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Foundation sticks are one of those products I always want to buy, so you can imagine my excitement when I got the new Hourglass Vanish Foundation stick from Influenster. I enjoy Hourglass products in general, so I was pretty excited to try their new foundation stick!
I've really been enjoying the foundation overall, as I've found the coverage to be really good and the product to be quite creamy and blendable on the go. Many of foundation sticks can be challenging to blend, or just look more natural (which is my preference) with a beautyblender or a little more effort. This one, however, while providing medium to full coverage, still looks pretty natural on the skin. I find the formula to be very similar to the Tom Ford Traceless Foundation Stick, actually, but much less heavy at least on me. (I found the Tom Ford one often seemed like it was just sitting on the skin, and needed a bit more effort to apply the way I like my foundations.)
Check out my before and after below. Apologies for the car selfies but I've been running around alot lately! I'm not wearing any other makeup (except perhaps some leftover eyeliner? Ew.) and you can see that the coverage on the red spots on my cheeks is quite good. I did not apply any foundation to my forehead either - not sure why, but I often just skip that area of the face.
I do find that the product is very long wearing, and my skin is normal to combination at this point. I do find that it transfers a bit in the first few hours I wear it, which does bother me a bit, but it still seems to last all day. I found that even with a heavy workout in the morning, this still lasted all day!
I received the shade Golden, which I think is a decent match for summer. My arms are way tanner than my face at this point, and if I were being super nitpicky about the shade match, I would say the shade is just slightly darker and warmer than I currently am. However, I really don't think you can tell once it is blended on the face.
This foundation stick is packaged in a unique triangular tube, which has its definite pros and cons. I think it is cool looking, but it definitely presents a dilemma when it comes to storage. Those of you who like all your products to line up nicely next to each other without wasting space might find this challenging to store! The packaging is compact however, and is easy to carry in your purse. The triangular shape of the foundation also helps to get into the smaller areas of the face, such as around the nose or eyes, but the angled tube can be a bit weird if you haven't wound up the product enough. (Yup, I for sure have poked myself in the face with the corners of t he tube! I'm talented.)
Last but not least, the brush! I'm loving this compact little brush. It is so dense, perhaps even denser than the Marc Jacobs The Face II Foundation Brush I was in love with earlier this year, and it really helps to preserve the coverage of the foundation and not sheer things out. Sometimes, I do wish it could blend things out a bit more, but I think that is more due to my preference for how foundation looks than this brush. And it is easy enough to just grab a sponge for those particular areas! I love carrying this brush around too, and wish it had some sort of cap, but aside from that I have no complaints. Actually, I would love to try this with the Tom Ford Foundation Stick, since I never did really find a way of applying it that I loved.
All in all, I'm really enjoying this new release from Hourglass. I'm honestly considering buying another shade for winter! Have you tried the Hourglass Vanish Foundation or the Vanish Foundation Brush? How did they work out for you? I'd love to know!