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The brand-new **Major Skin Hydra-Luxe Luminous Skin Perfecting Foundation from Patrick Ta has many people up in arms. There are many complaints about how glowy it is and that it doesn’t look good on textured skin. I have to say, based on the name alone, I feel it should have been obvious that you are in for a lot of glow. On the other hand, I get that several people review new releases even if they aren’t suited to their preferences. So, I think this foundation is getting somewhat of a bad reputation, but it delivers on what the brand claims. Before we get into some pictures of what it looks like on my dry, eczema-prone, 41-year-old skin, I want to also point out that this is ideal for dry, combo, and normal skin types (according to the brand and Sephora websites). So, if you have oily skin, this might be something you want to pass on by.

Another big complaint has been the price, which is $58 for the standard 1oz size for foundations. I can’t tell you if it’s “worth” $58; that is a personal decision, but I can tell you that the packaging is very luxe. It is a heavy glass bottle with a pump and a metal plate displaying the logo and name. It feels more expensive than his **$52 Creme Foundation and Finishing Powder Duo, and more importantly, I think it is a good formula (especially for my dry skin type). Would it possibly have made more sense to people if this had been priced closer to his previous foundation? Yes, I think so.

I bought shade 18 Golden Neutral, which is a decent shade for my summer color, but it will be too dark in the winter.  The other shades in my depth were all peach undertones, which I knew wouldn’t work for me, so I went with a slightly neutral tone.  I typically avoid neutrals because they make me look gray/sickly even when the depth of the shade is fine.  Once the rest of my makeup is done, I think I can get away with this shade. When I lose my summer tan, I may have to revisit the shade range. There are 30 shades in the range.

TL;DR

Patrick Ta Luminous Foundation Claims	Do I Agree?
Lightweight	Yes, but I use heavy moisturizers. I’m not sure if this would be true for those who use thinner or gel-cream style moisturizers.
Luminous	Yes.
Buildable, medium-coverage	Yes. If you apply less product it can be light coverage, but it can be built to medium coverage.
Boosts hydration	Yes.
Blurs imperfections	Yes, but only for minor dark spots. In my opinion, darker spots/hyperpigmentation will require spot concealing.

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	$ 58.00 Sale Price $ 58.00 Regular Price
Major Skin Hydra-Luxe Luminous Skin Perfecting Foundation – 18 Golden Neutral

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Patrick Ta Foundation by itself (top and bottom left)

vs

Set w/ NARS Light Reflecting Pressed Powder in Translucent (top right) and Revlon Photoready Blurring Powder in Medium Deep (bottom right)

I took these pictures on a sunny day in front of a large window, so it looks even shinier in the images than in person. I don’t want to give you the wrong idea, the Patrick Ta Major Skin Hydra-Luxe Luminous Skin Perfecting Foundation is absolutely dewy/shiny. However, I do think that it looks incredibly skin-like; the only other foundation that looks this natural on me is MAC Studio Radiance Face and Body, which has lighter coverage. When I say skin-like, I’m referring to the fact that it doesn’t look like pigment is sitting on top of the skin. I don’t see any pigment sinking into my lines or pores throughout wear. It just seems perfected without looking like I have foundation on. It does, however, look like I went overboard with moisturizer. 

It is a medium-coverage foundation. It can be built for a “higher” medium coverage, but due to the amount of hydrating ingredients in the formula, using more product causes it to get oily faster. It slightly blurs the look of minor dark spots and covers redness. It doesn’t necessarily help with texture, but it doesn’t look terrible either.  In fairness, I don’t see any claims specifically about texture, and I personally wouldn’t expect something this glowy to be forgiving on texture (bumps/scars/eczema patches). It is very comfortable to wear and feels like I have nothing on until I set it with powder.  Setting powder is definitely necessary with this formula, and Patrick Ta is honest about that in the promo videos I have seen. It didn’t feel sticky to me (I assume because I’m used to wearing heavy moisturizer), but I could also tell it never set down.   I waited a few hours to add powder to see how it went, but it never set.  I tried this with the NARS Light Reflecting Setting Powder Pressed in Translucent (my go-to) and the Revlon Photoready Blurring Powder in Medium/Deep.  NARS keeps the Patrick Ta Luminous Foundation looking more radiant than the Revlon powder, but they both got along with the formula without any patchiness or cakiness. I am less dry in the summer and typically have some oil breakthrough on my nose and center of my forehead after about 4 hours, and that was no exception with this foundation. I haven’t noticed any loss in coverage throughout wear, but if you frequently touch your face, you will likely notice more wear because this transfers easily.

Jumping back to my comments about texture. I want to point out that I think the texture around my mouth on the Revlon Photoready Blurring Powder side did look better before I added that powder. This is an area where I have an eczema patch that I haven’t been able to completely get rid of. Some bumps on my cheek are also more apparent, but I can’t say for sure if that is because of the blush or the powder. So, again, I don’t think it’s the worst for texture issues. However, anything glowy is likely to have the tendency to draw more attention to texture.

One last interesting thing that hasn’t caused an issue, but I figured I’d mention, is that there are white specs that I can see in the formula. I have shaken the formula well each time I’ve used it (as specified by the brand), and they don’t go away. It doesn’t seem to be affecting the color or performance at all. 

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Shade Comparison Swatches (Patrick Ta Luminous Foundation 18 Golden Neutral vs NARS Natural Radiant Tahoe)

I know these are very different finishes. However, the NARS Natural Radiant is my most used foundation and my best shade match, so it’s a good comparison for those who use me as a shade reference.

As I was wearing the Patrick Ta Major Skin Hydra-Luxe Luminous Foundation, I couldn’t help but compare it to the NARS Light Reflecting Advanced Skincare Foundation. I was wearing the NARS Light Reflecting Foundation in the shade Tahoe in my NARS Talc-Free Blush Reformulation post, if you’d like to see that. I prefer the NARS formula, and it costs $52 compared to $58 for Patrick Ta. The NARS packaging is not as luxe feeling and there are issues with some of the pumps leaking. Since the Patrick Ta is new, I can’t say that its pump won’t ever have issues. I’ve personally experienced an issue with the NARS pump on one of the two bottles I’ve had.   Anyway, the NARS Light Reflecting Foundation provides more coverage, is slightly less shiny and smoother, and lasts longer than the Patrick Ta Foundation.  Since the NARS has more coverage, it doesn’t look quite as natural, but that’s a tradeoff I’m typically willing to make.  These formulas aren’t what I’d call dupes, but they fall into the same category of glowy, skincare-heavy foundation. [Update September 13, 2024: Click here to read my review of the NARS Light Reflecting Foundation in the shades Syracuse and Tahoe.]

The fact that I like the NARS better doesn’t take anything away from the Patrick Ta formula. I just want to give a point of reference when I can. I like the Patrick Ta Luminous Foundation. I think it performs well and looks beautiful. In my opinion, it will perform best on dry to normal skin types who don’t have long 10+ hour days and don’t mind touching up or blotting halfway through the day. This may be too fussy if you have long days or get oily easily. However, if you have dry skin and want something lightweight and hydrating with a natural look, this could be exactly what you’re looking for.

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	$ 58.00 Sale Price $ 58.00 Regular Price
Major Skin Hydra-Luxe Luminous Skin Perfecting Foundation – 18 Golden Neutral

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Thanks for reading!

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