Every time I see the words “for sensitive skin” in a cosmetic’s description, I get suspicious. My skin is so sensitive, those words never mean anything to me. Lately, I’ve been wondering if hypoallergenic is the same as sensitive and if sensitive foundation and concealer is better quality than cosmetics for non-sensitive skin. For the sake of discovery, I tested a foundation and concealer from each category that I mentioned prior: sensitive, hypoallergenic, and regular.
Sensitive foundation is meant for the people who have skin that is not tough enough to take on regular makeup and skin that is not needy enough for hypoallergenic. My skin used to be just sensitive but now requires everything vegan and natural for it to not break out in hives or acne. Love that. I looked up on Ulta some foundations and concealers that claimed “sensitive” and found Juvia’s Place’s “I Am Magic” foundation and Nars’ “Radiant Creamy Concealer.” Risking my skin’s sanity, I tried both on my entire face to gauge the quality and how my skin responded. The foundation felt weightless and applied very easily, but it had a yellowish tint to it–no problem, though, I just tried the peachy complexion one–it oxidized SO fast. It basically turned orange on my skin. As for the concealer, the color was on point and the texture was silky, but it did feel very heavy on my under eyes and I knew exactly where it was on my face. That felt very weird to be honest. On my grading scale, the Juvia’s Place foundation got a B- and the Nars concealer got a B.
Hypoallergenic face makeup is the bomb. Daily, I use my Tarte Face Tape Foundation and Tarte Shape Tape Concealer. I adore the combo and it makes my face feel beat. The Tarte foundation is pretty thick, so it can be pretty difficult to blend and it sweats off very easily, but the original coverage and breathability is ten out of ten. Tarte’s concealer is a show-stopper. It is full coverage, smells clean, is thin enough for application, and is super breathable. I only have one complaint about it: it dries too fast! If you don’t blend fast enough, it can leave lines from the original application which is a total turn off. Tarte foundation’s grade is an A- while the concealer is an A.
The most popular type of foundations and concealers are marketed toward the average wearer which means not necessarily sensitive. I wanted to see if the bottles not marked as “sensitive” or “hypoallergenic” were better than the ones that are. Do you lose an ingredient to make a perfect foundation that makes the sensitive kinds lack? I put on the Laura Mercier Flawless Fusion Ultra-Longwear Foundation to the test and paired it with Too Faced’s Born This Way Naturally Naturally Radiant Concealer. The Laura Mercier foundation was a perfect blend of color and lightweight and it hardly creased or rubbed off. So whatever is in there–glue?–to make it stay on may not be hypoallergenic or sensitive but it’s definitely an A. As for the concealer, the consistency was a bit thick and the shade range I saw was VERY small. But what I did try was very heavy on the skin and I’m not sure why? This concealer gets a C-.
No matter what type of skin you have, you can find a perfect fit for foundation and concealer. Doesn’t matter if it didn’t work for me but you love it and it doesn’t matter if I loved it and you disagree. All that matters is that we keep our skin safe while also looking fabulous with our faces beat.