If there was a product in my beauty stash that seems to have been sent down from makeup heaven, it would be the DiorStar Foundation ($50, available here). It hasn’t always been a rosy story between me and this foundation – Dior Star and I had a real rocky start to our relationship.
Don’t get me wrong, for a foundation that within weeks of its launch, gained the monicker the “selfie” foundation, it was bound to be good. Many YouTuber’s, bloggers raved about this. It was all over my Instagram feed. It’s $50 – yet another foundation on the higher end of the price spectrum. And Natalie Portman was all over the promotional campaigns for this (I have the biggest girl crush on her). It had to be good.
Fifty bucks (I’ve always wanted to copy the Brits by saying “Fifty quids” – it just sounds better!) later, I walked skipped, and hopped all the way home with stars in my eyes, dreaming about this luminous, dewy-skin finish that will make me more selfie-friendly. I was excited to start posting selfies on my Instagram feed because as you might have seen, there are more pictures of bridges, and iconic buildings than my face.
That’s when the fairy-tale story (that never started) ended. I spent the first couple of weeks after buying this foundation, feeling a little disappointed by what seemed to be an underperforming foundation. I was ready to give up, resigning myself to only categorize this as yet another average-performing foundation. That fifty dollars on my credit card bill seemed to mock me. And that annoyed me.
I decided to give it another chance, and this time using my trusted Real TechniquesMiracle Sponge. The result? I had Natalie Portman-worthy skin! Selfie-ready! Unicorns and glitter in a bottle! Needless to say, this $7 nifty beauty applicator upped the game and made the DiorStar Foundation, the dreamy foundation that immediately replaced old favourites including the Estee LauderDouble Wear Foundation, and possibly the slightly more pricey CHANELPerfect Lumiere Foundation.
Read More: Battle of the Sponges | A Beauty Blender Debate.
I was convinced that Dior was trying to upsell me when they featured their lovely egg-shaped sponge next to the foundation. Coming in at $30, I skipped it. When I was at that stage of “Will this work, or not” part of the relationship, I contemplated buying it for some time – only to step away after seeing the price tag. I am a brush-user through and through but this time around, the brush just doesn’t seem to deliver that coverage I was looking for.
One pump of the foundation delivers a medium-coverage finish, and a second pump ups that to a natural-looking full coverage finish. Normally with a regular kabuki or foundation brush, I start seeing streaks with the application of the second layer. At this point, I would normally revert to using a high coverage concealer to do the rest of the work. Since I started using the sponge, I can easily layer a second layer to achieve that full-coverage with minimal work. The sponge helps blend out the product so much better and takes away excess layer while leaving enough to cover the most stubborn of spots.
If you’ve found your foundation not delivering to your expectation, I suggest changing your methods like I did. Who would have guessed a $7 tool would turn this from a dud to a total stud? I’m glad I didn’t write this foundation off as another average offering despite the many praises for it!
Now it’s your turn! Have you tried any techniques that helped improve your makeup wear? As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts! Share with me comment section or through Twitter or Instagram!
It definitely does make a difference! It saved me a trip from returning this awesome foundation!
I am so glad you ended up enjoying this! I agree: this works the best with a sponge! I actually did buy the Dior Backstage Blender, and it works really well. I love how long-lasting the formula is, and despite the glowy claim, it doesn’t make my skin oily at all!
I agree with that as well – my skin looks flawless at the end of the day and I was very surprised at how great it looks!
Oo I bought this when Sephora had the vib rouge coupons, but I never tried it with a sponge; I’ll have to give that a try to see if I get better results!! I also have the Dior nude foundation, think I’ll do a comparison post sometime!
I recently tried out the Nude foundation and have been in love with it as well! Dior has been releasing some excellent-quality foundations!
It’s awesome that you found a way to make it work!
I hope that the miracle complexion sponge would be able to do the same with my other foundations but I think they’ve changed the sponge…
I have not heard about a change in the sponge! I hope it doesn’t damage the texture or reduce its effectiveness!
I’m glad it worked out between you two in the end ????
It definitely did Andy ???? What a relationship story!
It’s amazing how much application method makes a difference! Glad you found a way to love it. I sampled it a while back and loved the initial finish, but it wore off a bit too quickly on my oily skin.
That’s too bad Jen! I hope you will find an equally amazing foundation to work on your skin!
I actually prefer to apply it with my fingers, but I do that with most formulas! I love this though, it’s definitely in my top 3 foundations of all time, it’s perfect ???? xx
yea sometimes delivery makes all the difference