Review: Smashbox Studio Skin 15 Hour Wear Hydrating Foundation

Hello there!

Today's post is all about: flawless skin - all day long!

Yea, I know, that's the dream, especially for us oily/combination skinned people.

But I actually stumbled across a new foundation (well, i don't know how new it is, but I've never really heard of it) a few days ago and, of course, went out to buy it!

So, lay back and enjoy going trough the day with me:

-oh no wait! This could interest many of you: Is Smashbox cruelty free?🐰

Well, they claim on their site that they DO NOT test on animals, which is great! But, to be honest, I'm not quite sure if that's actually true, because: Smashbox is part of the Estée Lauder Companies, just like MAC, Bobbi Brown, Bumble&Bumble, Tom Ford Beauty, Clinique, and many more - and the EL Companies are known to test on animals, so what should we believe?

Anyway, I cannot tell you 100% sure that they are cruelty free, so if you're like really strict with things like that you might not want to buy this product.

What is it?

I'm talking about the Smashbox Studio Skin 15 Hour Wear Hydrating Foundation.

This is a fluid foundation, exists in 12 different shades and is available at Sephora.

• Price: 37€/ $42

But, before we start, I absolutely wanna talk to you about the shade range: I think it is really not the best! I bought the shade 2.1. which matches me perfectly and is the third lightest shade!!!

Okay now I'm not the tannest human being in the world at the moment, but I'm definitely not pale or something like that! So with my shade usually being in the middle, this kinda shocked me.

Anyway, let's move on.

What does it claim? For what skin types should it work?

This is what the official Smashbox site writes: 

Life is your set. Stay flawless for 15 hours with this photo shoot secret to picture perfect skin. This long wearing, hydrating formula blurs imperfections using light diffusing spheres and delivers natural-looking, buildable medium-to-full coverage 

while keeping skin hydrated and shine free all day.

• Sweat and humidity resistant
• Transfer-proof and oil-free. 

And since some of you like knowing what's in this, here you have the ingredients list:

INGREDIENTS: WATER\AQUA\EAU , CYCLOPENTASILOXANE , TRIMETHYLSILOXYSILICATE , TITANIUM DIOXIDE , BUTYLENE GLYCOL , TRIMETHYL PENTAPHENYL TRISILOXANE , SILICA , PHENYL TRIMETHICONE , MAGNESIUM SULFATE , POLYGLYCERYL-3 DIISOSTEARATE , TRIBEHENIN , PEG-10 DIMETHICONE , BIS-PEG/PPG-14/14 DIMETHICONE , TOCOPHERYL ACETATE , SODIUM HYALURONATE , GLYCERIN , ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN , POLYGLYCERYL-4 ISOSTEARATE , CETYL PEG/PPG-10/1 DIMETHICONE , METHICONE , TETRAMETHYL HEXAPHENYL TETRASILOXANE , PHENYL METHICONE , DIMETHICONE , LAURETH-7 , POLYMETHYLSILSESQUIOXANE , HEXYL LAURATE , DISTEARDIMONIUM HECTORITE , CELLULOSE GUM , PROPYLENE CARBONATE , ALUMINA , XANTHAN GUM , DIMETHICONE SILYLATE , SORBIC ACID , PHENOXYETHANOL , CHLORPHENESIN , [+/- IRON OXIDES (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499) , TITANIUM DIOXIDE (CI 77891)]

So with all of this said; this should actually work for all skin types!

Why?

It claims to be hydrating - so if you have drier skin this should work. If not: try a hydrating primer.

It's oil-free and claims to keep you shine free - so with an oilier skin type, this should work.

And it should probably work the best for combination skin since it basically claims to 'normalize' your skin.

Hopping on to my experience with this:

(p.s.: if you don't want to read all of this, just scroll all the way down for a long story short kind of thing)

• Application: 

Smashbox makes it easy for you to love them; unlike many other more high end foundations, this comes with a pump!
I tried applying this with a brush, a beautyblender, my fingers and the best method for me is: working it in with a beautyblender and keep on building with fingers if needed.
Why? Well this foundation doesn't really dry - so it will stay kind of sticky for quite a long time. And if it's sticky and you'll keep on blending with a beautyblender your foundation will get patchy and if you then keep on building, your beautyblender will become kind of gross and 'sticky'.

So all in all - you gotta work fast with this one!

• Coverage:

It claims to be a medium coverage foundation but honestly, I think it's definitely full coverage! It managed to cover almost all of my imperfections (hyperpigmentation, blemishes, etc) in one go! When I'm feeling extra fancy, I still apply some concealer here and there, but really, that's not necessary.

Info: since I feel like this is full coverage, this foundation is not good for you if you don't apply your contour and highlight every day. Without that, your face will look flat (since it basically unifies your face) and you don't want that. 

• Staying power: water resistant, smudge proof, transfer resistant?

I used this one now for a few weeks to get a true opinion on it (how different it will act with different primers/powders, etc). And all I can say is that I'm really impressed! 

Taking the Revlon Colorstay as comparison, which also claims to be transfer resistant, that one does transfer after a few hours.

This Smashbox foundation does not! The only thing that may be transfering is your bronzer, but set with a little bit of setting spray, that won't be too bad.

So if you're a face toucher like me, you will love this! Also, often when I'm taking off a tshirt or pullover, my foundation does transfer, but not with this one, which is awesome!

I stayed kind of matte all day. 

After a few hours (about 6h) your fave will get a little bit of a glow - not an oily one though more like a dewy, healthy glow!

I walked trough the rain with this and it stayed put! A good indicator to check if your foundation stays on really good is your bronzer/blush/highlighter. If they are still visible after a long day, then congrats, you found a nice foundation!😌

⇒ If this was too much blabla for you:

- smudge proof? YES

- water resistant? YES 

- transfer resistant? YES

BUT: be careful, there's a difference between water resistant and waterproof! While you can go swimming without a problem with something waterproof (well not like 2 hours swimming but a little fooling around in a pool or so), your water resistant product will not survive a long dive in a pool! A water resistant formula only resists like rainy days, a splash of water, or similar little water masses. A waterproof formula however has some ingredients that make it impervious to water, so even 'big watermasses' should not be a problem (but oh well, we all know that no foundation is only like a second skin and cannot stay on for ever flawless in water, so keep that in mind)

• Does it control oils during the day?

My regular days last about 12hours, after that time I usually take my makeup all off or, I just want to put something new on, like when I'm going out for example.
But let's be real here - 12 hours is quite a long time for a foundation to control your natural oils if you're an oily skinned person like me! You can imagine it being like a little fight; your oils are the enemies and your foundation is your hero.😂
I took some pictures during the day to show you what it looked like. My day went from 7:00AM (where I finished my makeup) until 7:00PM (where I took it all off). 

1. Check: Freshly applied makeup - around 7:00AM

The foundation applied beautifully, no patchiness, full coverage. I set it with a little bit of MUFE HD powder.

2. Check: after school - around 3:00PM

It's keeping up really good! Didn't do any touch-ups. My highlight and bronzer are still perfectly in place. It didn't break apart anywhere. I'm not oily at all, my skin feels soo smooth!

3. Check: around 7:00PM - time to take it off!

My skin is still not oily, but: hopefully you can see that it's starting to fade on my nose. Nothing dramatic, you can only see it if you're looking like really really close but that's definitely a minus point.
Other than that, it seriously still looks absolutely fantastic! The coverage is still fully there, it didn't emphasize my pores or fine lines and my bronzer and highlighter still look the same.

• So what can se say as a conclusion?

I honestly really really love this foundation. It looks great on my skin, doesn't break me out, doesn't emphasize my pores but covers them perfectly. It provides me with the coverage I'm looking for; so I need less concealer = less time to get ready. It's transfer proof, smudge proof and water resistant which is perfect because I'm a guilty face-toucher and it's raining almost all the time here in Luxembourg so my face will never just slide down.
The only thing that bothered me was that it was breaking apart a little bit on my nose but I found a way to fix that: the right primer is the answer. I don't use a silicone-y primer with this anymore. I'm using the Body Shop Seaweed Pore Perfector Primer which gives me a kind of sticky base to start with and that way my foundation will basically stick to my face (sounds weird I know but it works!) and in addition to that it'll last longer without fading or breaking apart on certain areas.

• Final thoughts - long story short:

1. Transfer proof, water resistant, smudge proof: ✓
2. Controls oils/keep you matte: ✓ 
3. Stays on 15hours: ✓ (I only tried 13, but honestly, you shouldn't keep your foundation on for 15h)
4. Hydrating: ✓ (if you have dry patches, this won't emphasize them. They'll be 'blurred')
5. Full coverage: ✓
6. Price: 37€/ $42 for 1fl.oz / 30ml
7. bad shade range: 12 shades available
8. no particular scent: ✓
9. apply with beautyblender for best results
10. doesn't set quickly - stays sticky for quite a while (about 5minutes I'd say)

And there you go. If you happen to have any other questions about this product, don't hesitate to contact me!

Looove,

xx nathi😘