It CC Veil Cushion Foundation; Review & Swatches of Shades

It Cosmetics CC Veil Beauty Fluid Cushion Foundation SPF 50

CRUELTY FREE!!!

Price: $38 for 10 ml*

(Approx $114 an ounce)

New to Ulta Stores for Fall 2014!

Well, I think that the promotional ad above says alot about what exactly It is claiming this cushion compact foundation will do for women everywhere. The claims are a little extreme but It CC Veil Beauty Fluid Foundation does have quite a good positives going for it, you'll just have to keep reading to see what!

It Cosmetics have been an up and coming brand for quite a few years now. They have some excellent performing products with only a few minor miss-steps along the way. They have jumped on the whole Serum Foundation/CC bandwagon with the newest addition to their lineup- the CC Veil Beauty Fluid Foundation in a Cushion Compact!

It claims that you can use this as a primer, a sunscreen, a concealer, a foundation, a serum, a moisturizer, and a few other things. Overall, they really aren't lying and the exaggeration is minimal at best.

This is a foundation which is in a compact, but it is most definitely a liquid. The key, (for those new to the cushion compact fad), is a pair of two sponges which rest inside the compact. The sponges absorb the foundation and you simply use a sponge (or your fingers if you're unsanitary like me) to press down on the sponges and release the product. Unlike most compact foundations, this foundation will set (i.e. DRY) so you have to take care to shut the cover securely after each use. I wish that for many of these introductory cushion products, companies had chosen a formula which didn't set and stayed wet so that this wasn't as big of an issue.

The CC Veil Beauty Fluid itself is an absolutely delightful foundation who's performance is absolutely spectacular. Broad Spectrum Sunscreen is assured with the Titanium Dioxide included in it so that is a wonderful addition. It will provide anywhere from light to the fuller end of medium coverage and it blends seamlessly with skin. The slip of the formula is more than sufficient for blending, but as it sets, it seems to melt into skin perfectly where it absolutely will not budge, but not in the "sit on top of your skin" manner most long-wearing foundation provide.

I absolutely love this foundation and the fact that it will provide nearly full coverage is absolutely astounding, however, there are two minor-major drawbacks.

1: The Price. $38 for a foundation isn't out of the question, but $38 for 10ml of a foundation is insane- just insane. You often see cream or emollient foundations in a compact sell for this much and I never have a problem with that, but this is a liquid. While pigmentation is impressive, its not so pigmented that it would rival an emollient based formula as far as the amount you need to use, and it is not 3x more pigmented than some other formulas like Mally's Ultimate Performance Liquid Foundation to warrant 3x the price.

I hate to say it, but I feel like this was a dubious marketing ploy by It to simply re-package a foundation in a creative way which allows them to sell 1/3 of the product for the same price as a traditional liquid foundation bottle or tube would. At $114 an ounce, this is most certainly one of, if not the most expensive liquid foundation I own, and I probably would be ok with that if it weren't for issue #2.

2: The ingredients. It's CC Cream skeeved me out pretty bad with the snail excrement, but Paulas's Choice rated it a Poor due to the inclusion of several irritating ingredients including Lemon extract, Orange extract, Lime Extract, and Grapefruit Extract. While It Left these ingredients out for the most part in their CC Veil Beauty Fluid, they DID still include the Grapefruit extract and I can't for the life of me figure out why. The CC Veil formula is comprised of a whopping 52 ingredients and Grapefruit extract is about halfway down the list, but because there are so many ingredients I don't know exactly how much Grapefruit is actually in the formula. I know that the amount present is not sufficient to cause irritation to my skin, or even my eyes, but I don't have sensitive skin to begin with and I don't want to use a product that is damaging my skin under the surface as I am working so hard to repair it, so I don't know if the levels of Grapefruit are cause for concern or not, but I shouldn't have to wonder at over $100/ounce.

3: The packaging. I do not gripe about packaging. I just don't. This is probably because I re-package everything, but most people don't. If you tend to use stock packaging and you purchase this for beneficial ingredients, beware: THEY WON"T REMAIN STABLE MORE THAN A FEW DAYS AFTER OPENING. Anti-oxidants and cell communicating ingredients break down with exposure to air and light and since the whole package opens up and there's so little product to begin with, you're just guaranteeing that you kill off the good stuff.

The five shades of the CC Veil Beauty Fluid Foundation are lovely which makes this even more of a disappointment. (I wear fair but it could be a tad deeper for my skin which is great for those paler than me.) If they had put this in a standard packaging and omitted the grapefruit extract, It may have had a shot at one of the world's best foundations. So Depressing.

*While the initial amount is 10ml, keep in mind that the sponges do absorb a fair amount of product. To put it in perspective, i emptied mine out completely to use the compact for something else and try to save the ingredients that may be helpful. I filled up precisely 7ml which is one Estee Lauder or Lancome 10 day sample bottle filled to the brim. That's not alot of product for $38.

Also, please note that the Iincluded sponge is presented as "non-absorbent" and compared to most sponges it is. the problem is with the sponges inside the compact absorbing the product, not the sponge used for application. If you do decide to try this, fingers work just as well to apply the wonderfully textured formula!

It Cosmetics CC Veil Beauty Fluid Foundation SPF 50 Cushion Compact; Swatches of Shades
Fair, Light, Medium, Tan, Rich

It Cosmetics CC Veil Beauty Fluid Foundation SPF 50 Cushion Compact; Swatches of Shades
Fair, Light, Medium, Tan, Rich

It Cosmetics CC Veil Beauty Fluid Foundation SPF 50 Cushion Compact; Swatches of Shades
Fair, Light, Medium, Tan, Rich

It Cosmetics CC Veil Beauty Fluid Foundation SPF 50 Cushion Compact; Swatches of Shades
Fair, Light, Medium, Tan, Rich