I normally try to stick to 5 products for these monthly reader request posts but you all requested too many products this month for me to review. I decided to do 5 sets of products instead, which was actually a lot more to test and review and also why this September post is landing in October. Don’t worry though – I will still do October reader requests; make sure to leave your requests in the comments or join the Your Green Friend Substack chat!
In this post, all links are affiliate links (thank you for your support!), but all opinions are my own. Swatches are under a ring light to show true to color (photo #1) and then standard lighting to show the formula a little better (#2) for all the products.
Westman Atelier Suprême Bio-Complex Liquid Foundation With Exosomes + Peptides in F4, F5, and L1 and Hung Vanngo Red Carpet Skin Luminous Longwear Serum Foundation in 5 – I started this journey by buying F5 because y’all wanted to know what I thought about this foundation. I honestly have been wearing it all the time, and if you’ve seen me in person lately, there’s a 90% chance I was wearing this. I honestly love the formula and how it looks on my skin (except for the shade – more on that in a bit). It actually looks better over the course of the day, which is really rare for me since most foundations tend to break up or just look worn off by the time I wash my face. I’ve tested this one through full workdays, including going to the office in person, and have been really impressed with the wear time. I like to apply it with my fingers, but a brush works too, and it’s buildable to full coverage even though it starts off more medium. If there was a shade that matched me, I’d be so happy with this.
However, even though F5 is definitely the most olive shade of the 3 I have, it’s a very saturated yellow olive. If you’re a cooler olive or teal, be warned how yellow this is. F4 pulls pinker on me and L1 is straight up peach. All the shades feel like they just have a lot of color/pigment in them, even though they don’t look dramatically more saturated than my other foundations in swatches. It’s just when I blend out the foundation on my actual skin, the pigment just stays really present even though it’s not technically full coverage. I wouldn’t even say it’s more pigment = more coverage, it just really seems to stand out against my skin. Because of this, I’ve mostly been mixing F5 with Lisa Eldridge Skin Tint 1.5 to get my “best” shade and most natural look out of this. Otherwise, I mix in some blue to get F5 closer to my actual skin tone but it’s still not quite right. I’m definitely fixing the shade and not the formula, though I still haven’t found something that doesn’t do well with some Lisa Eldridge 1.5 added.
I also tested Westman directly against Prada LW5 since it feels the most similar to me in my collection. Prada was a little smoother and more blurring and just looked slightly nicer. In side by side comparisons I showed to my friends, everyone voted for the Prada side. If I were buying a foundation of this style again, especially at this price, I’d buy the Prada even though I do really like the Westman foundation.
And the opposite happened with the Hung Vanngo foundation in shade 5. It’s definitely the best shade match of this group even though it’s still slightly peachy. But even though the shade is pretty okay, I can’t get this to look good. I have tested this so many different times and so many different ways. I’ve tried different application methods, different prep, side by sides with other foundations to see if I’m just seeing things. No matter what I do, I get so much texture and it breaks up on my face so fast. It just looks like it doesn’t want to be on my face.
I’m testing a bonkers number of complexion products right now between this and the concealer tournament, which is why I haven’t reviewed this yet even though it launched in July. And of all the ones I’m testing, this is one of the only ones I’m annoyed I didn’t return so I could review something else for y’all. I know that other people love this foundation (and it’s entirely possible it looks great on them!), but if you tend to like the same base products I do, you might have the same experience I did with this where it just doesn’t want to be a foundation.
Sarah Creal Just Like Paradise Sculpting Cream Bronzer in 1 and Refy Water Bronzer Liquid Cushion in Cove and Sol – I’ve had the Sarah Creal Just Like Paradise Bronzer in shade 1 for a really long time, and I’ve been putting off reviewing it even though it’s been on my requests list for what feels like forever. Now seemed like the perfect opportunity because it shows the shades of the Refy so well in comparison, and I can finally cross this one off my list. I genuinely love the formula of the Sarah Creal bronzer. It reminds me so much of the Makeup by Mario Soft Sculpt Transforming Skin Enhancer because it has that same lightweight gel texture that sheers out super easily and stays a little dewy.
Alas, shade 1 is orange on me, and it’s that very specific kind of “oh no, why did this turn orange?” type of orange when it gets onto my face. Even though I know how to work with warmer tones so much easier now, this is honestly just not bronzy on me. It looks like Sarah Creal has added shades to the line since I bought this one, and I’m betting one of those is better, but if you’re wondering if this shade goes orange, it does.
Editing Rebecca coming back later – I legitimately forgot this was $50 until I was going through adding links. Why is this $50? Unless you absolutely love the packaging (valid!) or the colors are perfect specifically for you, get the Makeup by Mario bronzer if you want this kind of formula.
The Refy Water Bronzer in Cove and Sol are both definitely bronzy but they don’t turn orange like the Sarah Creal does. Cove is more neutral and a little rosy whereas Sol is a bit richer and closer to a more standard bronzer shade – something like Marc Jacobs Light 20. No one needs both, but I actually have used each of them in different looks and been really happy I had both shades.
I absolutely love the cushion format for a product like this. It’s so much easier than dealing with a traditional liquid bronzer since I can just tap a brush in the cushion and blend it out on my face. This formula is super blendable and easy to work with. It sets down to a skinlike finish that isn’t too matte or dewy. I have basically stopped reaching for my regular liquid bronzers since getting these. Make sure you actually close them because cushions can dry out; other than that, I highly recommend these.
Jung Saem Mool Artist Cushion Blush Blur in Rosy Petal, Artist Cushion Blush in Odd Mauve, and Refy Water Blush Liquid Cushion in Acai – I actually got two formulas of the Jung Saem Mool – the Cushion Blush Blur and the Cushion Blush. I was hoping to try these because the brand launched at Sephora, but I might have actually gotten shades that are exclusive to Yesstyle. Either way, I prefer the Cushion Blush Blur because it has much better pigmentation (though that could just be the shade I got), and I like the blurring and matte but not too matte finish. Like all the cushions, it’s super easy to tap a brush in or use the included cushion and blend the blush on to my skin. Rosy Petal is brighter and more coral on me than I expected, and it’s just not my favorite pink. I probably should’ve gotten Fuzzy Lavender, but I think that one might have been too light.
The Cushion Blush is so sheer. I love this color in theory, but I just can’t see it. I love mauve shades because they almost always are super natural looking beigey pink on me, but this is just so sheer it’s barely anything at all. If you’re looking for something barely there and impossible to overdo, you might actually love this. I personally want this shade but more pigmented, which luckily I already found in a cushion formula I love that’s less than $5.
I was surprised but the Refy Water blush is actually my favorite of these. Acai is a beautiful berry brown that doesn’t go orange, and it’s exactly the kind of shade I’m looking for in the fall and winter. It has enough pigment to show up without being impossible to use/blend. The formula, like the rest, is so easy to use. All three wear about the same on me throughout the day, and so it’s more down to the sheerness and shade. Acai wins by a landslide between these for me. I really hope that Refy comes out with more shades.
Soshe Precision Sculpting Stick in Drift and Vieve Silhouette Stick in Light – Hopefully you can see by the swatches what’s happening here. Soshe is on the left, Vieve is on the right. I chose the shade Drift in the Soshe because it’s the light to medium shade, and I’m normally around there or what ends up being shade 2, at least for my correct depth across bronzer and contour type products. The depth here is probably right, but it’s so orange. Not only do I not understand how this could be a contour, I couldn’t even use it as a bronzer. I love Soshe – you’ve read about them here a ton, and their blushes and bronzers are some of my favorites. So I was fully expecting to love this, and yet, it’s one of the most Cheetoing Cheeto products I’ve tried in a while.
Transparently, I haven’t tested the formula that much because honestly how am I supposed to use this as a contour. Even adding a little bit of blue, it’s nowhere near a believable contour shade. So, the formula might actually be incredible, and I’d just have no idea. Leave me a comment if one of the other shades is actually great because I am always happy to test something again, but otherwise, the shade made it so I couldn’t really tell you if it’s a great formula or not.
The Vieve Silhouette Stick in Light is a much better color that’s cool enough to function as contour. It has a little bit of that purple nuance that I love to have in a contour so it can be cool without being too grey. But it can also warm up enough when I blend it out that it’s more of a brontour than a contour. The formula is super easy to throw on and blend without it sheering out to nothing. The stick format is really convenient, and it’s emollient in a good way. I’m happy I bought it, and for most people, I think this could be a great contour shade. I just know I make things go very orange so I’m pulling out all the warmth it has.
Soshe Precision Sculpting Stick in Drift and Vieve Silhouette Stick in Light and Judydoll Liquid Contour in 02
Soshe Precision Sculpting Stick in Drift and Vieve Silhouette Stick in Light and Judydoll Liquid Contour in 02
As a comparison, I swatched these next to my favorite contour which is the Judydoll Liquid Contour in 02. You can see that it’s green grey enough that it’s literally a shadow on my skin. Formula wise, I think the Vieve is easier to use and blend because it’s such an easy cream to work with, but the Judydoll color is so good. The only one I really don’t recommend is the Soshe.
COSRX Peptide Collagen Lip Film Tinted Treatment in Cinnamon and Danessa Myricks GlossWork 4D in Honey Coco – These were actually some of the most requested things this month because apparently y’all need more lip balm reviews. And don’t worry – there’s even more lip balm reviews coming. I think I would’ve really liked the COSRX in a vacuum. It’s super comfortable, it’s not sticky, and Cinnamon is a really pretty pink. It’s objectively nice, and I’m 0% surprised there’s a bunch of hype around it. It’s just that compared to the Danessa Myricks, it doesn’t feel as unique or special.
Honey Coco is a much more interesting color on me. It’s such a nice nuanced rosy brown that’s the color I’m usually looking for but have trouble finding. This shade looks especially nice with the Refy Acai blush. More importantly, the formula feels more nourishing and longer lasting than the COSRX. It just feels like it’s more substantial and I’m getting more out of it by using it. The plumping part is super mild and not uncomfortable, but my lips definitely look nice when I’m wearing it.
The COSRX is super nice, but just feels like a very good lip balm like all my other very good lip balms. When I put it on, I was like “yes, this is a great lip balm.” When I put on the Danessa Myricks, I was like “wow, I really want to try this in more colors.” And I probably will. If you want to know whether I’d recommend the Danessa or Eadem or Ole Henriksen, I refuse to choose, you can’t make me, and I will be using all three. I promise I will maintain a top three from here on out though so I will kick one of these out if something fantastic comes along.
Don’t forget to let me know if you have requests for October! As always, some links may be affiliate links that support the blog and some products may have been gifted, but all reviews/opinions are completely my own and unsponsored.
