Hi guys!
/__\ I think I bombed my exam this morning. Bleh. So instead of studying I felt like taking a break /__\ (actually waiting for my coffee to kick in XD)
So I thought why not come here to do a review XD I've had these products forever (since the beginning of this year lol!) and have wanted to do a review on them but never got around to it XD (yeah... I'm the easily distracted type.. like "I see new products O_O++++"-then-completely-forget-about-old-products type of easily distracted XD
Anyway! Let's just get into it shall we?
I got interested in Josie Maran products because of the organic (not all ingredients are organic... some are just natural) nature of the products and philosophy of natural makeup. All of her makeup are supposed to be natural and cruelty-free.
Let's talk about the foundation first!
Argan Matchmaker Serum Foundation
Actually... I'm pretty shocked I still have the original boxes for these products -_- I think I saved them knowing I'd be doing a review on them. I thought I recycled them after all this time but somehow they're still in my "bag of boxes" XD gawd I'm such a hoarder.
It's marketed as "instant self-adjusting" foundation.
There are only 3 shades available for this foundation. Please be careful when you're selecting your shade!
On Sephora's website, the shades are described as...
"- Fair/Light- for the fairest porcelain skin with pink undertones to light skin with pink undertones.
- Light/Medium- for the lightest skin with yellow-olive undertones to medium skin with yellow-olive undertones.
- Meidum/Dark- for medium tan skin all the way to the deepest skin tones"
When I was ordering mine on the Sephora website (never saw the product in person before I bought it), I originally was gonna go for light/medium because that's what I usually go for in any foundations. However after reading through the reviews I saw that a lot of buyers warned that the light/medium shade is a lot darker/orange, and that you should go a shade up when purchasing. So I did and ended up purchasing my shade in "fair/light."
By the way, as indicated, *=organic, **= natural.
(I'm kind of curious... what is "natural" water??)
I've only tried one other "serum" foundation in my life, and it was the Dior Capture Totale High Definition Foundation
*image credit goes to Sephora.com
Which by the way is completely different from the Josie Maran Serum Foundation. The Dior foundation you can actually see the rich serum mixed in with the foundation when it is settled, so you do have to shake it up to make sure the foundation and the serum are well mixed before application. Whereas the Josie Maran one is just like a normal consistency (when I said normal, it's not normal in the sense that it's like any other liquid foundation, because it's not. I just meant you can't really tell there's serum in the foundation).
Anyway I didn't really have a good experience with the Dior serum foundation. The Dior foundation gives supreme coverage, I love the initial finish of that foundation, but it just does NOT hold up on my skin. In fact, the Dior serum foundation kind of breaks down on my face at the end of the day you'd actually see patches of foundation on my face.... NOT GOOD (and it's not just my oily areas too... it's on my cheeks too). So I'd say Capture Totale is probably better for ppl with dry skin or from a higher age group.
Another thing I want to mention is that the concept of this Josie Maran foundation reminds me of Origin's VitaZing tinted moisturizer, because they both contain pigments that burst and give color upon application.
*image credit goes to Sephora.com
VitaZing is more like a tinted moisturizer so its coverage is really really sheer, definitely not enough to even out my skin tone. Plus VitaZing pigments break down to a weird brown color on me?! So I can't really wear VitaZing alone.
So yeah definitely can't wear VitaZing alone.
Okay enough on the side notes. Now really gonna get into the foundation itself XD
I heard some ppl complain that this foundation smells like chemicals to them, but I didn't feel like it smells like chemicals?!?!? It actually kind of smells like nuts to me??!!!???? XD I actually don't find the smell unpleasant at all XD in fact... I kind of like how "natural" it smells... XD and it dissipates pretty quickly anyway.
You can see the consistency is more "solid"... it's not thin or runny in anyway.
Ooooooh the color change!!!!
Half face application. My complexion look so red lately because I haven't been getting enough/sleeping at crazy hours... =/
It covers the black heads decently (you can still kind of see the bumpy texture of the blackheads). It really doesn't do much to help with dark circles though.
It's a semi-matte finish but there's still a glow to it.
Full face effect. It makes me look a bit paler and on the "white" side.
After about 9 hours.
From afar it doesn't look too bad (but then again nothing looks too bad from afar XD)
Dun dun dun close up O_o you can see the foundation has faded where the oils break through. And my blackheads have come up for air XD
So ummm general thoughts on this foundation? I feel like this is a very high maintenance foundation..... if my skin is in any condition less than perfect then it wouldn't look good at all -_-" Definitely avoid if you have patchy skin, because it's the kind of foundation you have to really buff in to break down the pigments and distribute the color... and any buffing is just not good for flaky skin. Wouldn't recommend it for oily skin either cuz oils break through this foundation quite easily (unless you use a primer of course). I have combination skin I can deal with it but I wouldn't wear it out for more than 5 or 6 hours (prob 7 hours max because then it really starts to fade)-- definitely not the best for combination. This probably is most ideal for dry/normal skin (even with argan oil as one of the ingredients I don't feel like it's particularly nourishing/hydrating either).
Another thing I want to add is that this foundation is not very buildable. When you apply your first layer you want to wait a minute or two for it to settle, because it kind of thickens up a little when it sets, so that gives a bit more coverage. So you want to wait a bit and see if it gives you enough coverage before you decide how much you want to use. However if I don't use enough at a go and want to go in with a second layer in certain areas, I found that the foundation that's already settled is kind of too thick to blend in with the newly applied foundation if that makes sense? Making the new application kind of streaky and clumpy. So for this foundation I never try to build it up, I always only use one layer (I can't use too much either because the more I use the more apparent it is when it breaks down on me).
One last thing I want to complain-- the pump for this foundation sucks. The same goes to the sunscreen. It's the "all or nothing" kind of pump-- you either get a squirt at a go or you don't get anything, unless you go very slowly and carefully. Really dislike the pump.
So yeah despite the fact it's a natural product, I won't be repurchasing.
Whew, that was a lot said with the foundation. Now moving on to the argan oil!
I don't think it feels oily but I made my brother use it on his very dry hands and he said it was so greasy XD so yeah it really depends on your skin type/preference.
I was hoping using the argan oil will replenish my skin's oil levels or hydration level or whatever so it would stop going crazy with producing oils. Sadly that did not work. Aside from the fact it is pretty nice to mix with my normal moisturizers for that added richness, I don't feel like the argan oil has benefited my skin much. However, I do love it for my hair XD I only use it at the ends and 3 drops at most, and it detangles my hair very nicely without making it greasy or weighed down in anyway. But honestly normally I won't splurge on a product like this just to condition my hair. So when I run out... it's whatever. lol.
Lastly, I have the Argan Daily Moisturizer
Why is it called a moisturizer is a myth to me because this is supposed to be a sunscreen?? But let's just say I've tried to use it as a daytime moisturizer on its own and it's just NOT enough (not in fall/winter anyway). However I love to mix this with my daytime moisturizers! (I don't like to apply moisturizer and then another layer of sunscreen... that's just too much for me). By the way if you have combination skin like me, definitely don't use this for the summer-- it makes my skin noticeably more greasy. So in the summer I had to opt for something else. But I do love this for fall/winter. By the way it smells like cough syrup to me... which really bugged me at first but now I'm used to it. I will be repurchasing this ^_^
Don't mind the little dent on the back of my hand. I was pressing the pump hard against my hand cuz I wanted to make sure I didn't squirt out a ton of product XD I don't have much of this sunscreen left Q_Q
It does leave a sheen... but it doesn't look too greasy. More like a shine. Depending on how you look at it, really.
Last note-- I have used all three products at the same time on my face, and no they don't interfere with each other at all. (:
Okay, that's it for my super long Josie Maran products review XD Hope some of you found it helpful!
This review took longer to write than expected -_- now I must go catch up on school work.
Have a great week guys ^_^
<3 Frances
