Hi friends!
Me use a full coverage foundation stick?? Yup, you read that right! If you’ve been with me for any length of time on here you’ll know that I’m thoroughly in the camp of light coverage bases and/or tinted moisturizers. That’s for a few reasons. Firstly – and this is not meant as a humble brag – I don’t feel I need to cover up much. Secondly, my skin is quite dry and dehydrated so I like to use liquid bases that are really juicy and have built-in skincare benefits (like the ILIA Super Serum Skin Tint, for example).
But I’m nothing if not experimental, so when my mother handed me the L’Oreal Infallible Longwear Foundation Shaping Stick (because she picked the wrong shade for herself in-store) I was both apprehensive and intrigued. It claimed to be creamy and lightweight in texture, but primarily a very long-wear, medium-to-full coverage foundation stick. I don’t have much experience at all with cream foundations, and even less with sticks; I’ve always had it in my head they were too dry and cakey for me. I was game for the challenge though, so I set about testing and experimenting and now I’m here with the results.
In today’s post I’ll take you through my process from skin prep, to application and beyond, and then share my thoughts on whether or not I made this full coverage foundation stick work for me. Let’s dive in!
OTHER FOUNDATION POSTS
Are They Dupes? Neutrogena Radiant Tinted Moisturizer vs. Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue
Take a tour of my (ranked) foundation collection
Makeup + Skincare + SPF 40 – ILIA Super Serum Skin Tint Review
How I achieve a light, barely-there base
WHAT IS THE L’OREAL INFALLIBLE LONGWEAR FOUNDATION SHAPING STICK?
Cover, define and enhance your features with Infallible Shaping Sticks from L’Oréal Paris. Up to 24 hours medium to full coverage, contains SPF 27.
Cover, define, and enhance your features with the new Infallible Shaping Sticks from L’Oréal Paris. Achieve a perfectly sculpted look with buildable, medium to full coverage that lasts up to 24 hours. The creamy, glide-on formula of Infallible Shaping Sticks melts into skin and provides weightless, long-lasting coverage that doesn’t cake or drag. This multi-use stick allows you to easily define features without sacrificing longwear coverage. Infallible Shaping Sticks are available in 12 shades to cover, conceal, contour, and highlight features. Discover your perfectly defined makeup look that lasts all day and night.
Testing out this full coverage foundation stick from L’Oreal with my aDesign Professional Blush Brush.
THE SKIN PREP
Taking into consideration the texture of this foundation (cream), and my skin type (dry as a bone!), it’s imperative for me to prep my skin correctly here. That means I need a product that will give me moisture, slip, and glow so the foundation doesn’t patch or cake-up. I tried nearly all my skin prep go-to’s, but I found that thinner consistencies really work the best with this foundation. For me that means MAC Strobe Cream, L’Oreal Lumi Glotion, or a generous layer of my serum of choice du jour, the Serumkind Black Blossom Drop Serum. The foundation glides effortlessly over top of those primers, and sits beautifully on my skin throughout the day.
Whenever I apply thicker, super emollient moisturizers like the Weleda Skin Food Light or The Sexiest Beauty Rose Face Balm underneath, I find the foundation much harder to blend. It patches up in spots, particularly around my mouth and forehead.
RELATED PRIMER POSTS
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Weleda Skin Food Original vs. Light: Which should you buy?
This illuminating moisturizer is keeping my skin lush this summer!
THE APPLICATION
It’s hard to say how much I actually use at a time since this is a stick format instead of a bottle with a pump. But for reference, I usually draw a “V” on my forehead, a little mark down my nose, about four lines per cheek, plus a dash on my chin. I can use my fingers to blend this formula out but I much prefer my aDesign Professional Blush Brush here, which is just a densely-packed synthetic brush. (Just FYI, this was gifted to me but not by the brand.)
The texture is indeed creamy and lightweight, but it doesn’t lend my skin a feeling of hydration throughout the day, if that makes sense. So I definitely need those dewy, luminous primers underneath. I like to really sheer out the product as much as possible with the aDesign brush; that way I can manipulate the finish from matte to something more satin or natural, which I much prefer for my skin type.
The coverage is definitely buildable, which I love. I’d say I can get a solid medium coverage before I start sheering things out with my brush. But you could certainly build this up even farther if you need or want to.
The L’Oreal Infallible Longwear Foundation Shaping Stick in the shade Buff.
THE WEAR
Overall I think the L’Oreal Infallible Longwear Foundation Shaping Stick gives me what I like (i.e. natural-looking makeup) but more amp’ed up (i.e. more coverage). It stays on my skin throughout the day with very little wear-down, but the question is will it still look fresh at the end of the day? Or dry and cakey? Honestly I’ve had both experiences with this foundation. The wear I get seems to depend heavily on the skin prep I’ve done beforehand. So if I’ve applied the Black Blossom Drop Serum, or the MAC Strobe Cream, it still has a freshness to it. But on a few occasions I’ve noticed it sitting obviously on my skin, clinging to dry patches. That’s usually when I’ve used the Weleda or The Sexiest Beauty.
I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet but I wear the shade Buff, which has a neutral undertone but it’s a bit too dark for me. (I have this problem a lot at the drugstore.) You can probably tell from the before/after photos below, but I’m quite pale with cool-to-neutral undertones, for reference.
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- Before foundation application
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- After foundation application (no concealer)
THE VERDICT
So, can I make this full coverage foundation stick work on my dry skin? Yes I can, but there are definitely conditions (i.e. skin prep). Is this my new go-to base for everyday? Not really, but I think it’s a good option on those days where I do want more coverage; and now I know how to use it properly for my skin type.
I think the big takeaway here is this: you can make different textures and different levels of coverage work for you, but you have to be strategic about how much you apply and in what manner you apply. A lot of foundations can be manipulated to your liking, which is what I’ve done here. So go forth, and experiment!
What kind of foundation do you like to use for your skin type? Have you ever changed a foundation to suit your needs? I’d love to know!
xo, and be well, Erica
PIN IT!
This does look nice on your skin and I’m glad you found a way to make it work and know which products it cooperates with, sometimes that’s the hardest part about trying something new, trying different skincare/primer combos as well. The shade looks nice on you though 🙂
When I first got into makeup I’d use my mum’s Maybelline Matte Mouse which probably was not the right shade for me but it’s all part of experimenting. I soon came to realise I enjoy liquid foundations with my dry skin and stick with those. I like natural coverage so depending on how much each product pumps I tend to use half a pump to a full pump per application which means foundations last me ages.
I agree, sometimes it’s all about finding the right cocktail of products. That’s why I like testing foundations and bases for a long time before writing about them; I don’t want to make a decision too quickly.
I’ve heard of the Maybelline Matte Mousse, but never tried it myself. Is that the one that’s in a tub? I don’t apply much product on my face either; I find sometimes the more you build up, the more you can see the makeup just sitting on your skin.
Agreed, thoughts can change about foundations after regular use.
Matte Mousse is in a little glass jar/tub. Concealer can always help to build up coverage and bronzers can be used for more colour 🙂
Oh yes, I know the one you’re speaking about then! I love how some products just inspire creativity. I feel foundations/concealers are like that, as well as some color products like liners, and shadows!
I used to use powder foundations and switched to liquid. I’m so glad I did because it works so much better for my skin.
I’ve never used a powder foundation before, but I’ve always been super curious about the Bare Minerals Original Foundation – is that one you used to use? It’s powder but apparently it doesn’t look dry or cakey on the face if you apply it right…
Mine was Cover Girl. It didn’t look cakey, but it did look dry. You could tell I had it on even though I only applied it lightly. I didn’t like that.
Ugh, sounds bad!
Stick foundations freak me out, I’ve never tried one and I don’t think I will. They are either too heavy or too dry, I mean I like water based foundations so these are not my type, I wouldn’t want to put that type of work on skin prep either.
I normally would never have tried this foundation in a million years, but in all fairness it was a hand-me-down. So I thought, best to try and get use out of it. Plus I like the challenge of making it work for me. It’s really not too bad for a stick foundation either. But it’s definitely not my go-to; I much prefer similar bases as you!
Have you tried CT Light Wonder? I’m kind of eyeing and I wonder if it’ll work for me
No, but I’ve heard amazing things about it. I think it’s her lighter coverage foundation, because the rest are quite full coverage from what I’ve heard.
That’s why I want it
Go for it!
it looks really nice on your skin 😀 and you’re right, you can make a foundation work for you, just takes some time to learn how to prep the skin and apply for your own skin type 🙂 i’ve been going foundation free lately and i really love it but i should probably use up the rest that i have 🙂
Foundation-free sounds lovely, and I do that often myself too. It’s good to let your skin breathe. I had fun experimenting with this foundation and trying to make it work, and in all honestly it’s really not bad for a fuller coverage stick foundation. It’s still quite creamy, but I just wouldn’t call it nourishing for a dry skin type. So not my favorite, but it’s perfectly workable now!