Hourglass Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation Stick Review

I've been hearing tons of buzz about the new Hourglass Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation Stick ($46) lately, and while it's way more than I would normally spend on a foundation, something about it was intriguing me. It claims to be long-wearing with the "coverage of a concealer, fluidity of a liquid, and weightlessness of a powder for invisible, full coverage."
Based on the reviews I've seen, people either love this or they hate it. Those with dry skin say it emphasizes dryness and those with oily skin say that it breaks down quickly and doesn't last. The first time I tried it, I admit I was with the haters...it seemed to cling to all the dry patches on my face and reminded me why I try to avoid stick foundations these days. But I continued to play with it and ended up changing my mind. Let's take a closer look!

First, let's talk packaging... Vanish is beautiful and unique. It comes in the classic Hourglass bronze tube but instead of the typical rounded shape, this one is triangular. If you like to apply your stick foundations straight from the tube, you'll appreciate its ability to get into smaller spaces, such as around the nose and underneath your eyes...just point one of the corners into the area where you want it to go.

It comes in 26 shades, which is an impressive range...almost everyone will likely find a close or exact match. I also like how the shades are described on the Sephora website- they tell you the shade name (fair, light, medium, deep etc.) and then they describe the undertone (cool, warm, or neutral). It made it pretty easy to choose my shade online and when I went into the store, I tested a few of them and ended up with Shell, which was the shade I decided on when I looked online the night before. 

On the downside, you're not getting a ton of product for your money. Vanish comes with .25oz of product, compared to the new Anastasia Beverly Hills Stick foundation (.32oz for $25) or the Bobbi Brown foundation stick (.31oz for $46). But the good news is, you need to use so little of this foundation to cover your face, it should last you a really long time. 

This formula is everything Hourglass claims it to be, and is unlike any stick foundation I've ever tried. It gives full coverage (it's awesome around the eyes...I don't even need concealer most days), it melts into your skin with a satin finish, and is super lightweight. When they say it's as light as a powder, it truly is!

Because the formula is very concentrated and highly pigmented, you only need a tiny bit of product. That was the first mistake I made, which caused me to dislike this foundation at first. I swiped it directly onto my face, like I always do with stick foundations, and then blended out with a brush. It seemed to cling to every dry patch and looked really cakey. I tried it a couple of times with different primers and the same thing kept happening. Then I saw a YouTube review of this (I can't remember who it was), and they suggested taking a dense brush with shorter bristles and swiping it across the top of the stick, then applying it to your face.

Once I did that, it was like, "ah ha!". No more cakiness...just smooth, ridiculously lightweight coverage. The best part is, it doesn't settle into lines on your face because you're barely using any product. It gives a satin finish that keeps your skin from looking totally flat and matte, and there's no shimmer in this formula whatsoever, so you won't look dewy or glowy. The finish is just really natural...like skin.

For reference, I've been using my Cailyn O Wow! Brush and it gives me great results. Hourglass also makes a brush that's meant to be used specifically with this foundation (Vanish Foundation Brush $46) but that brings the total up to $92...yikes. I don't know about you, but if I'm spending $46 on a foundation, I'm not going to spend a lot on a brush to go with it. I also tried my Sonia Kashuk Flat Top Brush ($15.99) and it works great also. Any soft brush with short, dense bristles will work well.

Here's a swipe of the color Shell on my arm...it looks dark because the underside of my arm is lighter than the rest of my skin. It's a near-perfect match for my face (although I might need to go one shade lighter in the Winter). Shell is described as Light with a neutral undertone.
After I took this photo, I took my brush and blended the swatch out and it covered the underside of my arm from my wrist to my elbow...that's how far this goes. You really only need a tiny bit of product.

As far as staying power goes, it's hard for me to say how this will work on oily skin. The Sephora website has reviews of people saying it broke down on them after only an hour or two and others with oily skin say it lasts all day. Due to the creaminess of this product, I would definitely suggest setting it to prevent it from sliding off.
Since I have dry skin, I don't have any issues with it wearing off prematurely. I set it with Mally Beauty Poreless Face Defender (which I prefer to powder since I have drier skin) and it lasts all day for me.

Overall, it's hard to say whether or not this will work for everyone, but I would recommend it based on my personal experience. The formula was a little tricky to work with because it's different than anything else I've tried, but I'm glad that I stuck with it and experimented a bit.

You can purchase Hourglass Seamless Finish Foundation Stick at Sephora.com

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