Hourglass Vanish Seamless Foundation Stick: Worth it?

Hourglass Vanish Seamless Foundation Stick Sand review, swatch, price

PRICE: 46USD

FROM: Sephora, Fashion Valley, San Diego, California USA

OTHER LOCATIONS: Available at sephora.ph

THE VERDICT:

I love me a foundation stick. I think my top 3 foundation formats would be liquid, powder, then stick; foundation stick earned the third spot because it's compact, multitasking, and generally, made for oily skin. Who doesn't want a concealer and foundation in one tube? It's prolly one human- made invention that I would say has made our lives so much better.

I'm ~kinda'~ collecting foundation sticks lately; in fact, I bought two in the USA: one is from Flesh, a beauty brand that I just discovered in the US and the highly- raved Hourglass Vanish Seamless Foundation Stick; I've read so much glowing reviews that I made it part of my must- buy list.

Is it worth it? 

Believe me, I've tried my best to give a yes.

Hourglass Vanish Seamless stick is a full coverage stick foundation with the coverage of cream, spreadability of liquid, and weightlessness of powder. It comes in 32 shades.

I gotta give it to Hourglass; they have one of the classiest packaging I have ever seen, next to Chanel and Dior. The polished golden brown packaging has a bit of weight, luxe feel, and a snap top closure.

The retractable foundation has a triangular tip, which makes application on corners a breeze; the tip goes through nooks and crannies easily, providing even coverage.

The shade I got is Sand, a medium beige with yellow undertone. First swatch and it feel powdery creamy, if you get what I'm saying. Coverage looks very promising, although I'm not too keen on the slight cracks I'm seeing on the swatch. Product is unscented.

 Here's my bare face.

I covered one side of my face with the foundation. As you can see, it wasn't enough to cover my dark post- acne marks; needless to say, I had to cover this right after with a separate corrector. I have noticed that it's quite hard for correctors and concealers to set on top of the foundation's unique texture so I advise applying it underneath the foundation.

Speaking of texture, Vanish stick's is quite unique: it's soft like cream and true enough, very easy to spread like liquid, and the finish is semi- matte with a soft powdery look to it. I got the wrong shade though because the lighting in the Sephora store where I purchased it wasn't stellar as it was a temporary store; the permanent one was being renovated. I knew it; I should have settled for Golden, but the lighting in the store made it look too dark on me. It also didn't help that I was in a hurry; I should've spent more time getting to know the shades because at 46 dollars a pop, this is one product that I would want to get right.

I'm not too sure about the finish; it's smooth from afar, but when I look closely, I could see that it doesn't set well on the skin; in fact, it looked a bit grainy. Methinks it's lacking the creaminess of a traditional stick foundation to set seamlessly and formulated with more powder in it to make it feel lighter than any stick foundation in the market. I think I can settle with a not-so-light coverage as long as it looked nice whether from afar or up close.

TBJ TIP: Prep your skin with lots of moisture before using this foundation. I suggest blending the product with your fingers because your skin's natural warmth will soften up the foundation's grainy finish.

Charlotte Tilbury's Airbrush Powder saved the day; it's the best powder to set this product with in my opinion because Tilbury's powder is second to none when it comes to giving you a super smooth- looking face, plus it effectively minimized the grainy look of the foundation so I highly suggest that if you get this, grab CT's airbrush powder because both work well together. But props to Vanish stick's staying power, it stayed put and kept my oilies at bay for about 4 hours; groundbreaking for a stick foundation formula.

Sad emoji. Maybe I should have gotten the liquid version of Vanish foundation? Because it was already out when I was in the US. Vanish stick may work well on those with virtually smooth skin, normal skin, combination skin, and never on dry skin unless you dig the grainy look. Hourglass has other great products though, like the Ambient powders and lipsticks; I suggest try those instead, but hey, if you're convinced with the other glowing reviews, then get it, but here are three tips to live by to make Vanish stick foundation work:

1. Moisturize...like hell.

2. Blend with fingers

3. Grab Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Powder

Have you tried this product already? What are your thoughts? What are your application tips?

HOURGLASS VANISH SEAMLESS FOUNDATION STICK IN SAND RATING