Remember when I told you about the new brand that won Women Wear Daily’s Newcomer of the Year award for 2013? Ardency Inn creates innovative products that provide long-wearing color payoff with ease of application. This isn’t a Me Too brand. Ardency Inn thinks outside of the box, actually they think inside the makeup artist’s box so all of us non-makeup artists can easily use what we would normally be intimidated by.
One product I had my eye on was Americana Custom Coverage Concentrate. This little bottle is actually the equivalent of 2 bottles of traditional liquid foundation. How is that possible, you ask? It’s concentrated foundation. Okay, before you think it’s not for you, remember Ardency Inn brings us noobs innovative products that are easy to use. Have you ever mixed Lysol with water in a spray bottle to create a diluted household cleaner, or something to that effect? Same concept here, except you mix the foundation concentrate with a water-based moisturizer to basically custom make whatever coverage you desire, hence the name Custom Coverage Concentrate (lets call it CCC for the sake of my typing). There are so many benefits of this method that it makes me explode with excitement! Let’s talk about some of them.
Sometimes I want a foundation with SPF, sometimes I don’t. With CCC, you can use a daily moisturizer with SPF as a mixer if that’s what you need at that moment. Or if you want a nighttime foundation without SPF, you can use a moisturizer without it. See? Easy.
Let’s say you waver between minimal coverage like a tinted moisturizer and more coverage like a traditional foundation. If you’re having a good skin day but just need to even things out, you need just a tad of CCC mixed with your moisturizer. If you’re having a less than stellar skin day and want more coverage, mix a little more CCC with your moisturizer. Have a couple of spots that need concealing? Use equal amounts of moisturizer and CCC. The amount of coverage you want is totally up to you. Again, easy.
On its own, the finish is sort of satin, neither dewy nor matte so the type of finish you want is also dependent on what you mix it with. You can use a mattifying lotion or primer (just make sure the first ingredient listed is water) for a matte finish. The more emollient the moisturizer, the more dewy the finish will be.
One thing you should not mix CCC with is a product with glycolic or salicylic acid. The moisturizer you use should not be an active treatment product.
It’s best to use the back of your hand as a mixing palette, adding a teeny tiny drop of CCC directly to the moisturizer of your choice. Mix it with your finger, swirling it around until it’s uniform. You can apply it to your face using your fingers, brush or Beauty Blender. If you find that you need more coverage, add another teeny tiny drop to the remaining mixture. It’s easier to add more CCC rather than trying to sheer it out with more moisturizer, so start with a little more moisturizer than it would typically take to cover your entire face. Play around with different moisturizers and different ratios. You may wonder why this innovative little bottle hasn’t been around forever!
You can buy Ardency Inn Americana Custom Coverage Concentrate from Sephora or Ardency Inn for $38. There are 10 shades available. I use Medium Golden which has just enough yellow for my Olive skin.
I’d love to hear your thoughts!
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