A few months back, Ulta3 launched their Ready, Set, Radiant range of products. Included in that line was the brand new Fresh Faced Serum Foundation. Now, even though my oily skin normally avoids glowy foundations like the plague, I was more than a little intrigued to try this foundation out.
ULTA3 FRESH FACED SERUM FOUNDATION – $12.95 – ulta3.com.au (4 shades available)
Before I get into the review proper (and I’ll bury the lede, it’s a fairly positive one), I do have to address the shade range, which is pretty poor. There are only four shades of this foundation. And if you ask me, all four shades are very similar, with the overall tone being slightly different with each one. Ulta3, if you read this (and I sincerely hope you do), please expand the shade range of this foundation!
Ok then, onto the review…
I’ll start with the packaging, which I really like. It’s a glass bottle that feels well made and sturdy. The applicator is a glass dropper which can be used to apply the product to either a sponge, brush or directly onto the skin. I haven’t used a dropper foundation before so I have no point of comparison, but to me, the dropper doesn’t get too junked up with product and drops out evenly. The foundation is vegan, cruelty and paraben free and contains 30ml of product, which is the standard amount.
When applying this foundation for the first time, I found it applied best with a sponge. Using a brush caused the foundation to look overly streaky. The best way to apply it for me was to pop a few drops straight onto my sponge and then apply directly to the face. I found that 3-4 drops will cover my face to a light coverage. Having said that, you can certainly build it up to a more medium finish. Something else that I noticed when applying for the first time was the scent. It was almost reminiscent of peaches, which I didn’t hate at all!
Not surprisingly, this is a very glowy foundation. Using a good setting powder however will diminish some of that dewiness. It didn’t cling to any dry patches (I had a few old acne scars on my face) and it sat on my nose well. Also not surprising is that it felt weightless on the skin. One big surprise though is that it didn’t noticeably oxidize. It remained true to colour throughout my entire day.
The first time I wore this foundation, I had it on for 9 hours. If I had one big bug bear with it, it would have to be that I did notice it had settled in my forehead and smile lines after around the 4-5 hour mark. I will point out that I do have aging skin and there are very few foundation that don’t do this to me so I don’t mind that much. Another note is that due to it’s dewy nature, it’s not the best foundation for oil control so I did have to powder quite a bit throughout the day. Other than that, it performed really well. It didn’t fade around my nose and chin and it was still pretty presentable at the end of the day.
Overall, I do really like the Fresh Faced Serum foundation and I will continue to use it. I highly recommend it to those with more normal to dry skin. If you are more combo to oily, I say give it a go (it’s less than $15), but you might want to try it with a mattifying primer.
Cheers and love
Emmie xo
Great review, Emmie! I have to say, I’ve not tried any of Ulta3’s products before but you’ve certainly made me intrigued enough to check out a stand next time I see one!