- sylviajast
Review: Rationale Beautiful Superfluids SPF50; Beautiful Bronze, Beautiful Cheeks, Beautiful Light
Rationale is one of my favourite Australian cosmeceutical brands. Their skincare products are so effective, but unfortunately also expensive… They recently (ok, maybe a year or two ago now) branched out into makeup, but it’s makeup with a difference. Each colour product has an SPF rating of 50+ which is perfect for the hot Australian climate. The makeup products also contain lots of botanicals and skin loving ingredients, which I expected from a brand that is all about skin health and radiance. There are three coloured makeup products; a liquid bronzer, liquid cheek colour and liquid illuminator. Liquid or cream products are probably the most natural looking on the skin because you get a level of translucency and blendability that you might not get from other textures (especially on top of a liquid foundation). Used together they look seamless. Being richly pigmented, you can build them up beautifully, for that no makeup makeup look 🙂 Keep reading on to see what I thought of each product and Rationale’s philosophy when it comes to makeup!
Each superfluid comes in a 10ml ‘squeezey’ tube. I like that the packaging is small because how often do you get a massive bottle or compact, which is only half full with product?! Very often! Because they are small, you can also easy pop them into your makeup bag or store them away. At the same time, they are small and 10ml of product does not sound like a lot. I did go and check how much the Becca Beach Tints are (cheek and lip stains) because they are also small and they come with 7ml of product, so in comparison, it’s not tooooo bad. The Mecca Beach Tints last a loooong time because of their pigmentation and luckily, pigmentation is what you get when it comes to the Superfluids! You need to shake each Superfluid very well before dispensing the product on the back of your hand, so all the goodies in the formula mix through evenly (including the pigmentation).
Beautiful Bronze Superfluid SPF50
Delivers a deep golden radiance to sculpt and define facial contours. Skin identical Chromophores adapt perfectly to all skin tones, imparting an uplifting firmness. Ultra fine light diffusing particles bathe skin in light for a super natural, radiant and dewy finish.
Benefits
Delivers a deep golden radiance to skin
Sculpts and defines facial contours
Amplifies skin colour, contours and luminosity
Skin identical Liquid Crystals and Chromaphores minimise imperfections
SPF50 protects while it perfects
Augments skin moisturisation processes
Active Ingredients
Sunscreen Actives (Zinc Oxide, Titanium Dioxide + Iron Oxide)
Broad spectrum combination of Solar Constant filters that will not clog pores or cause breakouts
SPF50 Skin Identical Liquid Crystals boosts skin’s own Liquid Crystal Array
Amplifies skin luminosity by reflecting light from the surface of the skin
Reinforces skin integrity + barrier function
Skin Identical Crystals
Augments the skin’s molecular structure, boosting luminosity
Fortifies barrier function
Ceramides
Elicits ultimate skin hydration
Fortifies barrier function
Amino Acids
Increases Natural Moisturising Factors within the skin
Replenishes hydration
Strengthens the skin’s barrier function
Minerals (Magnesium Potassium + Calcium)
Augment skin resilience
Maximises solar defence mechanisms
Enhances barrier protection
Australian SolarProtective Botanicals
Provides Antioxidant protection against free radical damage
Boosts the skin’s natural solar defence mechanisms
Protects against solar-induced DNA damage
Acts as a powerful anti-inflammatory
Reduces redness + strengthens the skin
I know the above is a lot of skincare mumbo jumbo when it comes to talking about a liquid bronzer lol but that’s a good thing! I have no idea what skin identical crystals are from the description above, but what we can take away from it all is that the skin loving ingredients have been thought through! The finish of the superfluids matches the skin loving ingredients. For example; happy healthy skin glows and is hydrated, so the ceramides help to reinforce your skins lipid barrier, keeping moisture locked in and botanicals/antioxidants keep inflammation and redness at bay. From a skincare perspective, to me the most important thing is that a makeup product doesn’t break me out or doesn’t make my face look like an oil slick since I have combination skin that is acne prone (oil slick and dewey are two very different finishes!). I can concur that none of the Superfluids broke me out 🙂
The liquid bronzer does not use shimmer to impart ‘radiance’. Beautiful Bronze has a satin/dewey finish and the colour is buildable. I’d say it’s a a neutral bronze shade (maybe moving towards the warm spectrum just a touch) so it doesn’t leave my skin looking muddy (no orange or red undertones here). It’s not a very light bronze shade though, so I wouldn’t use it for contouring per se, it doesn’t have that grey or ashy tone you might look for in a contour. It blends out beautifully and if you find that you want to build up the bronzer for a more intense finish, you can keep adding product without having the previously applied bronzer ‘lift’ or look patchy. This is a big bonus! When using the bronzer for the first time, dispense less product than you think you will need, because a little really does go a long long way and it takes a few goes to ‘feel out’ how much product you need for your desired makeup look or for the product to show on your skin tone. Because the texture of the superfluid is so light, I also don’t find that the product makes my foundation shift underneath. I use a MAC synthetic brush to apply with liquid bronzer – with a light hand of course 🙂
While the colour and intensity is buildable, if you have very dark skin (e.g. if you are indigenous or African American) it won’t work for you I’m afraid. I find brands do these ‘universal ‘ shades when they first branch out into makeup and of course you can’t have one universal shades for the whole population – even if you are just thinking of the Australian population since it is an Australian brand – because we are so multicultural and are made up of every ethnicity you can think of. So that is disappointing. It would be great if they released a much darker shade for those beautiful rich dark skin tones out there.
Above: Ingredient list of the Beautiful Bronze Superfluid SPF50, and yep, it’s a long list!
Beautiful Cheeks Superfluid SPF50
Delivers a lustrous flush of colour to amplify cheek volume and definition. Skin identical Chromophores adapt perfectly to all skin tones, imparting a soft rosy glow. Ultra fine light diffusing particles bathe skin in light for a super natural, radiant and dewy finish.
Benefits
Delivers a lustrous flush of colour, imparting a soft and rosy glow
Amplifies cheek volume and definition
Amplifies skin colour, contours and luminosity
Skin identical Liquid Crystals and Chromaphores minimise imperfections
SPF50 protects while it perfects
Augments skin moisturisation processes
Active Ingredients (same as the Beautiful Bronze Superfluid SPF50)
For some reason I expected the blush colour to be a stain. Maybe because most of my blushes that are a liquid are a stain (and I love stains!). It’s not a stain, but a very fluid liquid blush. Again, it’s incredibly pigmented so you only need the teeny tiniest amount. It still has a level of translucency to it though, which makes it looks incredibly pretty and natural. The colour looks more coral on the back of your hand but applied to the cheeks, it’s more of an intense almost fluorescent rosy flush. It’s very similar colour wise to Benefit’s GoGo tint (a cherry stain). It’s scary looking at it via a swatch because it looks so opaque but on the skin it’s translucent. Again, there is no shimmer in the formula, so the colour does all of the talking and the colour is buildable. Darker skin tones could use this blush shades without a problem! I find that this is the messiest Superfluid out of the three, it seems to dispense in the cap even when closed and can get all over the place if you aren’t careful. It’s definitely the ‘runniest formula’ out of the three.
Can you use it on your lips? You can but don’t apply to much as then it can become a little drying and catch on dry skin.
Above: Ingredient list of Beautiful Cheeks Superfluid SPF50
Beautiful Light Superfluid SPF50 Delivers liquid luminosity to sculpt, highlight and illuminate. Skin identical Chromophores adapt perfectly to all skin tones, imparting an uplifting luminosity. Ultra fine light diffusing particles bathe skin in light for a super natural, radiant and dewy finish.
Benefits
Liquid luminosity sculpts, highlights and illuminates
Imparts an immediate and uplifting dewy luminosity
Skin identical Liquid Crystals and Chromaphores minimise imperfections
SPF50 protects while it perfects
Augments skin moisturisation processesActive Ingredients (same as the Beautiful Bronze Superfluid SPF50)
I was super excited about trying the liquid illuminator because I loooove highlighters 🙂 This one does not disappoint, but it’s the most translucent out of the three products and is quite natural in it’s finish because the illuminating pearls are so fine. I’d call the colour a ‘pearl’ – it has the slightest pink reflections but it’s multidimensional (like a pearl you see – ha!). It looks like an ‘off white’ when it first is dispensed on the back of your hand. It’s beautiful but more subtle and again, perfect for that no makeup makeup look. I’ll probably run out of this product first, because you can use a lot of this product and still look like you haven’t tried too hard. I almost don’t want to use it mixed in with foundation, cause then I’d use a lot and I’d like to make it last as it is expensive 😛 Used on top of the cheekbones and down the bridge of the nose, it looks angelic! The Beautiful Light Superfluid would look beautiful on darker skin tones also, but it would be subtle (I wouldn’t say it gives you that ‘wet look shine’).
Above: Ingredients of the Beautiful Light Superfluid SPF50+
Above: Swatches of all three Beautiful Fluids from top to bottom; Beautiful Light, Beautiful Bronze & Beautiful Cheeks.
Above: Wearing all three Superfluids, including Beautiful Cheeks on my lips 🙂
I love that the Superfluids contain sunscreen as it follows on from the ethos of the company that you need to protect and repair your skin from sun damage as that is the main cause of premature ageing. It’s very fitting for our climate. I wouldn’t rely on these superfluids for your daily sun protection though – they are an added bonus, which I will happily take! What do I think of the skin loving ingredients? They definitely don’t dry out the skin or cause harm, so why not. Because makeup is designed to sit on top of your skin, again, you can’t rely on the makeup even with skin loving ingredients to fix your skin woes because it won’t deliver the ingredients into the deeper layers of the dermis, so while it’s nice, it’s not a necessity in my eyes. For that reason also, while these products cross over into the skincare category perhaps, in my eyes they are firmly still makeup products.
Dr Richard Parker, a Dermatologist who founded Rationale, has said on Instagram that normal makeup is damaging for the skin. I have really mixed feelings about this. Sure, makeup won’t fix your skin and Rationale has great active products that help correct skin concerns and keep skin healthy, but not everyone can afford Rationale (Rationale cleansers themselves are around the $100 mark and that’s a LOT of money for some people, too much money). Makeup gives people confidence, including myself, so saying that it is generally bad just sounds like marketing to me. If you have major skin issues like acne for example, I would recommend going to see a dermatologist as your skin is an organ after all, and topical treatments won’t always work – even if you are only using Rationale products. They will help without a doubt, but they may not ‘fix’ the the crux of the issue if it is internal. Plus, there’s no robust scientific peer reviewed studies to back up his statement.
I love the Superfluids and they are really beautiful makeup products but I hope they extend the colours on offer, especially when in comes to the bronzer shade. They aren’t cheap, coming in at $60 a pop… They are beautiful to have if you can allow spending that much and are sort of fool proof, in that if you use a tiny amount even if you aren’t confident, they should still enhance your skin not cover it completely in a mask. I buy my Rationale products from their online website but some salons do stock their products also (a list of stockists can also be found on their website). I love Rationale and have reviewed their Catalyst range and Proceramide Cleanser on the blog, so I’m sure I won’t stop at the Superfluids since I am obsessed with good skincare! 😀
Are these Superfluids makeup products you would reach for? Which would you use most often do you think? Do you like the fact that these makeup products are so high in skin loving skincare ingredients? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Catch ya next time Beauties,
Beauty Bee~
Please follow and like us:
#Sunscreen #BeautifulLightSuperfluidSPF50 #Australianbeauty #BeautifulBronzeSuperfluidSPF50 #BeautifulCheeksSuperfluidSPF50 #liquidbronzer #LiquidHighlighter #suncare #Cosmoceuticals #liquidblush #SPF50 #RationaleSuperfluids