Emmie Reviews – Hourglass Ambient Soft Glow Foundation

As y’all might already know, I’ve been in my Soft Glam Foundation era for most of 2022. And the easiest way to get me to part with my cash is to release a new one. Which is precisely what happened when back in August, Hourglass released the brand new Ambient Soft Glow Foundation. I picked it up from Cult Beauty (I wasn’t waiting for this one). And I’ve spent the last little while playing with it behind the scenes. Seeing as it’s launching today at Mecca (finally), I figured it was as good a time as ever to talk about it! Let’s get into the review.

HOURGLASS AMBIENT SOFT GLOW FOUNDATION – $87.00 – mecca.com.au (32 shades available)

I’ll start with the packaging. Which is fairly standard fair for Hourglass. Sleek, frosted, well weighted glass bottle with a deep metallic bronze lid and black and gold detailing on the bottle. I do like how slim the bottle is and I reckon it would be great for a makeup artist’s kit. The Hourglass Soft Glow Foundation is vegan, cruelty free and contains 30ml of product.

The product is dispensed via a metal pump on the top of the bottle. I actually really like this pump because it is a bit of the stiffer side. Meaning that I have a lot of control over how much product I can pump out. I even found it somewhat difficult to pump out too much product. And yes, this will be important later.

The Soft Glow Foundation, like a lot of the foundations in Hourglass’s line, has 32 shades. And much like the previously reviewed Seamless Foundation Stick, it’s not a great shade range. A lot of the shades in this range lean light-medium and there isn’t much to choose from as far as the deep shades go.

But the big failing with Hourglass and their foundation range, in my eyes anyway, is their range of undertones. For example, I wear shade number 5, which is described as being Light with Neutral Undertones. Now, this is a shade that I can pull off. But as you can see from the above swatch, it still leans more on the yellow side than a lot of the other neutral foundations that I’ve tried. Which is unfortunate because you would think in the year of our lord, 2022, this shouldn’t still be an issue anymore. Brands need to do better in all aspects when it comes to creating their shade ranges.

Out of all of the lighter coverage foundations that I’ve tested this year, the consistency of the Soft Glow Foundation is definitely the thickest. I could easily dot this on my face and not worry about it dripping all over the place. I found that 2-3 small pumps were enough to cover my face and neck. On occasion, I would go in with a 1/2 pump if I thought I needed the extra coverage. This foundation also paired nicely with my more hydrating primers (Face Base, The Moringa Creme, etc.). As far as application went, while all three methods worked well, I thought this foundation was at its best when I applied it with a sponge! Something about the dampness of the sponge just clicks with this foundation. I never quite got the same effect with a brush or hands. Though it is worth noting that Hourglass did release a new brush alongside this foundation.

The Soft Glow Foundation is described as being medium buildable coverage with a soft, natural finish. And have no reason to argue with those claims. I found that I did have to build up the product on places such as my chin and upper lip. But overall, it did a decent job at covering my acne scarring. My freckles were still visible. As far as the finish goes, it’s more on the satin matte side. Very natural and comfortable. For the most part, I was able to layer the rest of my makeup on it without lifting. I will, however, say that it’s not the most sweatproof. As it did want to lift off of my upper lip area. Fortunately, I have since learned how to remedy that easily.

Wear test time now. And it actually held up better than I expected it to. The Soft Glow Foundation is touted as being a 16-hour wear. But the last few weeks have been on the humid side. So, I was mostly shocked to still have foundation on my face at all. The biggest note I had for this foundation is that I did have to hit it with powder quite a few times. While this foundation does provide a nice glow, it did begin to broach into oily throughout the day. Which is normally not a problem for me. Surprisingly though, I didn’t notice the foundation breaking down as a result of that. I did experience some fading on the chin. But I’m not sure if that’s the foundation or me. On the positive side, I didn’t notice any of the foundation sinking into lines or emphasizing texture

So, here’s where things get tricky. Do I like this foundation? Yeah, it’s alright. It wears well and gives a good amount of radiance to the skin. But I wasn’t wowed by it enough to give it a ‘you need to buy this immediately’ style recommendation. The only way I would say that you need to get this foundation is if you don’t already own the Nars Light Reflecting Foundation or the Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Foundation. As both are very similar to this. As i mentioned at the beginning, this is launching today over at Mecca. So, if anything, maybe get a sample and see how you go. Have you tried the Hourglass Ambient Soft Glow Foundation? Let me know in the comments below!

Cheers and love
Emily xo