Review: VDL Perfecting Last Stick Foundation

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Have you heard of the brand VDL? I've been seriously crushing on their Pantone books of eyeshadow recently, however my first product from this brand happened to be a foundation. They have a really nice range of base products; all sorts of primers, foundations, color correctors. I bought the VDL Perfecting Last Stick Foundation SPF 35++ for my trip to Asia, in attempt to switch from liquid foundation to stick.

There was only one review that I could find on TesterKorea and though it was favorable, I was still pretty nervous ordering this foundation. At $20, it wasn't going to break the bank if it turned out to be a dud but rarely do I order a full bottle/tube of foundation completely untested.

The packaging is plastic. Perfect purse companion, it's lightweight bit closes securely. I like that this doesn't have to go in my liquids baggie for carry on luggage.

Not only is this foundation really high coverage, but it managed excess sebum surprisingly well. At the end of the day, my face oil hadn't broken down the foundation and made it into a scaly, dehydrated mess. I wore this in Shanghai and in Bangkok when it was 80-99% rH; exceedingly humid conditions. Though I felt like I was melting, unless I accidentally touched my face and wiped away the foundation, for the most part it stayed put. Even if it was thoroughly sweat and sebum soaked. Some credit must be given to my primer, for sure (review here of the Innisfree No Sebum Blur Primer). I also liked how it looked even if I had to blot off some oil or retouch up the powder. Handled both quite well.

Bare face. No prime, no concealer, no sunscreen; completely nekkid.

Primer applied, light swipes of this foundation everywhere. The tiniest amount of this foundation provides great coverage, so I just try to swipe as lightly as possible but covering a great deal of surface. That way my brush has to do the least amount of buffing. I finally bought one of those toothbrush looking synthetic brushes and I think it's quite nice for foundation, the large surface area of the brush makes for a quicker application than my regular Shiseido Perfect Foundation Brush.

I picked V02, which looked to be the darkest yellow toned shade. There were four total for the Stick, but the liquid Perfecting Last formula has ten shades. It still runs too light for me now during the summer (solid NC25 right now). With highlight, contour, and powder, it comes together and the color mismatch isn't that obvious, but I think I'm going to set it aside until my slight tan fades.

VDL Perfecting Last Stick Foundation in V02, 4U2 Celebrity Shade & Highlight, Glossier Cloud Paint in Beam

From the VDLCosmetics website, the ingredients:

TITANIUM DIOXIDE, BUTYLENE GLYCOL DICAPRYLATE/DICAPRATE, POLYMETHYLSILSESQUIOXANE, CAPRYLIC/CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE, DIPENTAERYTHRITYL HEXA C5-9 ACID ESTERS, CERESIN, ETHYLHEXYL METHOXYCINNAMATE, DIMETHICONE, TRIETHYLHEXANOIN, TRIMETHYLSILOXYSILICATE, POLYPROPYLSILSESQUIOXANE, SORBITAN SESQUIOLEATE, BIS-VINYL DIMETHICONE/DIMETHICONE COPOLYMER, LAURYL PEG-9 POLYDIMETHYLSILOXYETHYL DIMETHICONE, 1,2-HEXANEDIOL, ALUMINUM HYDROXIDE, CEDROL, TRIETHOXYSILYLETHYL POLYDIMETHYLSILOXYETHYL HEXYL DIMETHICONE, STEARIC ACID, SYNTHETIC FLUORPHLOGOPITE PCA DIMETHICONE, SILICA, TRIETHOXYCAPRYLYLSILANE, TIN OXIDE, MICA, FRAGRANCE, IRON OXIDES(CI 77491), IRON OXIDES(CI 77492), IRON OXIDES(CI 77499)

I usually get some pretty bad cysts from octinoxate, but when I wear both sunscreen (MizuMi SPF 50 UV Serum) and primer underneath, I can wear this foundation without any issue. I've gambled a few times and worn this directly on my bare face, lost. Immediately had some painful zits arrive.

The shade selection for VDL's foundation is far from comprehensive. This is however, an excellent stick foundation that can take some oil blotting and powdering in humid weather without dehydrating or breaking down on your skin. If you can find a shade match, it's definitely worth picking up.

You can purchase this foundation for just under $21 on YesStyle or eBay.

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