Choosing the right foundation shade online can be difficult, especially when photos of swatches differ from how the shades look on the models. On the Huda Beauty website, I bought 3 minis of the Easy Blur Foundation: 440G Cinnamon, 450G Chocolate Mousse, and 500G Mocha.

The minis are ordinarily €16 each, but buying three dropped the price in the online shopping cart to €30. Each mini has 10ml of product, whereas the full size is 30ml for €37. This was the best option for me considering I rarely use up foundations and I’ve gotten gradually darker towards the end of summer. It isn’t the worst thing to have various colors in small sizes to mix with foundations to tailor my shade.

SHADE CHOICE

I was surprised to see the lightest of the three I chose was the best fit for me, especially because I look significantly darker than the model for shade 440 Cinnamon. In addition, my concealer shade 7.1 Crumble is recommended to be paired with the 450 Chocolate Mousse foundation. I tried 450, which can technically work too in the barest amounts, but the more that color is built up, the easier it is to see that it’s darker than my current skin color. 500 was obviously too dark.

My recommendation when choosing a shade is to pick based on the arm swatches on the website. Those seem most accurate to me, within the Deep Tan spectrum of shades at least.

COVERAGE

One of the best aspects of this foundation is how much coverage I get from using the barest amounts and how lightweight it feels on the skin. Using a synthetic brush worked better for me in trying to get a light-medium amount of coverage. I could not get less than that with a brush, but the brand states that this gives “medium to buildable” anyway. I like high medium coverage, but in my opinion, less is more with this foundation. It’s supposed to be “blurring,” but it can look heavier than it feels because of the coverage level even with so little product used. The ability to easily spread it across the face evenly and lightly is important to how the final outcome will look. So, I start small with as little product as possible all over the face, and then only add more to the areas of discoloration.

FINISH/LONGEVITY

Testing this throughout September was interesting because the weather here had various conditions that were sunny enough for me to get sweaty, it was often rainy and windy, as well as cloudy and cold. I prefer using this in warm weather because it has a natural finish that gets glowier throughout the day. It can look borderline oily in some spots, but it still looks pretty at the end of the day and without touch ups. As it got colder this month, I produced even less oil and the finish was a bit more matte than I want. It took so many hours just to get a little glow. On colder days, it was nice combining this with my N1 de Chanel foundation, keeping the Easy Blur in the outskirts that I want soft matte but having the glow from Chanel in the center. Another thing I like about this foundation is the transfer resistance, though I don’t know how it holds up on people with other skin types.

USE WITH POWDER

Although I don’t need it, I figured I should test this a few times with powder to be able to report on the results. Using finishing powders and my weaker setting powders didn’t change the performance at all. It still got glowy in the warm weather. However, I used the Huda Beauty Easy Bake Loose Powder on a day that was warm all day, but got cold at night. The powder kept me looking way more matte all day and I could see the blurring action. I personally didn’t like it because I want the glow, but for someone looking for full coverage and a matte finish, combining the foundation with the powder is the way to go. In the photo demonstration, the powder side is slightly lighter because I was wearing the darker foundation shade (450 G) with the Blondie powder instead of Kunufa. Blondie was just easier within reach.

USE WITH PRIMER

I tried this foundation with my typical skincare underneath and nothing else. I’ve also used this with skincare plus the Benefit Porefessional Hydate Primer. I know Huda has an Easy Blur primer, but I did not purchase it. All I can say is that I actually prefer the results when I’m not using primer with this foundation. The Benefit one acted a bit as a barrier and I didn’t have as many “glowy” spots. However, I felt like it sat more on top of the skin and didn’t look as natural.

The brand recommends using the primer, foundation, and powder all together. That might be necessary for those who want to look poreless, flawless, and filtered. For my needs and what I’m looking for in makeup, the foundation alone is enough.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

Now that we’re moving towards winter, I’m less happy using this foundation alone. At the best of times, in summer, this reminds me of the Hourglass Ambient Soft Glow Foundation and N1 de Chanel. I still prefer those two over this foundation (because of the glowier finish and being more forgiving of texture on the skin during that glow phase), but considering this is €20 and €40 Euros cheaper, this is a fantastic alternative for someone who doesn’t want to pay luxury prices, yet have a similar performance. I continue to really like the Huda Beauty brand, and I appreciate the fact that they made minis not just for a few colors, but literally all 29 shades! I can’t think of a brand besides Huda and Fenty that has done that (in a range with over 15 shades). I don’t know if this option will be available to other retailers, but I recommend giving this foundation a try, especially if you have access to a mini.

That’s all for today! I hope you’ll click follow and return next week!

-Lili ❤