Rarely do I fall in love with a foundation this hard and this fast. Especially stick foundations, which tend to drag on my skin and take some time to blend. But the Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue Hydrating Foundation Stick has surprised me – in a good way. It’s quick and easy to use, and the portability is phenomenal.
Billed as the first clean, water-based stick foundation, it feels cool on application, even on the hottest days. I wore it during this month’s crazy heatwave in Paris and it still felt super-refreshing.
In fact, it feels more like a liquid – almost wet – rather than a stick foundation. And it goes on smoothly, with a glowy finish. Which is again unlike most stick foundations, which tend to be dry and mattifying.
This, I guess, is thanks to the volcanic sea water from Jeju Island (hello, K-beauty!), red algae and camellia japonica flower extract. These hydrate the skin and prevent water loss. There’s also olive-derived squalane to moisturise and SPF 25 for sunscreen touchups on the go.
Coverage starts off as light-to-medium but it’s really buildable. And it doesn’t feel sticky or tacky on the skin. Neither does it get cakey around the dry bits of my complexion. At all. I find it lasts me a good 6-7 hours before starting to break up around the nose but it’s easy to touch up because of the portability.
The portability and ease of use, at the end of the day, are what I love most here. I usually don’t wear foundation during the daytime, so the Rescue Stick makes it easy to make up my face for last minute meetings, meals or date nights. And I will just blend it in with my fingers, even though Bare Minerals recommends a brush. It takes about 10 seconds this way.
The Rescue Hydrating Foundation is also great for travel – all the convenience of a liquid foundation, without cutting into my liquid allowance.
But – and this is a big but for acne-prone skin – the Rescue Stick has dimethicone in the formula. Dimethicone creates an occlusive layer over skin, which can trap bacteria, dirt, grime, sebum and dead cells to congest the skin and cause breakouts. To be fair, Dimethicone is present in several foundations but I would always recommend teenage or super blemish-prone skin to try a sample for a few days before committing.
Secondly, I am not thrilled about Bare Minerals bringing back some not-so-skin-friendly chemicals like EDTA and BHT. Let’s go back to more minerals, people?
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