When Fenty Beauty quietly discontinued their Pro Filt’r Hydrating Foundation last year, it was a sizable blow to dry skin Fenty Beauty lovers like myself. While not as widely beloved as the Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Foundation, it did fill a hole in the Fenty line for those with drier skin who wanted more coverage than a skin tint. Fortunately, Mother Rhianna didn’t keep us waiting too long. Because in April of this year, Fenty launched their new Soft’Lit Luminous Foundation. Which promised longer wear with a more naturally luminous finish.
Now, I never got around to reviewing the original Hydrating formula. But I did try a sample of it and I quite enjoyed it for what it was. So, if the Soft’Lit is just an upgraded version of that, theoretically, I’ll like it too. But let’s find out together. I’ve spent the last few weeks using it behind the scenes. And I have plenty of thoughts. Let’s get into the review.
FENTY BEAUTY SOFT’LIT LUMINOUS FOUNDATION – $64.00 – sephora.com.au
*50 shades available*
The first major change that was made to the Soft’Lit Foundation was actually the packaging. The Hydrating Foundation was housed in a plastic tube with a pump on the end (not unlike the It Cosmetics CC Cream). The Soft’Lit is housed in a sleek, frosted glass bottle. There is white detail on the bottle itself and the cap at the top is also white. Packaging wise, it does look very similar to the Pro Filt’r Soft Matte bottle. But there is one key difference. The Soft Matte is ovular in shape, the Soft’Lit is hexagonal. So, don’t fret, you can easily tell them apart. The Soft’Lit Foundation is cruelty free and contains 30ml of product.
The pump for the Soft’Lit Foundation is the exact same one as the Soft Matte. Which means it comes with the exact same issue I had with the Soft Matte pump. For reasons unknown to it, this pump gets very grotty every time I use it. Even if I angle it to avoid any product on the pump, I still manage to make a mess. If anyone else uses this foundation, let me know in the comments if you have a similar issue. Because this can’t be just me.
The Soft’Lit Foundation launched with 50 shades. There is the usual solid line up of skin tones and undertones. The lightest shade goes very light, the deepest shade is very deep. It’s what we’ve come to expect from Fenty. Though I did notice that the Soft Matte has recently expanded to 55 shades. So, I wonder if there is a shade expansion coming soon.
For the Soft’Lit range, I’m still shade 150. And props to Fenty for keeping the shades consistent between formulations. Because I have to assume that’s no easy task. One thing I did immediately notice about this formula though is that on me, it does stay true to colour. I didn’t notice any oxidization on my skin.
As far as application goes, I got the best overall coverage with my fingers. But I also enjoyed blending it out with a beauty sponge. Weirdly, I didn’t like this as much with a brush. I found that the finish got a little streaky and I would have to tap them out with my finger. It also applied well under a wide array of primers. For me, it worked especially well with the Glossier Futuredew and the ELF Power Grip Primer.
The Soft’Lit is described as being a medium coverage foundation that provides a golden hour glow to the skin. So, a luminous finish. And yeah, she’s luminous. But not in an obnoxious way. It really does give a lit from within kind of finish. Like my skin is healthy and glowy. I was also surprised to see that this was touted as a medium coverage. I thought it was something closer to full, myself. But when I compare it to pictures of me wearing Soft Matte, it is slightly less coverage overall.
The other big selling point of the Soft’Lit Foundation is it’s supposibly long wear. And after putting it through both a heatwave and a sudden downpour (I’m not kidding, it bucketed down the day I did the wear test), it passed with flying colours. This didn’t sink into lines. It didn’t emphazise my texture or pores. And it didn’t slip and slide all around my face. The biggest surprise for me though was how well this controlled my oils. I wore this for close to 15 hours on a few occasions and I barely even had to blot. Now that’s impressive.
Well, consider this another win for Fenty. The Soft’Lit Foundation gets a thumbs up from me and a solid recommendation. I know I just said that the Easy Blur Foundation will be in my favourites. But I enjoyed Soft’Lit so much, I feel like this foundation will be joining her come January. Have you tried the Fenty Beauty Soft’Lit Luminous Foundation? Let me know in the comments.
Cheers and love
Emily xo