for sure getting my money's worth. I'm like so anyways I asked her about this foundation and she said she loves it. So it just goes to she and she's much younger than me and has a lot of young clients.

45:47So it just goes to show that like one person's you know poison is another one's polarizing power right. Polarizing always. Yeah so if you're into the Patrick top maybe you want to try this. What I appreciated about that is the number of TikTok videos I'm being served for that particular foundation. And they are using girls in their 20s and they are using influencers in their 60s. Okay. And I appreciate that. So it's like people want that glow at different stages of their life for different reasons. So I was into that. But for 20 bucks, it's plumping and it's glowing. What else can we say? Is it lifting?

46:24I'm going to put a question mark on that one. Right. Yeah. Really quickly, I'm going to talk about the NARS reformulation of their foundation. Oh, that was another big shakeup. Yeah. Okay. So the new NARS natural matte long wear, pore blurring medium to full coverage foundation, 55 US dollars, $70 in Canada, 40 shades. Right out the gate, this is definitely best for oily skin types. I think it's one of my favorites that I tried for on camera. I wouldn't necessarily wear it though every day because it is, even though they're saying natural matte girlies, it is matte. It is absolutely matte. If you're dry skin, run.

47:07That's what I'm telling you right now. Do not waste your time or money. It's definitely for on camera and you will look flawless. You could look really flat if you're super dry skin. Because it's full coverage too, right? Correct. Medium to full, but she's giving full. And even for me, it was pretty full. You know, I did like it though. My problem with NARS and it persists is I can never get my right shade. So I'm wearing it around my apartment because I'm not going to wear it in public, the particular shade that I got. And yes, it was full coverage. It lasted, but it was still not my right shade.

47:46Right. And that has been an issue with me from day one with NARS. Yeah. How many shades did you say? There's 40. Wow. Okay. So I tried and actually I had a makeup artist do my makeup who has helped NARS in the past and she recommended a shade to me and lo and behold, that's what I had. It was close enough, but I would still feel like if I wore that shade out in public, people would be like, she doesn't know how to blend her foundation. Yeah. Got it. Right. So that's kind of where we're at. But again, that's another holy grail that we're out here struggling for our lives. Yeah, exactly. You know, my advice would be for people when you're trying these reformulations is you got to go back to the counter.

48:26I think to do it online and to try to get your shade, you're going to be frustrated, you're going to waste your money and you're going to be annoyed. So I think we are at the time where it's time to go back to the counter and get yourself re-swatched. Yeah. And they also need to start selling minis of all of these. Truly, they really do. But I did think it was blurring, more blurring than the previous one. And I did think that there was more oil control going on, but it's very different. Okay, interesting. Because I know you like that oil control. I would say on the opposite end of the spectrum from that, and this is the most expensive luxury foundation that I tried of the lot.

49:07This is the Hermes Plein Air Luminous Matte Foundation. It's$145 US dollars and$180 Canadian gel. Yes. Launched in January of this year. And it is Hermes's first true foundation. They launched, when they first launched, I believe it was back in 2022. They launched with a tinted foundation. It was a very sheer tint. That was like the new trend coming in, very skincare focused. This one is the first actual foundation. It still has the name Plant Air, which is that open air concept. So it's meant to be very airy. The luminous matte about it, they're saying it has soft focus pigments, hyaluronic acid is going to give you a bit more of that juiciness with the matte.

49:55Yeah. Again, not being dry. And it has 16 hour hold is the claim. Now I tried this. It was quite the PR package that came. You can imagine the orange box. It came with a primer. Now the primer, I immediately binned because it was so fragranced. I put it on, but it was, again, the French beauty. Like it was, and they are not even just, they are proud of it. Like in the press kit, it's like, this is the nose who created the fragrance that is going into this primer. I'm like, what? This is so not North American. So that just wouldn't be good for my skin. So I just put this on on its own with the beautiful, beautiful brush, which you can purchase separately.

50:45I can tell you when I put this on, it felt, I don't know if it was the combination with the brush. It feels, it does feel like silk going on. It's like a silk scarf. It is so, so, it does feel like a luxury moment. I think that the finish is absolutely stunning. What I found though is throughout the day, it did start to break up on my edges. This is what I've heard about it is that it's, it breaks all apart. It breaks apart in like the high movement areas between my nose, like my chin, which my jawline, that kind of thing. So I will continue to use it, but I do really want to get the right primer base, maybe use a setting powder because I do think it's stunning at first go.

51:39It's a sheer to medium buildable finish. The base of it is 82 % skincare is what they say. So it does have that like beautiful skincare like feel to it. There are 34 shades with three undertones, obviously cool, neutral and warm. I will continue to use it very elegant, but I just want to get it where it's going to last on me. And maybe I'll try that primer again. Yeah, I don't know, guys,$145. But really quickly, one that was the most ambitious launch, I think, was the Dior Forever Skin. because not only did they reformulate the Forever Skin, they also reformulated Forever Skin and Glow. So Peter Phillips has been busy.

52:26So these are two different finishes. Wow. Same shade range, two different finishes from Dior. So the Forever Skin Glow and the Forever Skin Wear. The Forever Skin Wear is for oily skin types and the Forever Skin Glow is obviously for someone who's more normal to dry. and it's buildable medium to high coverage. And dare I say that the Forever Skin might be my favorite that I tried. Oh, cool. But I did really like this and I think the shades were pretty good. It did oxidize on me though a little bit. Yeah. So I need to go back and play more again with primers. Again, I think I'm going to be doing this all frigging year.

53:06I'm going to be honest. With playing with shades, with tones. I think they're all skewing a little bit more yellow. A little bit more yellow. Like just the tendency that at the end of the day, I look in the mirror, not necessarily specific to this Dior one, but just something ain't right. Yeah. Something ain't right. And I don't. Yeah, I agree. And people who are, if you're experiencing this, maybe you're a makeup artist and you have a different skin tone than us. Right. Please jump in. Maybe you're like, finally, finally, they're warmer to suit, you know. Yeah. My skin or this clientele like would love to have that breath.

53:41Yeah. Yeah. And this is the Dior. They said there's 42 shades and six undertones. Again, undertones. That's right. Yeah. So more than three. Peter Phillips, he's been busy. Yeah. Dior, invite us to meet him. I would love that. Take me behind the scenes. I've interviewed him before. He's a very artist, artiste. Yeah. Now, one last one. What did you think of the Rare Beauty? Because they do a great job with formulations. I've heard from a couple of makeup artists. It's if you have oily skin, you'll love it. This is the Rare Beauty True to Myself Natural Matt Longwear Foundation. It's$38 US,$52 in Canada, launched at the beginning of April.

54:15It's 48 shades. It's a breathable, buildable foundation that delivers medium to full coverage with a natural matte finish. Natural matte. It's supposed to prime cover and set a three-in-one. I hated it because it's been a long time since I've used a foundation that shows every single pore, accentuates them so that you can give them each a name. Yeah. And same with all of my wrinkles, especially my peau d 'orange on my chin. So I was pretty mad about this. And I went back and looked. And the original foundation that they launched with, they discontinued. Or was it a reformulation? No, this is a brand new foundation.

54:56The original one that they launched with in the early days, which I actually quite enjoyed, is gone. And it never did have that ingredient in it, by the way. So that's not the reason that they discontinued it. that from my research. So they launched this one instead. I think it's suitable for young people. I gave it to my daughter. She really liked it. Great. She's 15. So, you know, we'll leave it there. Chacune son goo is an expression I learned in grade four French. Yeah. To each his own. That's right. So everything that we talked about today, we're going to link to it on our website, which is breakingbeautypodcast.com.

55:32This is the great debate in beauty right now. We will continue to try more as more foundations will roll out. I dare say that if you have never launched a foundation yet as a brand, it's your lucky year because you have nothing to compare it to. And that's where my heart kind of does go out to these brands who are trying their best to deliver what people are expecting from an old favorite. And that's really hard. And so I think it's a really tall order. And so I want to keep that in mind. Join the conversation in our comments on YouTube and on our Instagram. We want to hear from you and your thoughts on these products.

56:13Thank you. See you next week. Thanks for listening. You can find details on every product mentioned in today's episode, along with our exclusive promo codes on our blog at BreakingBeautyPodcast.com. While you're there, be sure to sign up for our newsletter. Every episode will be delivered directly to your inbox so you won't miss a single thing. And get social with us. Let us know what you think of the episode. You can follow us on Instagram at Breaking Beauty Podcast. And did you know we also have a private Facebook group? Just search Breaking Beauty Podcast chat room. You can even leave us a voicemail at any time with questions or feedback at 1-844-227-0302.

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57:21Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.