Hourglass Vanish Seamless Stick Foundation | Review

I don't know what's gotten in to me lately, but I've had this itch to try out new foundations. Even though my beloved Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous has done me no wrong, I just feel like experimenting, and foundation is something I haven't played with much. 

So, when I canceled my Ipsy subscription a couple months back, I redeemed all of my points for the Hourglass Vanish Seamless Stick Foundation. Kind of a big leap for me - I don't normally buy high-end foundations because I'm cheap, and I've never used a stick foundation before this one. So I dived right in.

The Hourglass Vanish Seamless Stick Foundation sells on Sephora.com for $46 for 0.25 oz (not a lot of product!). It comes in 26 shades, which is pretty impressive. It's touted as "a long wearing foundation with the coverage of a concealer, fluidity of a liquid, and weightlessness of a powder..." Already, it sounds kind of like my favorite Outlast Stay Fabulous foundation just from the description. It describes that you need very little product to get full coverage, as it claims to have double the pigment than normal foundations. The Vanish Seamless stick works with your body heat to blend in to your skin for an ultra smooth finish. 

One thing to note as you figure out if this foundation would be right for you: I have normal to combination skin. My skin maintains a normal amount of moisture, without many dry patches, and my t-zone gets a tiny bit oily. I'm also prone to breakouts, especially around my mouth. I do have fine lines that certain foundations can sink in to and accentuate. 

Above is the before and after - before I applied anything but moisturizer and primer, and immediately after I applied the Hourglass Vanish Seamless Stick Foundation in shade Blanc (the lightest shade) using a Sigma foundation brush. I applied my typical makeup routine on top of it - bronzer, blush, concealer, etc. and a setting spray. I then wore it to work and for 12 hours of the day. 

Click the image above to see a close up of how the foundation performed, with snapshots from hour 2, hour 6 and hour 10. Initially, application looks great, especially at hour 2. My skin looks radiant and a little dewy, and the tone is evened out. That darn forehead wrinkle isn't quite so obvious at hour 2. Then we look at hour 6, and wrinkles are looking a little more prominent and my face isn't looking so seamless anymore. By hour 10... WOOF. Take a peek at the skin between my eyebrows. The foundation has started to wear away and is looking really cakey. It's settling in my eyelids and in other wrinkles on my face. It's broken down around and on my nose and some imperfections are shining through. 

And really, that's the story of the Hourglass Vanish Seamless Stick Foundation. It looks great if you need to wear it for just a few short hours, but if you want to wear it all day, don't count on looking flawless at the end of the day. This is touted as long wearing foundation and I think that's a stretch. It's on, sure, but it does not look nearly as good as it did in the first few hours. 

The pros: 

• There are tons of shades to pick from so you're almost certain to find one that works for you. 
• You probably do end up using less foundation than a traditional liquid foundation, especially if you like a light medium coverage.
• The packaging of the product is classy and high quality.

The cons:

• It's not long-wearing as it claims to be. 
• It wears away over the course of the day, and sinks in to fine lines and wrinkles.
• It is expensive for the amount of product you get.

I think if you had semi oily skin, or like a light coverage, you might like this stick foundation, but honestly - my recommendation would be to try something cheaper. I think there are far cheaper foundations that perform just as well, if not better, and you won't be out $46. 

Overall, the Hourglass Vanish Seamless Stick Foundation isn't for me. I've used it a bunch of times, and the last time I did, I swore it off. It doesn't mesh well with my skin and honestly, I'm embarrassed by how my skin looks when I have to wear it for more than a few hours. Not my thing, but I don't mind because getting hooked on a $46 foundation is the last thing my wallet needs! 

Have you tried the Hourglash Vanish Seamless Stick Foundation? Let me know how you liked it!