August 11, 2008

Stila Illuminating Liquid Foundation Review

This Summer I’ve been motoring around and jumping from foundation to foundation to find that perfect light wear that I seek for the humid weather.

When I ran across Stila’s Illuminating Liquid Foundation I firgured it was worth trying out. I’m glad I decided to give this a shot because I like it, alot.

First off I’d like to rave about the uber nice packaging. The foundation comes in a heavy, vanity worthy, glass pump bottle. I really like the cute Stila girl on the front of the bottle and just think they went that extra step to make the bottle look nice! I really love the packaging on this and can’t help but gush about how cute it is. It’s truly a nice heavy bottle plus the pump makes it mess free to apply while keeping your hands and fingers away from the product! Bacteria be gone! The pump allows you to disperse just the right amount of foundation without creating a major mess!

The formula on this is extremely light and of medium pigmentation which means you’ll need at least two or three pumps to cover your entire face but that’s the beauty of the product for me. The lightness of formula is what drew me to the product to begin with. It’s hot out and humid so I’m really not wanting an entire mask of foundation on my face thus Stila Illuminating Liquid Foundation is perfect light wear that offers decent coverage while giving a bit of moisturize to the skin and offering a dewy, fresh look to the face.

The product will be particularly appealing to those with a porcelain, milky completion since many of the color options available are extremely light and creamy. I choose mine in the color 30 Watt which probably isn’t what an MA would choose for my medium-fair tone but I thought it blended well and gave me a very fresh look.

Although the formula is moisturizing it dries matte which is particularly perfect for hot weather and oily skin woes. The matte feeling is not a cream to powder feeling thankfully which I’m not fond of. It’s more of a simple dry down of the product as it adheres and becomes one with your skin creating a nice, even coverage that’s not overly made up. It’s almost like wearing really tinted moisturizer with much better pigmentation than you’d get from a tinted moisturizer.

Here’s a photo wearing the foundation on a clean, bare face. As you can see coverage isn’t super duper pigmented but just natural. It evens out my skin tone yet doesn’t successfully hide my blushing cheeks thus it’s more of a lighter coverage versus a heavier foundation.

The wear is pretty good and I got about five hours before I needed to touch up. One major plus to the product was the fact it didn’t go ashy, chalky, or gray on me which some foundations are known to do on my skin.

All in all I’m really enjoying this as a light Summer-wear foundation! It’s light, creamy, and offers decent coverage while taking my skin from dull to glowing.

What are some of your favorites for light Summer coverage?

Have you tried Stila Illuminating Liquid Foundation?

Love it?

Tell the Muse about it!

Check our some past posts of coverage by clicking below!

Beauty Secrets: Whitening your Skin, Ridding yourself of dark circles, and other Babblings!

Tarte Peaches & Cream Powder Foundation Review

Prescriptives All Mineral Makeup Review

MAC New View: Mineralize Skinfinish Duo Review

27 Comments

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • rocketqueen

    You are looking so sweet! Have you done something extra to your brows? They look extra super neat! Gorgeous!

  • the Muse

    aw shucks thanks linn 🙂 I emailed you. did you get it?

    I’ve been testing out anastasia’s brow kit..so that could account for the neatness of my brows hehe!

  • Tanya Annette

    The foundation looks great on you!! Very fresh 🙂 I used this years ago when I first got into Stila. I loved the light feeling, and yet it somehow covered up what needed to be covered up. I thinnk I stopped using it because it was kinda pricey for me who was on a Target (slave) salery at the time =p I may have to try it out again!

  • Beauty Addict

    Hey Izzy, how was your short holiday during the weekend? Did u manage the catch the Olympics opening ceremony?

    I’ve heard many rave reviews for this. But also it’s drawing flak from lotsa asians as it doesn’t seem to control oil well plus our humid weather here. Does it control oil well for u?

    Anyway, I wanna ask if there’s shimmer in this foundation? I’m using MAC Mineralize skinfinish now and the shimmer is a wee bit too much imo. Adds unwanted shine to the T-zone. Maybe this mught be different?

    gracie 🙂

  • Decorative Diva

    This is a really nice light look on you. Your cheeks look naturally flushed and pretty.

  • the Muse

    hiya tanya!

    thanks love! I liked how light and natural it was too. Feels like I have nothing on!

    It is pricey at $38! I agree with you there!

    Definitely score some..even better yet wait for sephora’s FF discount 😉 20% off yay!

  • the Muse

    hey gracie!

    It was gorgeous! I had a blast 🙂 I haven’t watched the opening ceremony yet but did tivo it while away so I’ll try to fit it in 😉

    I would avoid it. The humidity in singapore will melt it right off your face. It’s light and wears long however in cases of extreme heat it’s definately not worth it’s price tag sadly ;P

    It supposedly has shimmer but I didn’t get any crazy amounts of shine shimmer or glitter.

    Hope this helps my friend!

  • jojoba

    Hi, is it the lighting or it’s lighter on you than your other part of the body? It looks like your face is at least one shade lighter?

    I had the same problem wearing this foundation. It was a bit too shiny for me and the light reflected off and my face looked different from my neck down.

    Thanks.

  • Ethereal Prey

    i used it a few years ago the stila make up artist did an amazing job on me so i bought the foundation. i hate how it dried matte and it would be cakey on me somehow, i don’t know why, he used a sponge and so did i. sigh. maybe they just had softer lighting in the store where i was at. glad you liked it.

  • Beauty Addict

    Thanks Izzy, money saved on this than! 😉

    The weekend was very enjoyable for me too, spent most of the time glued to the TV. Hehe 😉 Watched the opening Olympics opening ceremony on fri. Sat was S’pore’s national day. Really enjoyed the fireworks 🙂

    I can’t catch enough of Michael Phelps in action! He’s really fast in the water.

    Btw Izzy, did u receive my E-mail?

    gracie

  • Cinammon

    I totally agree with you on the packaging. It’s the main reason i love Stila and thank God for Strawberrynet.com i can still get Stila 🙂

    I actually found a brand called Bloom-i think…that also does beautiful packaging like stila. I’ll check it out later and let you know how it turned out 🙂

  • Anonymous

    Hello Muse

    I just love ur blog. Could u tell me a nice foundation for travel as i wld be going to singapore and to India for day time. And also few products that i can purchase frm singapore.

  • Askmewhats

    WOW, i love it when the packaging is vanity worthy! and it is indeed illuminating!!!! LOVE it!

  • nilla cookie

    Great review, as always!

    My favorite summertime foundation is mixing my year-round stuff (Elizabeth Arden Intervene or Laura Mercier Tinted Foundation) with MAC Strobe Lotion – it’s hot!

  • rocketqueen

    Yay got it! Replied asap!

    the Stila sounds ineresting. Might have to check it out! I’ve gotten so many lovely tips from you dear Musemusey!

  • the Muse

    hi jojoba!

    It’s the flash and shadow plus my face is one shade lighter than my body even without makeup. Must be years of use with whitening creams and such lol!

    I think the foundation isn’t flattering if you have a yellow tone to your skin. It’s more for a milky, creamy complexion. Or at least that’s how I felt. I don’t have either but it worked out ok for me but not as good as it would if I had whiter skin. Not sure if that makes sense.

  • sarahPUFFY

    urban decay surreal skin review plz?
    when you can =D

    I was staring it down the other day but I’m still not sure if I should get it; its so tiny ;-;

    and grr, seeing your post reminds me to do a review of my HG TM…once Im done reading for english class I need to get on that!

  • the Muse

    hi Ethereal Prey!

    Cakey? Really? I didn’t experience that thankfully or it would have gone in the trash. The matte feel felt very natural and nice while still remaining moist.

    In all honesty I work with my clean fingers…sponges cake up foundation on me..I find my fingers do the best job 😉

  • the Muse

    morning gracie!

    hehe 🙂 Good!

    Anything good on telly besides the Olympics?! 😉

    Lord I am enjoying himself myself. He’s like a little speedboat! Fantastic skill!

    I prob did honey but I’m buried under other stuff. I’ll look today. Sorry 🙁 I get 100’s a day and get very overwhelmed! Don’t think I’m ignoring you I’m just avoiding my inbox lol!

  • the Muse

    hello mizz alysia 😉

    Stila has sincerely great packaging but I really miss seeing more of the Stila girls!

    Bloom is awesome! It’s actually an Australian brand I believe 🙂
    We used to get it in Sephora but it’s long gone sadly. They make awesome eye palettes very chic and cute!

  • the Muse

    hi anonymous!

    Thanks so much! Glad you are enjoying my little blog.

    I highly recommend MAC for foundation for travel. Simply b/c it appears you’ll be going to very humid climates and MAC makes some seriously long wear foundations that suffer through heat extremely well. Depending on your skin type I also highly recommend MUFE foundations as they too are long wearing and very good at withstanding humidity!

    Is there anything in particular you’d like from singapore? They have quite a few brands such as Anna Sui, Skinfood, Kesalan Patharan, RMK 🙂

    Even KATE (not the latest and greatest though sadly).

    Let me know if this helps 😉

    Happy Traveling don’t forget to pack your Muse in your suitcase and take her along for the ride 😉

    She has many friends in Singapore she’s dying to see hehe!

  • the Muse

    hey lilan!

    Morning lovie!

    Thanks 🙂

    Ooooo interesting…must try this! You must look delightfully glowy and healthy with that combo!

  • the Muse

    it’s a coming my dear sarah 🙂

    I’ll be sure to get on it shortly!

    I know you’re dying to hear 😉

  • sarahPUFFY

    YAY! Its a big deal to entrust to you my foundation purchases! I tend to do a lot of research, but I don't feel like going to stupid makeup alley. >.<

    Btw, I promise to do my eyeliner tut for you =D

  • the Muse

    hey sarah!

    LOL thanks I’m flattered 🙂

    I’ll def do the surreal skin shortly darlin’!

    Yay I’m looking forward to that you’ve no idea how much 😉

  • Anonymous

    One question? I have makeup forever the hd liquid, my friend wears Stila and she loves it. Which one do you think is better?

  • the Muse

    hi anonymous!

    I haven’t yet tried the HD liquid from makeup forever as of yet but I’m going to say the coverage is probably way better than this Stila one.

    If you’re seeking good coverage I’d go with the makeup forever if you want lighter go with the stila 😉

    Hope this helps!