(Trial Run)
Mary Phillips’ First Foundation Is Making Me Break Up With My Current Go-To
The ultimate no-makeup makeup finish.
In our series Trial Run, TZR editors and writers put the buzziest new beauty products to the test and share their honest reviews. This week, deputy beauty editor Erin Lukas is testing the buzzy m.ph Le Skin Weightless Serum Foundation.
My saved collection of makeup photos on Instagram have one thing in common: skin that appears flawless but you can’t detect a hint of foundation or concealer. Unsurprisingly, a lot of these looks are by Mary Phillips. The celebrity makeup artist is known for her underpainting technique, which is the secret to Hailey Bieber, Kendall Jenner, Priyanka Chopra, and Zoë Kravitz’s subtly sculpted glow. Over the years, Phillips has been grilled by her Instagram followers on which products to use to recreate her signature makeup style. Her answer? M.ph, the makeup line she launched at Sephora last summer. After the initial drop, she’s unveiling the Le Skin Serum Foundation.
This lightweight, buildable medium coverage foundation promises to blur imperfections with a natural, skin-like finish. In other words, it’s the exact product that would help me achieve the perfect skin look from all of my saved makeup photos. However, I should preface I have super high expectations for foundation: it needs to even out any redness, mask blemishes, and feel like I have nothing on my face. So, when I had the opportunity to put Le Skin to the test ahead of its official Feb. 16 launch, I enthusiastically accepted the offer.
Ahead, my experience putting m.ph’s Le Skin Weightless Serum Foundation.
Fast Facts
- Price: $49
- Size: 1 fl oz/30 mL
- Clean/Cruelty-Free: Yes
- Best For: A natural but flawless base
- Ingredient Highlights: 2% niacinamide, hyaluronic acid
- What We Like: Feels weightless on skin, comes in a range of undertones
- What We Don’t Like: So far, so good
- Rating: 5/5
How TZR Keeps Score: 1/5: Making a return; 2/5: Keeping as a backup; 3/5: Finishing to the last drop; 4/5: Recommending to my group texts; 5/5: Already on auto-replenish
The Formula
Boasting a natural, second-skin finish, Le Skin Weightless Serum Foundation has a thin, liquid consistency not unlike, well, your favorite serum. It’s infused with 2% niacinamide to help even tone and texture over time and hyaluronic acid to hydrate and plump the skin. The addition of tried-and-true ingredients allow the formula to glide on evenly and blend seamlessly. It comes in 35 shades that spans a range of undertones including cool, neutral, golden, warm, and olive. When conceptualizing the shades, Philips consulted with the Black Beauty Roster to ensure the offering was inclusive.
While Phillips designed the formula to be used with her Underpainting Palette, the foundation aims to wear beautifully on its own and with other cream and powder complexion products.
My Experience & Results
After wearing Le Skin on a couple WFH days mostly spent on my sofa (which doesn’t really count), I test drove it while on a work trip in LA. Although Phillips recommends applying the foundation with the brush she also created, I opted to use my fingertips and then blended it with the aforementioned brush to ensure I had a seamless finish. What immediately struck me about this formula is how it instantly melts into skin but offers coverage that’s a notch above a tinted moisturizer. While you can apply thin layers for a full-coverage look, I’m more a minimalist when it comes to my base makeup, so I stuck with one. I followed up with a bit of concealer under my eyes and around my nose to cancel out my dark circles and any lingering redness.
The forecast on this day was 85 degrees and sunny, so this New Yorker took full advantage of being able to sit in the sun in January in a short-sleeved top. Despite getting a little sweaty while working from my hotel’s patio for most of the afternoon, my foundation stayed intact and didn’t get cakey around my nose, which is the case with most formulas. In fact, my base still looked flawless when I went to touch up my makeup hours later before heading out for dinner. All I needed was to tap a touch of powder on my T-zone to get rid of some excess shine. But my foundation? Still perfectly blended.
Is m.ph’s Le Skin Weightless Serum Foundation Worth It?
In my experience, many foundations that claim to have a lightweight, skin-line finish deliver aesthetically, but they don’t have the same longevity as a full-coverage formula. So the fact that m.ph’s foundation didn’t wear off or get cakey in the 12+ hours I was wearing it makes this bottle worth purchasing alone. What’s more, it blends so easily, the application is nearly effortless. So if you prefer a more natural base, I recommend giving Le Skin Weightless Serum Foundation a shot.
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