In today’s post I will be doing another foundation review and wear test, this time I will be talking about the Designer Brands ‘Luminous Hydrating Foundation’ as well as the ‘Rise & Prime’ Luminescent Primer’. You might remember me talking about the ‘Velvet Matte Foundation’ which I also have review on, If you have read that one you will probably know it wasn’t my favourite, however, I do have very different feelings about the ‘Luminous Hydrating Foundation’ and ‘Rise & Prime’ Luminescent Primer’ which I’ll tell you all about in this post.

First off I would like to talk a bit about the claims of the ‘Luminous Hydrating Foundation’  and then I’ll get to my feelings on it as well as my thoughts on the primer.

About The DB Luminous Hydrating Foundation.

This product claims to be provide a light natural radiant and glowy complexion, while nourishing the skin with its gel like formula that’s enriched with ingredients like Hyaluronic Acid, Aloe Vera, and Green Tea as well as vitamins A, C & E. It is supposed to be a buildable medium to full coverage foundation, that’s suitable for all skin type but particularly targets sensitive to dry skin and should not clog pores or cling to dry patches. Its also talc, bismuth and paraben free and it CFF & Vegan certified.

The Product price is $19.99, it comes in 12 shade though very much on the lighter to medium end of the spectrum with only two deep shades. I just want to point out that most of their liquid base products have only a small selection of shades with only 2 out of 8 including deep shades. With their bb/tinted moisturiser type products having 2 shades. DB recommended using a brush for application when using this foundation.

This foundation and the primer can both be found at your local Designer Brands Stockist or via their Website.

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My Thoughts on the Designer Brands Luminous Hydrating Foundation.

Application

While Designer Brands recommends using a brush for applying this foundation I have tried also using a makeup sponge for applying it and I can say that I find either application method works with this foundation. Whether applying with either a brush or sponge it applies quite nicely and it is defiantly a buildable coverage I feel like I can get an even application with either method though I do prefer applying with a sponge but that’s just personal preference.

When using a sponge for application I find it looks flawless and builds up more evenly, and I can get a more medium coverage that can be built to a fuller coverage. While with using a brush for application it has a lighter to medium coverage. I also find that it doesn’t look overly streaky when applying with a brush and can be blended into the skin well giving a skin like finish, though this does go for both application methods.

I also found that it does a pretty good job and covering redness as well as darkness under the eyes.

Using a Primer

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‘Rise & Prime’ Luminescent Primer

I liked mixing the ‘Rise & Prime’ Luminescent Primer’ with the ‘Luminous Hydrating Foundation’ for a lighter covered and I found that this turned it into more of a bb cream which I prefer on most days.  As well as using under the foundation for a more traditional application.

The ‘Rise & Prime’ Primer claims to provide a smooth and glowy base as well as priming the skin for makeup application. It has peach and rose gold light diffusing pigments that help give a luminating complexion and contains skin loving ingredients like Green Tea, Aloe Vera and vitamins A, C, & E.

I defiantly found that this product gave me a glowy complexion and was genuinely enjoyable to use, It smelt amazing and I found the formula was light on the skin but gave a nice base for makeup application. The glowy pigment worked nice with my skin tone but I feel like the pigments they added to this product could work well for any skin tone.

I’ve had similar illuminating primer that had gold pigments that were super noticeable and would have only really worked on medium to deep skin tones so It’s nice to find a product that can would for anyone.

Other Primers

I used the ‘Luminous Hydrating Foundation’ with several primers including the one mentioned above and I found that most worked with this foundation fine I only had a couple of experiences with a couple of primers where for some reason it didn’t work out but I had used the foundation a number of time so I knew it wasn’t the foundation but the primers that I had used.

I have used this foundation both with and with out primer and I found the application wasn’t that different. I didn’t notice it sinking into my pores at all so I would say that because of the nature of this foundation that a primer isn’t necessary to get a nice application and the wear time didn’t differ either.

Setting

I have combination skin I tend to get oily around my t-zone so setting foundation is a must for me to get good wear time out of a foundation and I just genuinely prefer the feeling of it set to unset but that really just personal preference.

I used multiple setting powders with this foundation and I find in most instances I notice wearing around my chin and sometimes on my nose, but other than that its not to bad. I didn’t mind the finish after setting with a powder, I only found a few times that I may have set to heavily and it did look a bit cakey but otherwise looked pretty good.

On most days I set after applying and then I may occasionally reapply some powder through the day but on most days, I don’t bother and while I find my oils come through it wears fine and didn’t move around to much. If I do reapply the only place, I notice it looking cakey is around my nose.

Shade Range

As I mentioned earlier in this post the ‘Luminous Hydrating Foundation’ only has twelve shades with most of them being on the lighter end of the spectrum, as with most of their liquid base products the shade range could be a lot better. The lightest shade in the range when I purchased this foundation was ‘Porcelain Ivory’ and as someone who is at the fairer end of the spectrum I did find this a couple of shades two dark for me but I do believe there is a lighter shade in the range now. Even with the shade I used I found a way to work with it by either sheering out with a primer or adding a lightening product to lighten the foundation.

As with my last review and this isn’t just on this brand I feel like a lot of more affordable brands (and I’m sure some more highend brands as well) need to work on their shade range, because there are a lot of people out there with skin tones that are on the deeper end of the spectrum that have a hard time finding a foundation in their shade. Though in saying that it is great to see brand like NYX Professional Makeup, Australis Cosmetics and Revolution Beauty starting to provide a range of shades that cater to a vast range of skin-tones and I definitely think the other brands out there need to take left out of their books and start expanding their shade ranges.

Formula

Putting all that aside the formula of this foundation is nice, it is light-weight and easy to apply. It has that skin like finish, and doesn’t cling or crease much throughout the day. I like the addition of the Hyaluronic Acid and other skin-loving ingredients as well as the fact that for a more affordable brand they haven’t included things like talc or parabens. As I know that some people can find that talc can irritate their skin.

Over all this is a formula I don’t really have anything bad to say about as I quite enjoy it even on my combo skin.

Wear Test

Now on to the wear test portion of this post. I’m sorry I know it long but I wanted to put down as much information as possible.

Before getting into the wear test I want to note that I do wear glasses most of the time and I will be trying to touch up through the day so that you can see how the foundation goes when reapplying.

Initial Application

For initial application I applied it with a sponge and set with a face powder as I would normally do.

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4 hrs Wear

After 4 hours wear it looks similar to initial application, however I did touch up where my glasses have removed some foundation. I first applied the foundation over where the product had been removed with sponge and then set with my face powder.

It does look a bit cakey but not too bad.

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8hrs Wear

I starting to see my oils come through at around 8 hrs wear and I touched up again where glasses marks were.

I had a similar experience to last time and I didn’t blot oils just to see how it wears with out applying more powder.

12 hrs Wear

My oils were really showing through now especially in my t-zone area, the only place I’ve noticed some break down is on my chin. Which is generally where I typically notice any, otherwise the application still looks okay.

I did notice that by this time I really want to remove my makeup because it feels a greasy on my face. But that happens with most foundations or bb creams I use and this is typically when I would remove my makeup anyway.

Final Thoughts

Out of the Designer Brands Foundations that I have tried (which is only two) I preferred this one over the matte foundation, the application is easier and I have genuinely enjoyed using it. This foundation works great with the ‘Rise and Prime Luminescent Primer’; like I mentioned earlier I often use them together either layered on top of each other or mixed together to sheer out that foundation for a lighter application. 

I found the primer nice to wear it gave my skin a glow as well as being nice and hydrating, I would defiantly consider purchasing them both again in the future. My only gripe is that DB need to Increase their shade ranges both in the lighter and deeper ends of the spectrum. I have a very pale skin tone and like with the matte foundation the lightest shade was a few shades to dark for me so I had to use lightening drops to lighten the foundation. 

I would love to see more affordable brands create or extend their foundation ranges to suit more people I feel like they are missing out on potential customers by not having complexion products to suit more people. 

Designer Brands are an Australian Brand and they are certified Cruelty-Free and most of their range is Vegan. As a brand I quite like them and I feel like I would recommend them if you’re an Aussie and are looking for affordable products that are decent quality.

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I hope you enjoyed this foundation review, I hope to share more in the future including some other affordable base products on the market. Have you tried any of the Designer Brands foundation or base products? did you like them? which ones your favourite? let me know in the comments of this post.

Until next time, I hope you have a lovely day.

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Disclaimer – This post is not sponsored and doesn’t contain any affiliate links, links included are for reference only in case your interest in purchasing the reviewed product. Read full Disclaimer here.

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