The 411 on the brand new @ItCosmetics Celebration Foundation! My review & full low-down!

Foundation has to be one of the most challenging beauty products. There’s literally hundreds, if not thousands out there to choose from. It’s the one product that i’m always looking to discover the next better thing. The one that will finally make my far from flawless skin look as close to flawless as possible. These days the word “flawless” is a very relative term as every photo we see in the magazines and even on Instagram are photoshopped to the point that they barely resemble any human i’ve seen in real life!  But I do have realistic standards.  I want coverage without looking too made up. You know, that caked on, heavy spackled, maskey, thick foundation face that looks like it needs to be chiseled off with tools from Home Depot to remove every night. Nope. That’s not want I want. I want it to to be longwearing if not waterproof. I don’t want it to emphasize my fine lines or make my pores appear like craters on the moon. I don’t want it to separate in my T-Zone or make my skin look patchy & dry on the outer perimeter of my face which i’ve named “The Sahara”.  It has to be fast, easy and mess-free to apply.  I want it to cover my freckles. Who are we kidding here. They’re really age spots, sun damage & light melasma from years of competitive swimming and tanning. Hmm…am I expecting too much from a foundation??

I think not because i’ve discovered some pretty fantastic ones over the years that I use on myself as well as my clients. You can read about those here: http://coachglitter.posterous.com/give-good-face-my-list-of-fave-foundations-fo Well, it looks like i’ve found my new personal favorite foundation to add to that prestigious list! This new Celebration Foundation from ItCosmetics does just about everything other than cook & clean your house! No wonder it took them over 3 years working with plastic surgeons to perfect. Like many of their other very innovative products (the “I” in It stands for innovative and they truly are!) this is an amazing powder foundation that doesn’t age you and is designed for women who are not exactly 21 any more. We may feel Forever 21 but our skin may not be looking that way and we certainly can’t use the same products that 21 year olds can. Don’t be scared that it’s a powder because it’s talc-free which means it won’t make your skin look drier, ashy & most importantly older! It won’t settle into fine lines and wrinkles or create fine lines and wrinkles that really aren’t even there…yet! They also left out the Parabens (preservatives), Sulfates (skin irritating, natural oil stripping detergents), Fragrances (very common cause of skin irritant), Cruelty-free (no animal testing) & best of all….NO BISMUTH!! Bismuth is that awful ingredient found in most “natural” mineral foundations that also cause major skin irritation including itching & stinging with heat, sweat and humidity.

They did add in tons of great anti-aging and flawless skin-creating ingredients like Active Peptides & Hydrolyzed Collagen, Hyaluronic Acid (a fave of mine that hydrates as it can hold 1,000 times its weight in water & immediately makes skin look plumped up and smoother),  Drops of Light Technology which uses light reflecting pigments to blur & soften the skin texture making it look younger (like having an Emmy Award lighting crew follow you around) and Vitamins A, C & E (anti-oxidants to protect skin). It’s like the most advanced cosmeceutical skincare built right into your foundation! It also has a natural physical, not chemical SPF of 50 (titanium dioxide & zinc oxide) but due to new FDA rules that will be implemented in June 2012, all powder products including mineral foundations can no longer claim any SPF.

That all sounds great but how does it look and wear? This foundation is a medium to a buildable full coverage that you can completely control based on your personal preference in how you like your foundation to look. Plus some days or depending on what time of the month it is our skin can look pretty darn great & other times it’s breaking out like crazy!  As I wrote in my last blog, I get monthly hormonal cystic breakouts and while it’s finally under control I have some dark post-breakout marks that take far longer to fade than the pesky breakout itself! I’ve been using Mally Beauty’s Poreless Perfection powder foundation but I still needed a full coverage concealer on my extra stubborn marks. Well, with this new It Cosmetics foundation I haven’t needed a separate concealer other than my YSL Touch Eclat to highlight under the eyes. I use the freakin crazy amazing flat top Heavenly Luxe Airbrush Buffing Foundation Brush to apply the foundation on my whole face in barely a minute. Then I take a small concealer brush to concentrate the coverage to the areas that still need a bit more attention. In just a few minutes I’m done with no mess (seriously strongly dislike loose mineral powders)!  The finish is very natural. Not flat and matte and not too shiny which can borderline look greasy & oily. It has a healthy glow and luminous radiance to the finish like you would usually find in a liquid or cream but with a weightless feel. While I was testing out this product I didn’t use any primers or setting/blot powders with it so that I can really judge just the foundation. The only thing I used is my usual Embryolisse Cream moisturizer and Dr. Perricone undereye cream. The only feature I didn’t see about this product is if it’s waterproof or long wearing like many of their other products. I can tell you that I worked out with it for the past 4 days and while it did leave some color on my gym’s blindingly white towels I was still left with great, even coverage at the end of my super sweaty workouts. Of course I can always use my favorite Skindinavia/Urban Decay “All Nighter” spray when I do my super sweat-drenched workouts like Turbo Kick or Spin. If you have very oily skin I would suggest using a mattifying/oil control gel moisturizer and/or primer underneath the foundation and a mattifying blot powder on top (that means talc!).

So here’s the rest of the low-down. For now this foundation is exclusive to QVC only. Eventually, hopefully soon’ish it will be sold directly from their website and other beauty sites. This brand is not available in any stores that I know of. It also sold out when it made its debut last week but if you already follow me on Twitter/Instagram/FaceBook: all under “CoachGlitter” you would’ve gotten the heads up about this days before and ordered it before it sold out! Plus you would’ve gotten it at the amazing Special Event Price of only $35.95 which includes the brush!! Don’t worry if you missed out and you must have this foundation because it will be re-stocked as soon as the factory can pump out more. The item # on QVC is A225107 http://www.qvc.com/It-Cosmetics-Anti-Aging-Celebration-Foundation-with-Brush-Search-Results.product.A225107.html?sc=A225107-SRCH&cm_sp=VIEWPOSITION-_-3-_-A225107&catentryImage=http://images-p.qvc.com/is/image/a/07/a225107.001?$uslarge$ and it’s currently priced at $39.56 which is still an amazing value considering the other sites will sell the foundation seprately for the full retail price of $35.00 and the brush is $48! This is why I love QVC! You can’t get prices like they offer at the department store, Sephora or Ulta!

The brush itself is more than the price on QVC! And like all the other ItCosmetic brushes they are cruelty-free and DO NOT SHED! Have I mentioned that is one of my biggest makeup pet peeves? I seriously can’t stand picking up little brush hairs from my face, chest and clothes after i’ve done my makeup. Even worse is when i’m working on set and I check the monitor to see I missed a stray hair on the talent’s face and I need to interrupt filming to get it! Their brushes are all so incredibly soft yet plush enough to apply the product evenly, beautifully and deposit the perfect amount of pigment. They wash well and again No Shedding! Totally “The Bentley” of makeup brushes that I love as much as I my original production set of Kevyn Aucoin brushes.