Kevyn Aucoin’s Silky Balm Is My New Favorite Foundation

I’ve always disliked typical foundation. It’s probably because my skin is on the dry side. Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve felt like foundation accentuates my dry, flaky spots. Luckily, brands are adding clutch ingredients so all skin types can cover up their imperfections if they so choose. One of my new favorites is the Kevyn Aucoin Foundation Balm. It’s a new type of complexion product with a balm-like texture. Though it claims to be matte and full-coverage, I find it to be more skin-like, with a buildable medium-to-full coverage—much more my jam.

Though I’ve heard people say the foundation goes on a little powdery, I didn’t have that experience at all. Using the dense foundation brush it comes with, I applied a light layer on top of a dewy primer. I used a Beautyblender to pat in a little more under my eyes and around my nose, where I had some redness. But I kept the coverage to a natural-looking medium build.

Image: Kevyn Aucoin.

There are 20 shades and I used Light 03. To be honest, I probably should have gotten 04. But after I applied concealer and some bronzer, the formula blended beautifully and the shade ended up looking great. I had a long, sweaty day at Sephoria and the foundation held up. I looked put together at a big beauty convention but also like myself—not dry and cakey at all. This is probably because it contains hyaluronic acid to retain skin’s moisture. There’s also avocado oil, phytosterols (plant sterols) and olive fruit oil to nourish and smooth skin, as well as protect it from environmental aggressors.

I even met the Internet’s boyfriend Jeff Goldbloom while wearing it. I like to think he thought my skin looked nice, too.

Source: Instagram

My only wish for this new product? More shades and undertones. While the brand added four hues to the original 16 of the cult-favorite The Etherealist Foundation, even more shades would allow even more people to have the same experience I did.

Source: Instagram

Shop the Kevyn Aucoin Foundation Balm now for $52 at Sephora.

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