J.Cat Beauty Aquasurance Compact Foundation

Most Helpful Critical Review

Doesn't work for me.

This foundation is a weird one for me. Firstly. I guess I purchased the wrong shade because even though "porcelain" looks like the right color in the compact, it just looks stark white when I apply it. And I have pasty white skin that is normally the lightest or second lightest shade in most foundat...ions, so this one is REALLY white. I considered exchanging for a different color, but after trying this powder a few times I can tell the texture and coverage aren't right for me either. Notes: I don't use primer and I don't think a foundation is any good if it requires primer to work. I apply this over my moisturizer and sunscreen and have tried it with various different sunscreens to the same end. The Good: Aquasurance Compact Foundation definitely DOES offer the potential for full coverage if that's what you want. When applied wet with the included sponge, or layered with a dense powder brush, it really can cover everything. A lighter dusting will give light-to-moderate coverage, so it's a versatile product. No fragrance and nothing else that usually irritates my highly reactive skin. Works sort of well as a finishing powder with a couple of sub-par liquid foundations I am trying to use up. The Bad: The finish is very makeup-y. From a distance, or in certain photo situations, it looks really nice, but in a very "I'm super made-up today! Look at my pretty makeup!" kind of way. I prefer my foundation to give the impression that I have very nice skin, rather than that I am wearing a lot of product. And up close, this stuff just looks caked and powdery and dry. No good. It stays powdery and dry looking no matter how long it's on. I have extremely oily skin and often wear powder foundations. Usually, they look powdery when first applied, but blend with my natural oils within an hour or so and get more and more natural and dewy looking as the day wears on. I like that. Aquasurance doesn't do that. If anything, it looks MORE powdery at the end of the day. It's like each individual pore on my face has a noticeable speck of white powder in it that can be seen from a normal speaking distance. My fiancé pointed out that I looked powdery and dry about 7 hours into wear yesterday and he never notices that stuff. It accentuates every flake and hair. On the plus side, I now know that the skin around my nose and on my upper cheekbones needs some extra moisturizer. And I guess I need to groom the peach fuzz a little better. It's been a LONG time since I used a powder product that clings to these things as badly as this one. I can't even imagine how it might perform on truly dry skin, since as mentioned, my skin is very oily but even I look ultra-dehydrated when I use this powder. Overall: 2.5 stars, rounded down. This foundation would be good for someone who wants full coverage in a powder form for the purpose of posting photos online or making videos in perfect lighting... as long as you don't care what it looks like in real life. I will probably try to use it up experimenting with making my other foundation fails work, or for preventing my sunscreen from sliding of my face on hikes.