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Pale Face, Tanned Body: My Current Foundation Routine, ft. Sappho Liquid Foundation in Kate (Review)

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If you’re like me, then you know the agony of losing your sun-kissed skin. Less sun means becoming paler. Not that pale skin isn’t beautiful, it’s just that my face doesn’t match the rest of my body… Because I wash my face morning and night, it is the first to be noticeably lighter, thus inducing me to use a heavy hand with a bronzer. To avoid a muddy, terracotta type look, I decided to splurge and buy the Sappho Liquid Foundation in Kate ($52 CAD). After playing with it for a couple of weeks, I’ve figured out how to best use this product while I still have some colour on my skin!

About the product

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The foundation is contained in a tiny, but guaranteed 1oz bottle WITH A PUMP! It has a nice mousse-like texture, with a lovely herbal scent. I bought the colour Kate because it is a foundation suited for those who are pale in the winter, but get a fair amount of colour once the warmer seasons come (like myself). On the Sappho Cosmetics website, they provide a great description of who would suit the colour best:

Preserved with essential oils and chock full of antioxidants, this liquid mineral foundation suits someone with medium tanned skintone with a slight olive undertone. It is named for actress Kate Moennig however it was the summer she was surfing! You can layer this product to achieve light to medium coverage. Being free of dimethicone, it does not feel like foundation and yet it provides great coverage – gorgeous!

In addition to a good colour match, you can’t go wrong with the list of ingredients in this foundation! It is aloe-based and filled with many plant extracts to create a gentle, kind-to-skin product.

Aloe Barbadensis (Organic Aloe) Leaf Juice, Organic Alcohol Extracts of Aspalathus Linearis (Roobis) Leaf, Calendula Officinalis ( Organic Calendula) Flowers (and) Camellia Sinensis ( Organic Green Tea) Leaf, Simmondsia Chinensis (Organic Jojoba ) Seed oil, Titanium Dioxide, Emulsifying Wax NF, tocopherol ( Vitamin E) , Rosemary Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Azadirachta Indica ( Organic Neem) Seed Oil, Limnanthes Alba ( Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Daucus Carota ( Carrot ) Seed Oil, Stearic Acid, Amorphophallus Konjac ( Konjac) Gum, Zinc Oxide, Cl 77492 ( Iron Oxide), Mica, Essential Oils

First Impressions (Day 1-3)
Upon first application, the product looks like it matches the same colour as my face and neck. After waiting for the colour to set, I applied the RMS Beauty “un-powder” in the colour 2-3. I couldn’t help but think that my face did not match my body properly because the product claims its for olive skin. After checking up constantly under natural and fluorescent lighting, my worries eased as I saw that my face, neck and body all matched. I also had the guarantee from my boyfriend and friends that it looked very natural.

Continued Use (~3 weeks)
Coverage is definitely light-medium for this foundation. It is excellent at cancelling out redness around my face (nose, mouth, hyper pigmentation marks) and evening out my skin tone. My skin still looks like my skin, but better. Everything looks airbrushed and smooth, and the uneven texture of my skin is less noticeable. It provides a satin-like finish. I find no need to set the foundation with powder because my skin is kept even-tone throughout the whole day (could be the use of ingredients helping with that as well!) And it most definitely, makes my coloured body and pale face become one. My face always feels nice and smooth after using this product, and it has never caused me to break out.

Wearing only Banila Co. CC Cream
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How to use Kate to match face with body
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  1. Pump out foundation on the back of hand
  2. Dot areas of face and neck evenly for desired colour correcting – make sure you apply dots to the base of your neck, above your clavicle bones for proper blending
  3. Use a face sponge (my preference is a beauty blender) or the EcoTools Buffing Brush to blend product evenly on the skin; you could use your fingers, but I find a proper makeup tool will be more effective
  4. Use extra foundation for more coverage in pesky red spots and make sure to blend evenly, or else the area with more foundation will be noticeable
  5. Apply a concealer to uncovered areas

And voila! Your face and body are now one. The photo below is from my friend’s iPhone 6, with no filters. We just got out of a concert, and as you can see, makeup is still in place 🙂 (Mind you, I wore primer and powder just in case). Check out the concert  vlog on Vera’s YouTube Channel!


I hope you enjoyed this review, and that it helps you decide if Kate is a colour best suited for you!

xo, M


Sappho Cosmetics products can be purchased on their website, http://www.organicsbysappho.com, or at various retailers in Canada. I bought the product myself, and am not paid to review it. I always give my honest opinion.

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