Monday, May 28, 2012

Review: Origins Stay Tuned Balancing Face Makeup

I purchased the full-sized product at Macys after receiving two samples that I was able to test out for 2 weeks. I tried the samples and purchased this product around winter of 2011 (winter in Southern California, that is). I feel that it is important to mention when I purchased this product because I wanted to test the lasting power of this foundation in the winter as well as in the spring/summer in order to give a more accurate review.

I have been using this product on and off since I purchased it (so for about 5 months). As stated on the packaging, the product is marketed for those with combination skin. However, I wanted to try this on my oily skin because I have tried other skincare products from Origins that is marketed for combination skin that actually worked on my oily skin. I figured I may get the same results with this foundation.


Price and Packaging
This product retails for $22.00 and comes in a 1 ounce glass bottle. It does not have a pump. It must be shaken before it is poured out. I have this in the color "Honey." As a reference, I am an NC35 in MAC.

Consistency
The product is pretty thin in consistency. If you choose to pour this product on the back of your hand it's not so thin that it spills out like water, however it will run once you hold your hand up. I usually apply this on my face with a flat foundation brush. I have also tried applying this product with a flat top foundation brush as well as a large, dense kabuki brush. Since the product is easy to blend I feel that any kind of foundation brush will be able to give you a nice finish. I haven't tried it with a stippling brush but I can imagine it will also give you the same results.

Finish and Coverage
On my very oily skin type, the finish is semi-matte to natural. It does not have any shimmer at all.

 
With flash on no foundation skin.


This photo was taken without any makeup. As you can see, I don't really have a lot of active acne, just a lot of really small post-acne hyperpigmentation all over my cheek as well as enlarged pores.









Without flash.
This photo was taken without flash after applying the foundation on. On my skin you can definitely build the coverage up to medium. This is definitely not a full-coverage foundation. As you can see it does a really good job of evening out the skin, however, it does not really cover any of the darker acne marks and also does not minimize pore size.







With flash.
This photo was taken with flash. The product does not have claim to have SPF, however, it does give off a little bit of a white cast. I'm not really sure why that is but I can only assume that the white cast is caused by the "titanium dioxide" that is listed as one of the ingredients.








Ingredients


Lasting Power
Since I live in Southern California, during a winter's day it only gets as cold as 55F (at least from what I can remember). So, during cooler weather this foundation will last throughout the day. I remember only having to blot every few hours or so. However, trying on this foundation on a warmer day (like above 75F or if I find myself sweating), is a different story. On a warmer day this foundation really does not last me more than 4 hours. After four hours, my skin is super oily and the foundation disappears. I will never wear this foundation on a work day where I have to count on my foundation lasting from 6 am to 6 pm. Perhaps if you're just running errands then it's a great foundation, but for any oily-skinned women like me, please don't count on it lasting on a hot, humid, I'm all sweaty, type of day. 

Final Thoughts
This foundation is not a type of foundation that you can wear year-round. It will definitely work on cooler months but will not work for me during the spring/summer months. With that said, will I repurchase this product? Probably not. Mainly because I don't want to worry about my foundation disappearing in the middle of a hot and humid work day. If you work in a nice, air-conditioned building and you don't need to step outside for any part of the day, then this foundation may work better for you. I have also tried this foundation on with primer and the results seem to be the same. I would suggest getting a sample of it first. Also, I would not recommend wearing this foundation during a night out where you expect flash photography due to the slight white cast it gives.