If you want details on packaging, pricing, or where you can get it, check out my first impressions post for those, since I already talked about it over there.
Stila Aqua Glow Serum Foundation
The main reason I wanted to do an updated review on this product is because towards the end of February, I had a terrible breakout. I've never had an issue with acne, and if I ever get a breakout, they are usually small and stick around my nose or forehead. This breakout has been tons and tons of small little pimples, almost like little bumps just everywhere, making them very noticeable and impossible to hide even with full coverage makeup. Redness hasn't been a majority of the issue because the breakout is mostly just texture, but different foundations are good at different things, and I wanted to share how I feel like this is for different skin types, especially my current skin type.
First thing I want to say is that in my video, I used a foundation brush to apply this foundation, and after experimenting with a beautyblender and the foundation brush the last couple weeks, I do much prefer application with a foundation brush. I feel that the foundation doesn't look as natural with a beautyblender. There was a lot of cakiness around my nose and dry patches with the beautyblender, and it soaked up quite a bit of foundation, as should be expected with a water based foundation, it is a sponge afterall. I also like using a skin tone correcting primer (Stila One Step Correct) first for smoother application and since I don't feel that this foundation does much for redness.
I tend to have a pretty normal skin type, just with dryness seasonally. I do tend to get oily in my forehead area just because I work long strenuous hours. The first day I wore this, I was impressed with the fact that I did get oily, but gracefully, it just looked like luminosity and natural skin when I did get oily. When I got close to a mirror, this foundation truly looked like my own skin, even around my seasonally dry areas like the sides of my nose.
As my skin has gotten progressively more dry the past couple of weeks, my skin does not look nearly as nice with this foundation. There is serious creasing on my forehead and smile lines, and buildup on my very dry areas around my nose and my chin. The coverage remains the same for me, light-medium upon initial application, buildable up to medium. Blemishes and redness very much still peek through on me, which you can see in the photo below.
You can see in this photo that blemishes and dryness are accentuated with this foundation, especially around my chin area. Redness is not covered, like my hairline and the red spot on my cheek. It is clear after using this foundation more that it is for a very normal (lucky) skin type. Oily skinned people will likely find this foundation too luminous, and dry skinned people will likely find that this clings to spots they don't want it to, like it did on me in this photo. I can confidently say that I liked this foundation much better when I had a more normal skin type.
If you care about looking nice on camera, or from a distance, this foundation does that. From afar, I do like the way this looks on my skin, but when I get up close is when I really notice that it accentuates my imperfections. As you can see, on camera, in good lighting, and from a distance, the foundation looks smooth, luminous, and natural, which I do love. I know that once my skin type is back to normal I will definitely gravitate to this foundation more often, but my current skin type just doesn't mesh well with this foundation.
Stila Aqua Glow Serum Concealer
I am sad to say that my opinion from my first impressions post remains the same with this concealer, I am not at all a fan. This concealer feels nice on the skin, but it doesn't have the coverage I need for my dark circles, and it doesn't layer well with correctors underneath, which is what I like to do with my daily routine. It needs to be set extremely well, and creasing is still an issue then. It is too thin and sheer to work well for covering redness and blemishes fully, and it heavily accents blemishes and dry patches. I have tried application with my fingers and a beautyblender and honestly wasn't a fan of either! The beautyblender soaked up a majority of the product, and my fingers just made it look patchy.
You can see that after less than an hour of wearing this concealer, even when heavily set, it creases a lot. You can also see that it does a very poor job of covering up my dark circles. This photo should also give you a better idea of the foundation's cakiness around my dry nose and the creasing into my smile lines near my mouth.
I don't know if I received a dud somehow, or if everyone just goes through this product like nuts, but I've used the concealer maybe 3 times (that's how much I dislike it), and I'm over halfway through the tube, and having a difficult time dispensing product. This is confusing to me because this has more product than my NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer (my holy grail), which I've had for months and months on end and still have plenty left. I understand that the NARS one is more opaque so I need less, but I should not be going through the Stila one this quickly. I even mentioned when I filmed my video that I felt like there wasn't much product in the tube, so I wonder if there is an issue with the one that I received.
All in all, I would say that I'm not nearly as impressed with these products as I was upon first impression, which just goes to show that products are really geared towards certain skin types, and that first impressions can easily change. It's always a good idea to pick up a sample of a foundation or concealer from your Sephora to test it out before purchasing, they are always happy to provide that option for you. I look forward to using this foundation again when my skin type returns to normal, but for now, it will likely sit on the back of my shelf. As far as the concealer goes, I will continue to test it out on days where I'm only running errands or just at home to see if there may be a way to make it work (if I don't run out of it next use).
I would recommend this foundation to those with normal skin, not people on either side of the spectrum, meaning dry or oily. There are other water based foundations I would highly recommend over this one, like the Becca Aqua Luminous, and I definitely wouldn't recommend this concealer.
I hope that this updated review was helpful, especially to those out there that were wondering. Have you tried Stila Aqua Glow? What are your go-to foundations?
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