Foundation review: Urban Decay Naked Skin

[nsl]

I've been trying to find a new foundation for awhile now, and after a few false starts (Sue Devitt--great formula, not great shades for me; Tarte Amazonian Clay--wound up oxidizing on my skin within a few hours and looked terribly cakey; Benefit Oxygen Foundation--same issues as Tarte; Laura Mercier--good shade match, not enough coverage) I decided to try the new Urban Decay Naked Skin foundation.

OMG, love.

I have pretty oily acne-prone skin, and while I can't say that UD has many mattifying properties, it hasn't made my skin look oilier the way the Tarte and Benefit formulas did. Coverage is on the sheer side (less than the Laura Mercier, on par with Benefit, more than Tarte) but after 12 hours my face still feels fresh, almost like I'm not wearing foundation at all. I haven't experience any oxidizing, which is AMAZING, and haven't needed to touch it up with powder at all since application.

In terms of shades, I was really impressed by the variety UD has on tap. To match, Ulta had these little translucent plastic cards for you to hold up to your jawline to see which color was right for you. When the colored square became invisible against your skin, you had your shade. I'm a 3.5, but the 3.0 and 4.0 would both have been close enough for me to have a reasonable match.

Two very enthusiastic thumbs up from me!

[wannabe]

this is good to know. I've been an UD whore lately and I'll need foundation for fall. guess I'm heading to ulta!

[Deleted]

Thanks for the review! I saw this in the most recent Ulta ad and was curious about it. I'm using a BB now, but usually do something with more coverage in the fall and winter. I might consider this.

[natablue]

Good to know! I think I'm getting a sample in the Urban Decay order I made today.

[chilly]

I just got this last week and I absolutely love it! Has great coverage ( completely hides my leftover mask of pregnancy) and has great sta ying power

[nsl]

Aug 6, 2012 21:06:08 GMT -5 chilly said:

I just got this last week and I absolutely love it! Has great coverage ( completely hides my leftover mask of pregnancy) and has great staying power

This is what I'm finding most impressive about it, actually. It's now 13 hours since I applied it this morning, and it has barely budged. Since I regularly pull 16 hour days during the school year, I really need make up that stays put over the course of a long day.