Wander Beauty Wanderlust Powder Foundation

Many things bother me: 70s disco (Thanks to my down stair neighbor who routinely blasts it at 4am thinking I would be too asleep to hear), asshole drivers of New Jersey who honk at pedestrians for not yielding, icky subway handrail...As for my top Instagram related pet-peeves, the first is avocado toast, the other is #wanderlust. 

Sometime, I hate something so much I started to get attracted to it. In this case, I really wanted to try this powder foundation (founded by an ex-Victoria's Secret Angel no less) with laughable name and grandma style packaging. Their packaging style (opposite of flashy) is so distinct that it grew on me. 

Last week during Sephora's holiday sale, I finally grabbed this Wander Beauty Wanderlust powder foundation while replenishing some skincare must-haves. 

The compact is pretty large but with the large mirror and sponge, it should be travel friendly if you don't use other base makeup. 

 

Nothing special about the box but I took a picture anyway. Interestingly, the foundation is made in Korea, a trend that's prevalent among several American brands.

 I personally am neutral about the Korean wave so it being the country of original doesn't say much. Some can be good/holygrail material like It Cosmetics CC cream, Sulwasoo skincare, some can be utterly junk like those random Korean brands in drugstore or Marshall. Actually, most are just meh.

 

There are five shade total in the range and I picked the second from the lightest (Light). Upon opening the compact, I was surprised that it looks very fair. The color looks like an ivory with a warm (it's more of a Lemon yellow instead the usually earthy yellow so it's neither dirty or too pink) undertone that matches very well on my face and against my neck, especially that it deepens a tiny bit with moisture/oil on the face. 

Aside from the large mirror, I also like the sponge puff that seems rather sturdy and practical. The puff is separated by a build in plastic divider, which is better than many Japanese powder compacts that either uses a bulky under compartment, have puff on the side or includes a thin plastic sheet between powder and sponge. 

So far so good?

Wanderlust foundation has a very soft texture that kicks off a lot of powder when I use it with a brush. The texture is moderate, not too chalky but frankly isn't that refined. When I got it I was also playing with a Maquillage powder foundation which is around the same price point ($30 for refill fits most Shiseido compacts) but has a much silkier texture and smoother fit.

Wanderlust offers a fairy high coverage and clings like shrink wrap. It clings on dry skin and pore when my skin is dry and looks cakey on top of moisturizer. It only looks perfect on smooth, moisturized skin that's dry to the touch (if my skin is in that good condition I wouldn't bother with powder). 

 Overall it isn't bad but the overall effect can be achieved with Japanese powder that's 10-20 dollars. I normally keep mediocre products around for occasional use but the compact was such a big eyesore that I had to return it five days later. 

For your reference, I buy a lot of toys/craps from drugstore and Sephora and this is the first return I made in years!