Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick

A make up brand I hadn’t much explored was Bobbi Brown. I had heard of it, I had seen it around, but I never truly became invested in the brand. That was until my local Douglas was refurbished and reopened with a Bobbi Brown counter. I decided to go and explore the brand and ever since I picked up a few items from their line. I decided to start with the basics: foundation, corrector and powder. As the title suggest, this blog post is a full review of the Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick.

Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation Stick Sand 2

This is my first ever stick foundation and my second Bobbi Brown product. I own a gel liner, also known as a Shimmer Ink in Ivy, which I have had for ages. Time for me to delve into the depths of a new make up brand and with a brand new type of product for me. Before I delve into the review a quick word or praise to the lovely lady helping me, who was very professional, kind and not too much of a hard sell. She knew the line to a T and I was impressed by her know how about make up in general.

During my visit, I was shown several types of foundation that Bobbi Brown carries. In store I had the liquid foundation applied to my skin, but this product intrigued me as it is more full coverage than anything I have ever tried, a nice easy on-the-go size, and like I said I was simply intrigued by this product in general. The fact that I could potentially use this as concealer and multitask only added to my willingness to buy this product.

Bobbi Brown is a high end make up brand and this foundation does not come cheap. At €39,50 for 9 grams of product, this foundation is definitely one of the more expensive products in my make up collection. It is available in 24 different shades and I was color matched by the sales rep to Sand 2. Here are the promises of the product:

The ultimate nude foundation—Bobbi’s iconic Foundation Stick gets an update with a unique transparent base plus skin tone correct pigments for an incredibly natural look. Its creamy yet weightless texture applies effortlessly and blends seamlessly so all you see is fresh, smooth, even skin.

An innovative blend of emollients—like olive extracts and shea butter—help to moisturize skin (and lock it in), so skin stays looking soft and smooth all day. Light diffusing powders and oil-controlling minerals help perfect the appearance of skin while reducing shine (even in sweat, water and humidity).

After moisturizing skin, lightly apply across forehead, cheeks, nose, and chin. Blend with fingertips, sponge, or the Foundation Brush (sold separately). Build coverage as desired.

All skin types—this stick formula is our most versatile foundation yet.

There is some information on the box. The stick formula allows you to apply the product all over, or use it more sparingly on areas where you need it most. Handy and because it’s a stick it’s really quick and easy to use as well.

The ingredient list is made up of silicone, waxes, shea butter and color pigments. Nothing there to suggest this is a product that could lead to irritation in my case, but I would always test face make up before purchase. Especially if you’re shelling out this much much, I would suggest to ask for an application in store or a sample. They are usually kind enough to let you try it if you ask.

Like I mentioned, I was color matched to Sand 2. There are 3 lighter shades available and all the other shades are darker. I am fairly light, usually too light for drugstore foundations, but I have a fair bit of redness in my skin. In order to cover that up, while retaining a natural effect, the lady recommended not to go too light and pick this one instead to prevent a mask like effect.

The packaging is a) gorgeous and b) practical. You can easily use this with one hand to apply it to your face. I use a flat kabuki brush to blend this in and I find that works really quick and easy. The sleek and classy looking packaging is what makes this product only more attractive to me and it’s actually not as messy as a liquid foundation of course.

When you turn the foundation all the way up, you can see there is not that much product in this little stick. Because you don’t have to use a ton of this, a little goes a long way with this, I do find that I do not go through this too quickly though. It is well pigmented and you don’t easily waste product as you can apply just as much as you need, because of the stick form this comes in.

As you can see Sand 2 is quite a yellow toned foundation. I had never used such a yellow foundation before. But the Bobbi Brown philosophy is that that will cancel out redness more easily. This picture also shows you the coverage it gives you: it is almost a powdery finish, despite the fact that this has a very creamy texture. The coverage is pretty full on as well which is handy because it means you need less of it.

Nothing – applied to left side of face – full face – with concealer & powder

As you can see this foundation gives a very natural finish. I have a pretty red splotch above my eyebrow which is a pain to cover, but it does show you clearly how much coverage this gives you. The majority of the redness is cancelled out, but my skin still looks like skin. And that is exactly what I like in a foundation.

What I like best about this foundation is the fact that you can apply it to only those areas that need coverage. These pictures show you the before and after of the application process. I simply draw a few stripes across the areas that I want to cover up, mainly because of redness, and then I blend it in. The effect is really nice and at first glance the color match is perfect.

Close up

The color is a good match from a distance and especially when I finish my complete make up look you can’t see this, but close up you can see that this foundation is a tad too yellow for my skin tone and in this picture it even looks splotchy.

That is exactly the problem with my skin: the center of my face is much darker than the perimeter. Which is why I don’t apply this foundation along my jawline. If I’d do that it would look too dark compared to my neck.

Plus the splotchiness may very well be my sloppy early morning make up application in this picture, but like I said: you really cannot tell from a distance. You would literally have to stick your nose to my skin to see this.

My skin looks different because of different lighting, not because of the foundation, but that’s why I wanted to show you both so you can see the effect in early morning (7 AM) lighting and around noon.

Full face I feel this foundation looks great on me. It is a dream to apply and blend into the skin. The color match is a bit of an issue, but luckily this product is great for targeted application which makes it not noticeable unless you’re very close up. This is a natural foundation that can be build up, comes in many different shades and is easy to travel with. There is only one downside: the price tag for the amount of product you get. If you’re willing to churn out nearly 40 euros for less product than a usual foundation, then this is a foundation that will not let you down.

Do you use high end foundation? Which one do you use? Or which one would you be willing to try?