The Body Shop Shade Adjusting Drops
I hadn’t heard anything about these Shade Adjusting Drops until I came across a blog post on the “Lightening” shade and I thought it was such a genius idea; so right away I strolled into The Body Shop and was excited when I realized they also have a “Darkening” shade as well. I decided to go with the Darkening shade because I have a few foundations and tinted moisturizers hanging around that are just way to light. I know our skin usually gets paler in the winter time and tanned during summer but I’m not one to buy multiple shades of any foundations; because quite frankly, that would be way too expensive and I don’t wear foundations on a daily basis. The Body Shop Shade Adjusting Drops are available in two shade variations, Lightening and Darkening. The Shade Adjusting Drops allow you to customize the tone of your foundation, by making it a bit paler or darker, until it blends perfectly with the skin tone. Apparently the Lightening also neutralizes yellow tones while a concentration of black and red pigments in the Darkening Drops helps darken while keeping the natural depth.
The packaging is minimal and comes with a dropper style application that makes the process really easy and controllable. The product does not sheer out the coverage of your foundation so the consistency as well as the finish of the foundation remains the same. I apply a drop of my foundation along with 1 drop (1 drop = ½ a shade darker) of the darkening product. The Darkening shade is extremely dark and I was taken aback at first when I saw how dark it was. It is intensely pigmented so I caution to use a very light hand as directed, as the drops are supposed to give you the perfect match.
Now after testing this out, I have to be honest and tell you that I do not like this at all. While this is a great product and the concept is excellent, it is not a universal one as it is not a product that you can pick up and drop into any foundation to create the perfect mix. I’m an NC 37/40 skin tone and I don’t believe it works well to darken up my foundation. I really don’t believe it works for a light to medium foundation. Did it darken the foundation, yes it did; however, because of the concentration of black and red pigments in the Darkening Drops, it took the yellow out of my foundation and made it completely grey-toned and ashy. I find that this happens with every single foundation I use it with, no matter if it’s high-end or low-end or whatever the consistency. It wasn’t until I purchased it and started testing it out, I realized that it is only suitable for deeper skin tones (dark to deep foundation shades) and will turn lighter foundations grey.
Swatches from L-R in natural light: Darkening Drops, Laura Mercier Foundation and Mixed.
I was told by the sales person at The Body Shop that this Darkening shade can be used as a contour shade as well. Since it didn’t work like I thought it would, I tried using it as a contour shade and it works very well and blends nicely into the skin. The Body Shop Shade Adjusting Drops are available at The Body Shop for CAD $22.00 / US $20.00.
What do you think of this product?
xo
Bloglovin’ | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest
