I could probably bath in foundation every day and still have enough for the rest of my life to use daily. So yeah, I got a new one.
NYX HD Studio Photogenic Foundation is probably the one you always saw at NYX store (or stand) and never really considered buying it. I feel like before Can't Stop Won't Stop launch, NYX wasn't that big with foundations, so this one was a little forgotten by everyone in my opinion. However, it is currently on sale here for 215 Crowns, so it wouldn't be me, it I didn't get it.
You get 33.3ml, which I quite a lot, certainly more than average and regularly it costs 429 Crowns. There are 12 shades in total in Czech Republic, 20 shades on the american website, I could pick from two, because all of the other ones were sold out. However, there was a shade that seemed to match me pretty well and it's the 1.5 Warm Ivory. It's quite light and more warm toned, than I usually go, but my face can take a bit of wiggle room when it comes to matching. The shade range is overall not huge, but well distributed and considering different undertones as well, which is a plus.
The packaging is a black squeezy tube with a transparent stripe, so you can tell how the color looks. I don't feel like it's very accurate, because the stripe is super tiny, but it's still better than nothing. It has one of these caps that can twist-off quite easily and the bottle is one of these which like to leak a lot. So I'm a little concerned about taking it with me somewhere, even though the bottle is pretty much made for it.
According to the description, it's supposed to have light diffusing effect, making you look flawless in any light and when photographed or filmed. Sounds like a nightmare to make a wear test of, because you won't be able to see anything on a picture...anyway. Your skin is supposed to look very silky and smooth and beautiful. So it sounds like it's one of those "photoshoot" foundations.
First impressions
Since there's not much to know about this foundation online, I had to make my own observations. The foundation feels very lightweight, light to medium coverage and probably a semi-matte finish after being swatched and observed. It also looks like one of those, that will look pretty damn good blended with a brush.
I tried it once so far when I just went shopping to give it a quick shot. It is very lightweight indeed and it looks very flawless in pictures. I am not sure how longlasting it is, but for 5 hours I had it on, it looked fine. I applied it with my NYX 03 Multi-purpose buffing brush and it looked very smooth and not heavy at all. I wasn't drying my skin out, it didn't budge of separate. But 5 hours is pretty much nothing for me, so let's get to the real testing.
Wear test
As usual, I documented myself wearing the foundation for three day, I wore it multiple more times at this point, but just to give you a good look at how it performs, applies and works with creamy or liquid base products, I do a three day long wear test.
Day 1
I have used this foundation a couple times, but I never got around to actually taking photos and doing the wear test because I've been really busy lately. Now that the things have loosened up a little, I decided to actually do the wear test.
The foundation is really lightweight and has more of a light coverage. It's buildable, it doesn't cake up or act weird, but building up coverage is quite difficult and it takes a lot of time a many layers. I don't mind lighter coverage when my skin is looking good, so for me it's a nice natural everyday foundation. It applies very well, today I used a domed buffing foundation brush and went over it with a sponge to smooth things out.
List of used products
e.l.f. Prep and Blur Stick, shade Sheer
Sephora Collection Hydrating Primer
Catrice Re-touch Light Reflecting Concealer, shade 010 Ivory
NYX HD Studio Photogenic Foundation, shade 1.5 Warm Ivory
Huda Beauty Tantour, shade Light
H&M Hi-Definition Setting Powder, shade Translucent
H&M Powder Brow Kit
Barry M Take a Brow Shape and Define Gel
Sephora Universal Cooling Eye Primer
e.l.f. Mad for Matte Eyeshadow Pallete, shade Holly Smokes
Morphe 25L Pallete
Physician's Formula Eye Booster, shade Ultra Black
L'Oreal Bambi Eye False Lash Mascara, shade Black
Physician's Formula Butter Bronzer, shade Bronzer
H&M Pure Radiance Powder Blusher, shade Brown Sugar
Essence x PAC-MAN Baked Highlighter, shade Ready!
Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick, shade Ludvig
I <3 Revolution Fixing Spray, Green Tea
Wear time 12 hours
I wasn't really holding back when it comes to touching my face or blowing my nose. It's autumn, everybody's sick and I'm also not feeling the greatest. But to be honest, it isn't too visible because the foundation is so sheer. It looks really natural and skin-like even after this many hours and I really like the way it looks. It didn't get too oily and didn't separate on me too bad. It just caught some of the blue fallout from my eyeshadow, but what can I do. Overall, I'm happy with how it looks.
Day 2
Makeup can be very deceiving. After I finished my face, everything looked so nice and blended, now looking at myself at work after 5 hours, I look kinda crappy. The cream contour is blended far too down, the concealer just spreaded too far and doesn't look that natural and overall, I'm starting to look a little crusty. I did use hydrating primers and a lot of serums and a moisturizer. But still, my face manages to look dry.
All bad looks aside, this foundation is actually pretty good for the natural "contour-first" look and it went on really well. I didn't blend it all that well and a lot of the contour ended up too low, because I went in with a too dense brush. Next time, I'll try to do better. However the foundation looks nice.
List of used products
Catrice Hydrating Prime and Care Spray
RL de Young Dewy and Fresh Primer
e.l.f. 16HR Camo Concealer, shade Light Sand
Essence Camouflage+ Matt Concealer, shade 70 dark caramel
NYX HD Studio Photogenic Foundation, shade 1.5 Warm Ivory
Essence Camouflage+ Healthy Glow Concealer, shade 20 light neutral
Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Setting Powder, shade Butter
La Pensee automatic eyebrow pencil
Trend It Up Brow Gel Filler Waterproof, shade 020
Sephora Universal Cooling Eye Primer
I <3 Revolution Cranberry Chocolatte Eyeshadow Pallete
Revolution Foil Frenzy Pallete, shade Creations
Physician's Formula Eye Booster, shade Ultra Black
L'Oreal Bambi Eye False Lash Mascara, shade Black
Lottie London AM to PM Eye Pencil, shade Mocha
Essence Metal Art Lip & Eye Liner, shade 03 coppy right
Physician's Formula Butter Bronzer, shade Bronzer
L'Oreal Life's a Peach Blush
Trend It Up Natural Radiant Highlighter
I <3 Revolution Fixing Spray Green Tea
Sephora Cream Lip Stain, shade Pink Latte
Wear time 15 hours
It's been another long one and I'm not looking the greatest. Everything stayed in place, the contour is still there, pretty poorly blended a little too low, but still there. It's caking up around my nose a lot and there's a lot of foundation missing from parts of my face I was touching throughout the day. I'm really bad with touching my face, I just cannot help it. Also around my glasses, there's not much foundation left on my nose. It's not too bad, but it's not made for this long wear, I can tell just from how the formula acts. It does bunch up a little and it cakes up just a bit, and it feels a little gross after about 12 hours of wearing. Even though it doesn't feel nice, I don't think it clogs my pores or makes my skin act up, I feel like my pores and my skin in general is fine even after wearing makeup for that long.
Day 3
I'm not gonna lie, I forgot I already did a cream base look with this foundation. But I wanted to give it another go, because it didn't go really well last time. The Huda Beauty Tantour was absolutelly a better choice for the base this time, it blended very well and the blush applied nicely as well. This blush sometimes patches up and disrupts the foundation but not this time. Overall the face looks nice and smooth, even though my skin isn't the greatest at the moment. I really like the overall look.
List of used products
e.l.f. Prep & Blur Stick, shade Sheer
Catrice Fresh It Up Primer
Catrice Under-Eye Primer
NYX HD Studio Photogenic Foundation, shade 1.5 Warm Ivory
Catrice Liquid Camouflage Concealer, shade 005 Light Natural
Jeffree Star Cosmetics Magic Star Setting Powder, shade Fair
Huda Beauty Tantour, shade Light
Maybelline dream Matte Blush, shade 30 coy coral
Essence Prismatic Highlihghter Stick, shade 10 be unique be a unicorn
Benefit Precisely, My Brow Pencil, shade 2
Trend It Up Brow Gel Filler Waterproof
P.Louise Eyeshadow Base, shade Rumour 02
Jeffree Star Cosmetics Blue Blood Pallete
Flormar Satin Touch Eyeshadow Stick, shade Cashmere Dress
Physician's Formula Eye Booster, shade Ultra Black
L'Oreal Bambi Eye False Lash Mascara
Fenty Beauty Diamond Bomb, shade How Many Carats?!
NYX Lip Lingerie, shade Bottoms Off
NYX Suede Matte Lip Liner, shade Bottoms Off
L'Oreal Infallible Fixing Mist
Wear time 10 hours
Looking at the after picture, I think this foundation stood up pretty well. It wasn't the longest wear test ever, but it didn't separate or budge on me and all the cream products looked still pretty good. The blush was a little faded but it's not a very pigmented and in your face color anyway. It still feels very lightweight even after 10 hours and even in places I touched and that could've been a little broken appart, it looks pretty nice.
Final thoughts
So what do I think about this foundation? Overall, I feel like it's a not-as-fabulous dupe of the Make Up For Ever Ultra HD. If you're on a budget and looking for an HD foundation or something very lightweight and a little buildable that feels good on the skin and lasts for about 10-12 hours tops. This is your guy.
It blends really well, it can layer a bit, but don't expect full coverage from this, it plays nice with powders and creams as well. It looks very natural, but you can get a nice glamorous look if you use a lot of contour and overall play with the makeup a little longer. It's a very versatile foundation and I think that it probably could fit any skin type, because it just feels natural and not slippery or matte and dry. It just feels nice and like nothing pretty much, which I really like.
So yeah, I would recommend it of you're looking for a foundation like that because it won't break the bank and it performs really well and lasts better than expected. Also, you get a pretty good amount.
Have you tried this foundation and did you like it? Let me know in the comments bellow and thanks for reading!
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