Product Review: Graftobian HD Glamour Creme Foundation

GRAFTOBIAN CRÈME FOUNDATION (Warm)

One of my dilemmas in picking a foundation is that: One, its packaging. Two, its shade. Three, its content. Four, its coverage. Five, its oxidation process. Six, its compatibility with my skin type and seven, its price. Why? Well, let me tell you one by one.

1.       Packaging.

Most of the makeup brands use either an opaque or thick bottle, veiling the real shade of the foundation. Without getting the tester and actually trying it on, you wouldn’t know which shade you are. You can’t just walk by an aisle of foundation and pick outright which shade is right for you just by looking at the bottle. This isn’t really helpful most especially for those on the go.

In my case, I don’t really have the luxury of time when shopping for makeup. Why? Because my husband hates how much time I spent testing and finding the right shade for me. (Ugh! He just don’t get it.) Plus, I don’t want my son to think that what mommy’s doing is okay for boys. I find online shopping for makeup easier than literally visiting and trying out all the makeup brand at a local store. It’s fast and easy. Click and pay and viola! Your makeup is right at your doorstep! The downside? I couldn’t buy foundation online. I don’t want to spend money to something that I really can’t bet on.

2.       Shade.

Most “drugstore” (well, I like to call it “department store”) makeup also use different names for different shades. Honey, Beige, Nude, Neutral, Warm, Toffee, and the list goes on and on, making it more difficult for buyers to keep track of what shade they really are. So your shade, say Natural Beige could be called Neutral by a different brand. Without testing it, you wouldn’t really know which shade to buy.

3.       Content.

A very popular makeup brand doesn’t mean that it’s the right brand for you. The same goes with the cheap makeup brands, even if it’s cheap, it doesn’t mean that it’s not of quality. Because really, when you look at it, most of these makeup brands, cheap or expensive, are made in the same country. However, it would really pay to know the products that you put on your face. Mine for instance is quite sensitive with a particular brand. (I’m not going to mention which brand it is.) I find that whenever I use that product, I get acne overnight!

Now, this could get a bit geeky, but, trust me, after reading this, you might want to take another look at the reverse side of your favourite makeup brand. Look for products that doesn’t contain paraben (known as endocrine disrupters), formaldehyde-releasing preservatives (like: DMDM hydantoin, diazolidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea, methenamine and quarternium-15, as these slowly release small amounts of formaldehyde, which causes cancer), siloxanes or methicones (ingredients ending with –“siloxane”or – “methicone” as these are reproductive toxicant) and a lot more. Your best bet, a makeup that you would want to use on a baby (not literally of course!) like hypoallergenic makeup. There are a few makeup brands (that I know) that has hypoallergenic makeup, a favourite is VMV Hypoallergenics.

4.       Coverage.

Before, I thought that a foundation is basically something that covers your face to get a perfect canvass. Now, I realized that there are different coverage a foundation offers. From sheer to full and high definition.

Do you need to get all these types? Well, it depends really on the occasion (and sometimes the weather). During hot season, or summer, it’s best to keep things light. We don’t want our foundation to look cakey. So, during this season, a sheer coverage foundation (or a tinted moisturizer) is your best bet. Sheer coverage foundation will offer you a thin sometimes translucent coverage allowing your skin to breathe. For formal events, high definition, full coverage makeup is the right choice. You want to look flawless under the camera flash. Besides, who would want to put a profile picture with your blemishes showing?

5.       Oxidation Process.

Not all foundation hold its shade upon application. Some oxidizes making your face either appear whiter or darker than your natural shade. This is why shopping for the right foundation is really tricky and time consuming.

I’m acidic therefore, I need to allow my foundation to sit on my face for a few hours to show if it matches my skin tone or not.  Most of the time, my foundation looks a tad lighter after a few hours of application. A friend of mine, who has a fair skin is also acidic. After just a few minutes of putting her (branded and expensive) makeup, her face seems to “eat up” all the color, making her look paler than usual.

6.       Compatibility with Different Type of Skin.

There are three major types of skin. Oily, Dry and Combination (Oily and Dry). Mine is Combination, but mostly oily. The effect is, when I apply crème or liquid foundation, midday, if I don’t use an oil blotting sheet, my foundation starts cracking. I constantly need to apply translucent powder or finishing powder, sometimes I feel that my skin couldn’t breathe with all the packing I’ve done at the end of the day. My face looks and feels tired.

7.       Price.

Ah, now here’s something that everyone could relate to. As the brand escalates, so does the price. Laura Mercier foundation for example costs so much that with one foundation, I could already buy myself a full makeup set of a drugstore makeup brand.

All of these are factors that affects my purchase decision of a particular makeup brand. Which is why I am very pleased to give this product review on the Graftobian HD Glamour Crème Foundation Palette. I purchased this online together with the Graftobian GlamAire Airbrush Makeup Foundation Set. I always wanted one, because while I was studying makeup, my instructor had us use hers. She purchased it at Suesh for almost two thousand pesos. I got it online for way cheaper.

When the package arrived, I noticed that the palette was “perspiring” they call it “bleeding” maybe because of the change in temperature. This often happens on creme products.

The best thing about it is it comes in five shades! FIVE! With one palette I could create various shades. Some can be used as a contour, others a highlight or concealer. Or if you really find one shade to your liking, you can re-order it in full size. That’s the beauty of creating a foundation sampler palette, as a buyer, you get to choose and try out if it’s the best product for you without hurting your pocket.

So, how do I find it so far? Well, immediately after running my ring finger on the palette I found it very soft unlike my initial impression of it looking like heavily creamy and dense. The texture is like a whipped mousse. I then used my ring finger to create a swatch on my lower cheeks (jaw line) and instantly found the perfect shade for me. The darker ones I use for contouring. The lightest one, I use to highlight my nose bridge and conceal my darkspots. Mixing the lighter shade and darker shade creates a new foundation shade which I can probably use for possible clients. This really gives me a lot of space to experiment and explore endless possibilities.

Okay, so moving on with the actual application. This palette says, HD or high definition. Some brands also use HD, but (there’s a BIG BUT) I don’t see any difference from the regular foundation and the HD one, UNLIKE this product. With just a small coverage, it immediately highlights, covers, conceals and contours what needs to be highlighted, covered, concealed and contoured. I don’t need to take a photo of myself to see the difference! It really does create a flawless base!

Another thing that I noticed is how small an amount needs to be used to cover my entire face. I literally swabbed three times and got all areas covered effortlessly! It’s very pigmented but it offers a lightweight feel on the skin. One palette could go a looong way!

As for caking or creasing, there’s really no need to worry, because as I have mentioned earlier, you don’t need to pack on a lot, a little goes a long way, therefore, creasing is next to impossible. But of course, if you have oily or combination skin, you might still want to set it with a powder of your choice or you can always opt to use an oil blotting film.

Well, the Graftobian HD Glamour Crème Foundation Palette got 6 out of the 7 factors I enlisted above. It may contain some harmful ingredients but I still believe that it is done so in such a way that it still is within the acceptable limit. Other than that, all other factors are met satisfactorily.

With just one layer of foundation.