Bobbi Brown Intensive Skin Serum Foundation Review

When I did my big haul in Wellington one of the few things that I actually needed to replace was my foundation. I had been meaning to pick up the new MAC Water-weight foundation that I had a tester of. But when the line at Kirks for MAC was far too long I turned around and found Bobbi Brown. I haven't tried anything by Bobbi Brown before so I was excited to see what they had to offer. I explained to the assistant what I wanted (medium coverage, dry skin, and buildable) and she suggested this one. Once I got to the counter and realised it is $105!!!! I realise why she might have suggested this one. I got matched to the shade 0 Porcelain which is a fantastic match for me.

The packaging is a bit different from any other foundation I have owned. The bottle is black and glass. So I have read a few complaints about the bottle being black as you can't see how much you have left, but that doesn't bother me. Apparently it is black so the skincare ingredients inside don't degrade. This also has a dropper which is quite cool. It means you can control really easily how much you dispense out. Unfortunately I have recently travelled with this at it is pretty useless as it leaks around the lid. I find this a bit of a pain, especially as you don't want to risk losing any of this precious expensive product.

I have been using this mainly with a brush or sponge. I put a wee bit on the back of my hand and pick it up from there. I have found it applies fine with a brush and it is easy to build it up where you need it by stippling it on. However with a sponge it is amazing and really natural, but I'm not sure if that is because of the foundation or my new found love for the BeautyBlender. When you first apply this it is really glowy looking which I feel like the oily skinned ladies would hate, but I just pop on a bit of powder and that goes away. The foundation itself is really thin and has a weird scent, kind of like eucalyptus. Luckily the scent goes away quite quickly once applied to the skin. This gives a really natural look on the skin which I love. But is also easily built up where you need it (for me on the redness on my cheeks). I love that this is also a SPF25 which is great for layering my SPF on my pale pale skin. What I love even more about this is that my skin feels and looks great once it is removed. I really feel like my skin has improved once I started using this. I do use a primer and powder with this but it lasts all day! Sometimes I find my skin just eats foundation but with this it still looks great.

I hate that I love this. The price is ridiculous, but honestly I feel like I have found my holy grail foundation and will have to bite the bullet and repurchase when I run out.

Ah serums my ultimate weakness! I needed a new foundation and I have a hard time finding my shade. That's what prompted me to check out the higher end brands. What attracted me to the Bobbi Brown counter was that Bobbi Brown foundations come in a wide range of shades there's not just a light, medium and darker shade but there's cool toned light, neutral toned light and warm toned light. Plus my skin has a yellow undertone and Bobbi Brown's line of foundations has more of a yellow undertone than some other brands. I gazed at the all the different options and then my eyes landed on this black elegant glass dropped bottle with white writing, the gold logo and the words serum. I am such a skincare fanatic that I don't just want makeup that looks pretty I want it to be good for my skin but especially my foundation that would form the basis of any full faced makeup look. I got matched up and took home a sample two weeks later I found myself exchanging all my Farmers gift cards, rewards, etc. for the most expensive foundation I have owned to date. Here's what I love about this luxury serum foundation it's enriched with natural extracts that are good for your skin - watermelon, laminaria saccharina, litchi seed, lentil, artemia, cordyceps mushroom, apple and sasa veitchii extracts. There's also lavender oil in it which gives the foundation a lavender scent. I'm not a fan of lavender scents so I'm glad it doesn't stay and once the foundation is applied it doesn't last. I also like that this foundation has an spf of 25. Bobbi Brown in general aims for her foundations to look like skin and my skin definitely shows through this foundation. This foundation is very hydrating and gives my skin a very dewy finish. I haven't broken out from this foundation despite it being a bit to oily for my skin during the summer, late spring and early autumn. I have used this foundation without a primer, because it is a serum and foundation combined so to let my skin feel the good extracts I have used this sans primer at times, if I sit around and if I don't do much then it stays looking pretty okay through out the day. It starts slipping around my nose and forehead and cheeks after six hours. If I use a primer underneath it stays mostly put even if I workout and starts slipping around my nose, chin and forehead bit after I workout or eight hours of wear whichever comes first. I do have a few fine lines on my face and this foundation doesn't settle into them or draw attention to them which was a big selling point for me for this foundation. The black bottle is opaque which I like as the good ingredients are protected. This foundation also photographs decently, no white white or grey overcast with a flash. If I had to think of a few things that I didn't like about this it would be that the foundation doesn't easily come out of the dropper.

I got a sample of this foundation from the Farmer’s Bobby Store. Consistency was nice and light-weighted, and had a BB cream feel. Coverage i’ll say was light to moderate.. The coverage is not as good compared to their slightly lower priced Bobby brown full coverage foundation, and it just feels like you’re using a branded bb cream, But i think this product would suit those who prefers a more natural complexion, or for those with dry skin who’s having trouble finding a foundation that doesn’t highlight their dry patches and fine lines as much as the normal matte foundations do. It felt moisturising on my face. I loved that light-weighted and breathable feel on my skin. It would definitely be a great product if it had more coverage as the coverage provided wasn’t that much better than my bb cream, and looking at the price, i don’t think i’ll purchase this, unless it’s on a super crazy sale.