Review: Goodness Glows Liquid Foundation by Burt's Bees

Okay, so when did Burt's Bees decide to become an actual cosmetics brand? I mean, I know they've been making lip balm and hand lotion forever (I remember getting it at Hallmark with my mom back in the day -- aka the early 2000s), but all of this makeup stuff is NEW. Seriously, you can now do a full face of Burt's Bees makeup; they have powders, blushes, lipsticks, eyeshadows, and everything else you can think of. Burt's Bees is a legitimate drugstore makeup brand now, which I think is very exciting. So far, I've only seen it for sale at Ulta and Wal-Mart, but I'm sure it'll eventually be for sale in other stores.

I wrote about their wipes in another blog post (they have a full range of makeup remover wipes and some are good and some are not), but the Goodness Glows Liquid Foundation is really the first piece of makeup makeup that I've picked up from Burt's Bees. I've been using this foundation everyday for a week now, and I think I have a final opinion about it, so let's jump into the review!

First of all, let's talk about the details. This foundation is $16.99 (although, I bought it when it was on sale during Ulta's Cyber Fundays), which I think is a little expensive for a "drugstore" brand. However, you do get a full fluid ounce, which is nice, and the packaging is very sturdy, which I appreciate. I do have a hard time paying almost $17 for a drugstore foundation though, so I recommend waiting until it's on sale to pick it up.

The foundation is available in 12 shades, which, quite honestly, I think is a pretty poor shade range. However, I know that basically all drugstore foundations have a poor shade range, so I don't want to single out Burt's Bees here. In fact, compared to brands like Physician's Formula, Burt's Bees has a pretty decent shade range. However, I think that people with deeper skin tones are going to have a hard time finding a shade that fits them if they want to pick up the Goodness Glows Liquid Foundation. I picked up the shade Porcelain, which is an excellent shade match for me. The lightest shade of most drugstore foundations is usually too dark or too yellow toned for me, so I appreciate that Burt's Bees came out with a shade that's for very fair people.

I also want to take a minute to talk about the packaging of this foundation. I have to say that, for a drugstore foundation, the packaging feels and looks very high end. It comes in a glass bottle, which I think is rather elegant, and it comes with a pump, which I absolutely love. I'm all about foundations with pumps! I also love the cap on the foundation. It's soft touch, which I absolutely love (why isn't everything soft touch?? Seriously) and it has a cute, honeycomb pattern, which I think is a nice detail. Somebody obviously thought long and hard about this packaging.

Now, let's talk about the actual foundation itself. First of all, I want to mention that this foundation is 98.9% natural, which I think is great. It's also cruelty free, which I think is great and important to mention. So, that's important to know if those things are important to you. The foundation itself has a dewy, glow-y finish. According to Burt's Bees, it's full coverage foundation; however, in practice, I think it's actually a light to medium coverage foundation. I'm not bothered by the coverage, but I think you might be disappointed if you buy this thinking that it's full coverage. You might get more coverage out of this foundation if you apply it using a brush, but, personally, I prefer to apply everything with a beauty sponge. I've tried it with a couple of different primers, and I think this foundation works best with a primer that is slightly tacky, but it applies well with all the primers I've tried.

In general, I think this is a beautiful foundation and looks great on the skin. It does make your skin look very glow-y and bright and beautiful. As I said, the coverage is fairly light, but you can add additional coverage with powder and concealer if needed. In general, I think the foundation looks pretty natural on the skin; it doesn't really look like you're wearing a full face of makeup.

In terms of texture, this foundation is pretty light and liquid-y. It feels very comfortable on the skin, and you can wear it for long periods of time comfortably. It is supposed to be an illuminating foundation, and, like most illuminating foundations, I don't think it would work very well for people with oily skin. Personally, I can't get enough glow, and I have normal to dry skin, so I love this foundation. However, you're going to find this foundation greasy if you have naturally oily skin.

In terms of wear time, I would say that this foundation is okay. I do notice that this foundation starts to break down around my nose and mouth toward the end of the day. You also have to be careful with tissues and napkins while you're wearing this foundation; I find that it wipes off pretty easily. On an average day, I can get 5-7 hours of really good wear out of this foundation before it starts to break down a little. However, you can obviously extend the wear time with judicious use of powder and setting sprays, so the wear time isn't a big deal for me. Also, I find that most illuminating foundations don't last as long as matte foundations, so I'm not surprised that this foundation breaks down fairly quickly. However, I've also noticed that illuminating foundations fade more gracefully than matte foundations, so that's something else to keep in mind.

The only thing I don't like about this formula is the scent. It has a really strange scent; it's not a chemical scent, but it is unpleasant. However, the scent goes away once you blend the foundation out and set it with powder. So, I can live with the scent, and I don't think it's bad enough to be a reason not to purchase it.

All in all, I think this is a great foundation, and I highly recommend it if you're normal to dry and like light to medium coverage. I'll definitely continue to use it, and I would definitely consider repurchasing it.

Final rating: 8.5/10