Anyone else cannot resist makeup displays on sale? Douglas currently has all Pretty Vulgar range on sale and well I just couldn't walk out of there without some products.
The Pretty Vulgar Cool AF Lava Water Foundation has quite the name. Lava water? That just makes you wanna try it. It retails for $39 at the official Pretty Vulgar website but I got it at Douglas for around 450 Crowns which I thought is a good deal for a high end foundation. You get 35ml of product which is very nice too.
The packaging is gorgeous just like all the Pretty Vulgar packaging. They just make such special and pretty stuff that you just want to put it on display. It does have a pump and you can kind of see the shade through the bottle but it's really not a travel-friendly packaging at all.
The foundaiton comes in 15 shades which is not great but at least they have a decent distribution of the range. The foundation promises full coverage, lightweight formula that's buildable and long-wearing. It's also marketed as matte. It contains charcoal powder, moringa butter and the volcanic lava water. It's suitable for normal, combination and oily skin. They also have a primer that goes with this foundation but I didn't get my hands on that. I picked up the foundation in shade 05 Bad to the Bone. I wanted to get a lighter and more neutral one at first but it turned out to be sold out. This one ended up being a great match though.
It is also vegan and cruelty-free. There are also many other things this foundation is free of like gluten, fragrance, oil, sulfate, paraben and talc. If your skin is sensitive to any of these substances than this could be a good formula for you.
On the swatches you can see that this shade it quite light and it has a nice warm undertone. It's leaning more yellow but it also has a little neutral tone to it which I really like.
Wear test
I applied the foundation with my new favorite foundation brush from Gabriella Salvete. It went on quite smooth and the coverage was very good as well. I tried applying cream bronzer and blush over the top to see how they work. The foundation didn't get disrupted and everything blended really nicely on top of it. I powdered my face as I usually do. Overall I liked the look of it once I got out of the door. It was looking very nice and smooth and quite matte.
List of used products
NYX Bare With Me Daily Moisturizing Primer SPF 30
e.l.f. Prep & Blur Stick
Becca First Light Priming Filter
Pretty Vulgar Cool AF Lava Water Foundation, shade 05 Bad to the Bone
Colourpop Pretty Fresh Concealer, shade Fair 15W
Laura Mercier Translucent Setting Powder, shade Translucent
Physician's Formula Mineral Wear Loose Powder, shade Translucent Light
Huda Beauty Tantour, shade Light
Made By Mitchell Blursh, shade Peach Sugar
H&M Superfine Browliner, shade Caramel Brown
Benefit Brow Microfilling Pen, shade Medium Brown
XX Revolution Brow FiXX, shade Clear
Essence I <3 Colour Intensifying Eyeshadow Base
Rude Cosmetics Roaring 20's Pretty Reckless Pallete
Maybelline HyperEasy Brush Tip Liner, shade 800 Pitch Black
L'Oreal Lash Paradise Mascara, shade Intense Black
Rival Loves Me Long Lasting Eyeliner, shade 07 aquamarine
Physician's Formula Butter Bronzer, shade Bronzer
Barry M All Night Long Setting Spray
Maybelline Face Studio Chrome Extreme, shade 200 Diamond Glow
Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb, shade Ruby Milk
Wear time 14,5 hours
Well this was a long day. The foundation looked fine for about 3 hours and then it started to get dry. The point of no return came around 4-5 in the afternoon when I started looking like a separated mess. I tried refreshing the face a little bit with a hydrating facial spray but it just looked really bad. From then on it was just worse and worse. Considering I used 2 hydrating primers I am still a little surprised that the foundation looked this matte this quick. I really wasn't a fan at all. I feel like I would have to mix a booster into it to make it a little less dry or a bit of oil.
Final thoughts
So this foundation has many properties that I like but also many that I dislike. I like the packaing, the shade match and the coverage and finish as well. It just doesn't last on me. If you have more oily skin I think you might love this foundation because it's beautiful and flawless and covers really well. But for me personally it's just too dry and it doesn't stay together for long enough. The separation was really bad for me every time I wore it so now I don't even really feel like wearing it anymore.
I'm not sure that there's any moisturizer + primer combo that would make this foundation fully work for me because I feel like if it separates once there's not much remedy for the formula. I really like how it looks when I apply it but then it just goes downhill and I feel like there are better foundations for normal-combo skin than this one for less money.
That being said I feel like it's not that bad product it's just in the bad category for me. If you're oily you might really like it so I recommend getting a sample and trying it out if you're interested in buying it.
Have you tried this foundation? Let me know your experiences with it in the comments and thanks for reading!