Sunday Riley Does Makeup: Influencer Clean Long Wear Foundation Review

On Instagram I bitched about the overdrawn marketing and hyping up of this foundation. Sunday Riley announced the foundation drop more than a month before the release and then posted daily photos hyping it up. By the time the foundation came out I was over it. But then I went to their pop-up "experience" in the city and they reeled me back in!

Usually, I'm wary of skincare made by makeup brands and makeup made by skincare brands. But I guess when it's Sunday Riley all those rules go out the window. Especially when there's a 15% off promo code (I bought it during Sephora's spring sale.)

Price & Size

$42.00 for 1.08 fl. oz

Availability

Pretty sure it's only available at Sephora at the moment.

Ingredients

Sunday Riley points out that this foundation is free of cyclopentasiloxane, synthetic fragrance, talc, and gluten.

I don't really have a strong opinion on the ingredients list. I do wish it were free of mica. It's an ingredient I would like to start avoiding because of its questionable sourcing (aka child labor) but it's in soo much makeup. If Sunday Riley is trying to reel in the green beauty crowd, I think that would have been another good ingredient to avoid. At this point, it's next to impossible to avoid, so instead, I'm focusing on products that have it lower on the ingredient list. Thankfully it is lower on the ingredient list here.

On the box there is the following text "MADE IN USA OF RESPONSIBLY SOURCED DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN INGREDIENTS" So perhaps the mica is ethically sourced? I don't know.

Water, Phenyl Trimethicone, Cetyl Diglyceryl Tris(Trimethylsiloxy)silylethyl Dimethicone, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Dimethicone, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Silica, Propanediol, Isododecane, C24-28 Alkyldimethylsiloxy Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Butylene Glycol, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Polypropylsilsesquioxane, Epilobium Angustifolium Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract, Echium Plantagineum Seed Oil, Cardiospermum Halicacabum Flower/Leaf/Vine Extract, Adipic Acid/Neopentyl Glycol Crosspolymer, Lauryl Dimethicone, Octyldodecanol, Tocopherol, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil Unsaponifiables, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Sodium Metabisulfite, Sodium Phytate, Bisabolol, Pentylene Glycol, Pentaerythrityl tetra-di-t-butyl hydroxyhydrocinnamate (antioxidant to prevent color change), Phenethyl Alcohol, Citronellol, Geraniol, Nerol, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Chlorphenesin, Mica, Iron Oxides, Hydrogenated Polydecene, Propylene Carbonate, Hydroxystearic Acid, Disteardimonium Hectorite, [May Contain: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77492), Iron Oxides (CI 77491), Iron Oxides (CI 77499), Ispopropyl Titanium Triisostearate, 1,2-Hexanediol].

Packaging

In a slim tube with a pump. It also comes with a cap that clicks into place. It's pretty travel friendly. When I first saw it, I thought it didn't hold a lot of product but it contains just over 1 oz, the average amount of product you get with most foundations.

The pump is really easy to use. It doesn't squirt out product. I can easily dispense a half pump of foundation.

Shade Range

This is a tricky one. At first, I thought the 20 shade range was pretty impressive-- especially for a non-makeup brand launching an extensive base product for the first time. I stopped by the pop-up last month and saw the entire shade range and was again pretty happy with it. There was a gradient from light to dark, and according to the descriptions, a variety of undertones. The darker shades also weren't orange-- something I consider a small miracle.

Unfortunately, my local Sephora only carried a few select shades-- and most of them were towards the lighter end of the spectrum. And from what I've read, most Sephoras are only carrying the limited shade range. I picked up shade 220 but would have loved to try 230 and 240 to see how they compare. Unfortunately, they were not available at my store.

I've been hearing mixed reviews on the tan/ dark shades. Some people are getting horrible grey casts whereas others are happy with the shade match. I also think the problem could be partly due to picking up the wrong shade/ undertone.

So basically-- I don't know how to feel about the shade range. On paper, it looks great. I'm shade 220 and there are 7!! shades darker than me. For many foundations that have a similar number of shades, there are only 3 or 4 darker. But if the tan/ darker shades are making people look ashy, that's not okay. And because Sephora doesn't stock most of those shades in stores, it's hard for people to try them out.

Here's a swatch of 220:

Texture

It's on the liquidy side. When I dispense a pump onto my hand, it immediately starts dripping.

Coverage

Sunday Riley describes this as a medium to full-coverage foundation and I sorta agree. While it technically can be built up to a full-coverage, I think it looks very cakey. I would call this a solid middle of the road medium coverage foundation.

It does a decent job of blending in my acne scars, but it doesn't completely cover them. Personally, I don't mind. I'd rather have a breathable foundation paired with concealer over a complete full-coverage foundation.

Finish

It's described as a satin finish foundation and I agree! It doesn't completely mattify my skin, but it also doesn't provide much luminosity. I've been spraying some of the Tatcha dewy skin mist after application and it helps bring back a bit of glowiness to my skin. I actually prefer the finish later in the day where it looks more skinlike. Here's a photo of my makeup after I wore it for about 6ish hours.

Application

I tried applying this with a Real Techniques buffing brush, a beautyblender, and an Artis oval 6 (PR gift.) It applied easily with all 3 methods! Because it is very liquidy, the beautyblender eats up some of the foundation. It's noticeably sheerer when applied with it.

I didn't find it to emphasize my pores. Since it's getting warmer and more humid, I don't have any active dry spots. But I do have spots that tend to dry out when something too mattifying is applied to them. This foundation didn't trigger those spots to dry out.

Wear Time

This wore really well for me! Immediately after applying it, it blurs my pores. But as the day goes on it sort of settles into the skin. It doesn't disappear, but it takes on a more natural, glowy finish. I think the longest I wore it was 13 hours, and that point it had started breaking down and getting a bit too greasy. But for the most part, it stayed strong for 8-10 hours.

I tried it with a variety of primers and over bare skin. It wore really well with Tatcha's silk canvas, Heimish's glow base, Becca's first light and backlight filters, as well as Hourglass's mineral veil. I also tried it with Ren's perfect canvas serum and it was a hot mess after about 5 hours. The foundation had broken down all along my jawline. I'm not sure if it was the primer or foundation at fault or if they just don't play well together because I haven't used the primer many times.

The other time it broke down quickly was when I exercised. Not a big deal because I don't exercise with makeup often.

Final Thoughts

While I generally liked this foundation, I'm hesitant to recommend it because I've read a number of negative reviews on social media. And it's hard to recommend getting a tester in stores before purchasing since only a limited shade range is available in stores.

I'll end this post with the following note-- if you're a Sunday Riley fan and are on the lookout for a comfortable medium coverage foundation to wear this summer, and have relatively normal skin, I think it's worth trying out. If you have super oily or super dry skin, it's probably best to skip it.

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