Back at the start of March, I did a poll on my Instagram for what my next foundation review should be. And by an overwhelming majority, you picked the new Urban Decay Face Bond Foundation. I can see why this was your pick. At the time, it was a fairly new launch. And it came with a ton of interesting claims, including the fact that it was supposed to be self setting. So, I’ve spent the last month playing with it behind the scenes. And I have thoughts. So, let’s get into this review!
URBAN DECAY FACE BOND FOUNDATION – $78.00 – mecca.com.au
*40 shades available*
The packaging for the Face Bond Foundation is easily one of the most unique that I’ve seen for a while. It’s housed in a stout yet slimline, lightweight plastic bottle. The cap on top and underneath is a metallic chrome purple with the name Urban Decay embossed below the cap. The bottle itself I initially thought was coloured the same as the foundation. I later learned that the plastic is clear and it is just the foundation itself. With a UD embossed on the bottom. I really like this style. It makes finding your shade a little bit easier.
If I had one nitpick (and of course I do), I do wish the cap was a little more secure. I did find that it popped off a little too easily. And I know that this foundation has a fancy, mess free tip (I’ll talk about that shortly), it still worries me that the cap can come off in a handbag. The Face Bond Foundation is vegan, cruelty free, and contains 30ml of product.
The foundation is dispensed through what is called a needle nose tip. Almost like a dropper that is attached the the top of the bottle. But unlike a lot of needle nose tips on the market, the tip on the Face Bond Foundation is wholly unique and a market first. You can hold this foundation upside down, and unless your putting pressure on the bottle itself, you won’t have any leaking come out of the tip. And because the tip is very small and precise, you can get out the amount of product you want without wastage. This is actually brilliant. And I won’t be surprised to see similar tips coming out in the future (Lancome, another L’Oreal owned brand, has a skin tint in similar packaging launching soon).
The Face Bond Foundation has 40 shades in the line. With five different shade categories and eight shades within each category. There is a solid balance of warm, cool, neutral, and even olive undertones (olive being a category that is often ignored in the foundation world). Urban Decay has always been a champion of inclusivity, so I would have been disappointed to see anything less.
I, personally, wear shade 10. Described as being Light with Neutral Undertones. If I’m being perfectly honest, while this is a shade I can pull off, I would personally call this my summer shade. It does lean a little deep on me. And I suspect that shade 7, Fair with Neutral Undertones would have been a better match for me for wear throughout the year.
As far as unique ingredients go, the big one is 3% Niacindmide. Niacinamide being a popular skincare product for those who want to help their skin barrier. But I’m more interested in the self setting claim. This formula contains powders that help bond with the skin that not only set’s the powder in place, but it helps the overall wear of the foundation throughout the day. I’ll discuss this more when it comes to me applying the foundation and the wear throughout the day.
The consistency of the Face Bond Foundation is a fairly standard one. Somewhere between a liquid and a cream in that it holds it shape, but it is extremely easy to spread and blend out. I would use a pea sized amount to cover my whole face. And then half that amount to boost the coverage. The Urban Decay website says that you can apply the Face Bond Foundation with either a sponge, a brush, or your fingers. I personally liked the finish a sponge gave me. I did try this with my fingers. But I found that it looked a little bit on the heavy side. And running a damp sponge helped even out the heaviness.
The Face Bond Foundation is described as being a medium coverage foundation with a natural matte finish. And while I agree with the medium coverage (especially when I was using a sponge), I did find this foundation to be on the matte side of natural. Up close, you can see the powdery quality of this foundation. If you have drier skin like me, I would definitely use a moisturising primer with this (the Revlon Illuminance Balm was my go to). Having said that, it was very lightweight and comfortable on the skin. I was able to apply creams and powders on top without any issues. And while I would still set my under eye and anywhere I applied concealer, I wouldn’t set anywhere else as not to exacerbate the powderiness.
Which brings me to the wear test. And I have to say, I did doubt the self setting claims of the Face Bond Foundation. But after 10 hours of wear, this foundation still looks pretty good on me. I did lose a little bit on the forehead (very few foundations stand up to me wearing a hat). But otherwise, this wore better than I expected. The big thing I noticed was that the powderiness began to diminish as my natural oils came through (it’s only now getting cold here in The Isa). It’s a foundation that looks better the longer you have it on. It looked more natural and more skin like throughout the day. I also didn’t notice it sinking into my lines or pores. It was very flexible and comfortable.
All in all, the Urban Decay Face Bond Foundation gets a thumbs up from me. But it’s a thumbs up with an asterisk. If you have normal or oily skin, you need to try this yesterday. I think it will quickly become a favourite. But if you’re on the drier side, like me, definitely get a sample and do a bunch of skin prep first. But this is a foundation that does exactly what it says on the bottle. It bonds to your face. And I love it! Have you tried the Urban Decay Face Bond Foundation? Let me know in the comments.
Cheers and love
Emily xo
I liked this foundation too . I have it in my bag chilling out and it’s one of my main on the go foundations .