Becca Cosmetics Radiant Skin Satin Finish Foundation Swatches

If you follow my blog you will know that I love Becca Cosmetics.  I love their beauty philosophy which focuses on enhancing the natural beauty of skin, and not just covering it up.  Therefore, their cosmetics focus on enhancing the look of skin with sheer washes of color and meld to the skin color formulations.  I have been hoping for Becca Cosmetics to come out with a fuller coverage foundation that could be used on oily skin, but which wasn’t too opaque.  So, I was crazy excited when I saw how they snuck in their release for their Radiant Skin Satin Finish Foundation out of nowhere.  Sadly, it was not to be…

1. Becca Cosmetics Radiant Skin Satin Finish Foundation in Buff, Nude, Olive, Noisette (order of sample pots), Buttercream (not shown), 1.35 oz for $42.00

When I received my box of the foundations, I was so excited I didn’t even wait for daylight to use them.  I smacked them on immediately and marvelled at the shades in Olive and Nude.  Both were very close in color and appeared to match my skin.  Oh, how I should have waited for daylight.  in daylight I was able to see that both Nude and Olive were actually too noticeably dark on me which was very surprising.  I also noted that both left a distinct olivey-orange cast on my skin.  Buff and Buttercream were both too light, high yellow-creamy for my skin.  Noisette was just a bad undertone match overall being a more neutral shade that showed more pinkish-peach in it.

Becca Cosmetics’ official website describes the following foundations shades thusly:

1. Buff – Light Beige (neutral to yellow)

2. Buttercup – Light/Medium Beige (yellow)* /not shown above in sample pots/

3. Nude – Medium Beige (yellow)

4. Noisette – Medium Beige (neutral)

5. Olive – Medium Olive (yellow)

If you are trying to match yourself according to the shade you use in Becca’s Luminous Skin Colour Foundation you will find that the Radiant Skin Satin Finish Foundation shades appear to be almost a level deeper in color.  If you look at Becca’s Foundation Finder Guide (you really should download it, it is very helpful) you will see that this is indeed the case with the light-medium range.  Luminour Skin Colour in Nude is considered a light depth shade, but in the Radiant Skin Satin Finish Foundation it is now a level deeper and very much a true medium depth shade.  It was much too dark on my light-medium tanned skin.  But I wanted a second opinion so I went to Sephora to be matched.  The beauty associate was pretty adament that Nude and Olive were much too dark on me after I asked if it could still work sheered out with moisturizer.  Unfortunately, he thought Buff or Buttercream were better options.  But there is no way the light high-yellow of these shades could ever be worn because it is NOT my color and I would look like one of those women walking around with a too pale mask.

Radiant Skin Satin Finish Foundation is meant for oily skin and it has a “sophisticated silicone emulsion [that] contains sebum-absorbing properties” to control shine, while creating a “subtle radiance” on to the skin in a “medium, buildable coverage” foundation.  Becca Cosmetics added Ejitsu Rose which has anti-inflammatory properties and helps with improving elasticity to the skin and Vitamin E for “enhance[d] moisture retention while protecting against pollution and free radical damage.”

Now, here is my take on the texture and feel of the foundation.  While these apply creamy, as soon as it starts setting – rather quickly – it takes on a strange teeny bit dry-grainy texture to it similar to Smashbox’s Camera Ready BB Cream.   I can only assume that this may be the ingredient that assists with sebum reduction on the skin.  The foundation spread easily as I blended it on my skin.  I will say it seemed to set on my skin in to a satin-matte finish.  It also seemed to oxidize a bit, but not as much much compared to other bigger offenders like MAC or Giorgio Armani foundations.   I did not test this foundation on for long so I cannot say what happens to it after more than 15 minutes of use.  The shades I had were all wrong for me. 

Now, here are the swatches.  Don’t be fooled by how the liquid foundation appear in the sample pots, particularily for Nude and Olive.  Both of these turned a distinct orangey-olive that was deeper in depth than Urban Decay’s Naked Skin Foundation  in 4.0, which I can still use and look natural in.  How I wish the shade in the pot was what it stayed on my skin.  Although, you can still see based on the swatch below that it is too dark even in liquid form.

Here are the swatches with Buttercream, Nude and Olive.  These swatches were taken earlier after I received my order of foundations, which I returned.  Unfortunately, I forgot to ask for a sample of Buttercream at Sephora, which is why it is not included in the swatches above but it is VERY close to Buff, just a touch darker with more yellow.

I feel like there is too big a jump in depth and color between Buttercream and Nude.  This is where a true light-medium shade would be.   While anyone who was swatched to Nude, could easily wear Olive.  These two shades are VERY CLOSE with Nude having a touch more pink in it.  Noisette is a good light-medium shade option for those with peachy-pink undertones.  I hope Becca Cosmetics decides to create an in between shade between Buttercream and Nude that is truly more reflective of light-medium skintones with an olivey base.  For now, I really can’t use this foundation range.

😦

Ingredients: Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Isododecane, Titanium Dioxide, Hydrogenated Didecene, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Glycerin, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Nylon-12, Polyglyceryl-4 Isostearate, Butyl Acrylate/Hydroxypropyl Dimethicone Acrylate Copolymer, Sodium Chloride, Polysilicone-11, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, HDI/Trimethylol, Hexyllactone Crosspolymer, Dimethicone, Phenoxyethanol, Tropolone, Methicone, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Disodium EDTA, Mannitol, Butylene Glycol, Yeast Extract, Glycogen, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Rosa Multiflora Fruit Extract. May contain [+/-]: Iron Oxide (CI 77492, CI 77491, CI77499).