Urban Decay Stay Naked Foundation and Concealer Review

 

As a certified pale girl, I have often struggled to find a foundation that works with my skin tone. Having a complexion similar to that of Casper the Friendly Ghost has made trying to find a foundation that doesn't leave me looking extremely orange difficult. While the makeup industry is beginning to understand that not everyone has one of the same six skin tones, it can still be hard to find a foundation that works with my pale skin and cool undertones. Such difficulties is why I get excited when I discover a foundation available in a wide variety of shades which also come in cool, warm, and neutral undertones. After realising the Urban Decay Stay Naked foundation and concealer had such options, I quickly snapped up both products and eagerly put them through their paces. 

As I was buying both of the items online, I didn't have a means of knowing if they would be suitable for my skin tone so had to hope for the best. Additionally, I bought these both through Sephora who didn't have as many shade options for the concealer as they did for the foundation. As a result, I got the foundation in 10CP (10 cool pink) and the concealer in 10NN (10 neutral neutral). Fortunately, both shades are a pretty close match to my pale skin. The foundation is ever so slighlty too dark, but it is the closest to my skin tone that a foundation has ever been. The concealer is also relatively close to my skin tone and, while I was concerned it being neutral would mean it would be too yellow for me, it seems to suit my pink undertones quite well. 

While the shade matches of both products are great, I am not overly enamoured with their ability to fulfil the claims made by Urban Decay. Urban Decay describes the Stay Naked foundation as a "long wear liquid foundation with buildable medium coverage and a real-skin matte finish that lasts up to 24 hours". While a medium coverage is attainable if you have the patience to apply enough layers, the first application of the foundation offers a light coverage. While the foundation isn't able to cover the redness around my nose, it does a great job at evening out my skin tone. I don't have any hyperpigmentation or many blemishes though so the foundation doesn't have too tough a job. 

While Urban Decay fulfils the promise of the foundation giving a buildable medium coverage, it does not deliver on being long lasting or matte. I have combination skin and apply a sunscreen prior to the Stay Naked foundation and I'm definitely not left with a matte finish. Additionally, if the foundation is not set with both powder and setting spray, there will barely be any left on my face by the end of the day.  It does also cling to dry patches although this isn't nearly as bad as other foundations I've tried (I'm looking at you Fenty Pro Filt'r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation). I'm sure this all sounds like I don't like the foundation, but, surprisingly, I do. I much prefer a lighter coverage and it's the only foundation I've used that hasn't immediately sweated off my face while I've been on holiday (after setting with powder and setting spray otherwise it would've disappeared as soon as I stepped off of the plane). 

Although I like the foundation, I can't say the same for the concealer. Urban Decay claim the Stay Naked concealer has a customisable coverage level and won't crease, cake, or settle into fine lines. If it has a customisable coverage level, I don't know anything about it because one layer creases, cakes, and settles into fine lines. I only use concealer on my undereyes as they are quite dark and this concealer not only does absolutely nothing for my panda eyes, but it goes cakey and settles into my undereye lines. The settling into the lines happens soon after application. While I don't expect a concealer to completely cover my undereye circles, I had hoped the Stay Naked concealer would do a bit more than nothing. 

Overall, I would recommend the Stay Naked foundation if you are looking for a light to medium coverage foundation and don't have overly dry or oily skin. I would, however, not recommend the foundation if you want something long lasting and prefer full coverage. As for the concealer? Stay well clear.