Posts tagged Stila Perfecting Foundation Stick
I remember when I bought this foundation, it was obviously before Stila filed for bankruptcy (good news, they’ve just been bought by Patriach Partners so are back on the way up!). I wasn’t intending on buying a foundation, but I just got talking with their sales assistant and she mentioned how moisturising their stick foundation is despite it being a stick product. Moisturising being my golden word, I quickly checked the texture on the back off my hand, it looked lovely and creamy, got colour matched and purchased one in shade E.
Here is my two cents on what I think the stick foundations are good for; they are good for getting extra coverage along with your regular foundation (such as using on certain areas, as opposed to the whole face), they are great for a handy touch up product that you can carry around with you, and lastly, they are good as a light concealer. I would never choose to wear this on my entire face as my basic foundation, but for review purposes I have done in the pics below (I’m so good to you).
Application
As I mentioned, I generally would use this on areas that needed extra coverage, after applying a lighter foundation. So for me this would be the center of my face. If you look back at my Mac Mineralize Satinfinish review, you’ll notice I said I would use a stick foundation on the center of my face to lighten that foundation up. This kind of practice is common for woman who have darker skin tones as their face is often not one shade completely. To stop our skin from looking flat or mask like, this is a good trick.
If you do choose to use this product as a complete foundation, I would apply it to the center of the face first (after a light, non greasy moisturiser or else it won’t set with anything heavier), and blend out. Then apply powder to set it, this foundation stick defintely needs powder to set and to smooth its appearance! For the way I usually wear it, I’d advise a few stripes on certain areas and then blend out, that should be all you need (on top of your base).
Verdict
Whilst it goes on incredibly easily, and blends relatively ok, if you wore it as just a foundation it had a tendancy to sit on dry patches of the skin (ewww), so make sure you’re skin is in super condition first. Worn how I generally wear it (on top of another foundation), I found it worked better and less cakey, but the effect either way doesn’t last very long at all. When I wear this product I am constantly touching up as the coverage I built with it has worn away way too quickly. As it is moisturising, it’s fairly good at not looking too dry or caked, but in that same respect it also has a little difficulty setting, like with many Stila cream products, you could easily unintentionally wipe this away by accidentally touching your face.
So unfortunately for Stila Perfecting Foundation Stick, it is a huge thumbs down. I do tend to keep it in my make-up bag as an emergency cover stick type product, but really, this is without doubt not the best stick foundation on the market. Try the Bobbi Brown or Sheseido one instead, admittedly my experience of those is limited, but I’ve heard they’re quite good. I suppose this product is only good if you want good coverage and you want it quick. But be prepared to keep touching up every hour, and no close ups. If you’re looking for longevity, this ain’t the one.
Here are some pics of me wearing it:
