POWDER FOUNDATION| Jill Stuart and ZA

A little background. Jill Stuart is actually an American fashion designer. Apparently beginning in the 1990s, her brand became popular in Japan and other Asian countries, which is why US consumers probably have never heard of Jill Stuart as a makeup brand. This powder is not available on their US website, I got it at the Hong Kong airport. But they have products like blush and lipstick available here. As you might be able to tell, JS goes by kind of a frilly lace girly style, which is what Japanese girls love.

ZA is an affordable Japanese brand that is priced between $5-20 USD. I purchased this powder in Taiwan a while ago. A lot of compact powders like this are sold separately with the powder and case (you see this with Shiseido in the US too), which seems more eco-friendly if you find a powder you really like. This floral case is limited edition, their usual case is pink. I think I purchased this bc it was in a set for $10 which was a deal

Jill Stuart shade 101 linen – if I remember correctly their shade range was really limited, maybe like 6 shade? Asian brands tend to have lighter skin shades, this was probably the lightest I saw.

ZA shade I can’t remember. I think this is the 2nd lightest shade

Packaging inside – isn’t it strange the Jill Stuart doesn’t have holes to air out the sponge? Hm. I will say JS has prettier packaging if you don’t consider it tacky.

Sponge: The ZA sponge is really great. I actually use the furry side with other powder foundations to get a light coverage. The Jill Stuart sponge is kind of dense, it’s ok but not my choice of powder application.

Jill Stuart

As you can tell the coverage is pretty good using their sponge. I pressed it into my skin instead of swiping. It can look a little powdery and dry if you have dry areas, which is why I usually prefer liquid foundations

ZA

Using the furry side – the color is a bit orange in real life (in my opinion). ZA has decent coverage too but feels drier. For me, it’s better to set foundation with more coverage than using as a stand alone powder foundation

Have you tried any Asian powder foundations?

The only American ones I like are Make Up For Ever and Bare Minerals

JILL STUART | Blush and Lipstick

Jill Stuart is a brand from the American designer. As you can tell, the packaging is very girly and “princess” like which is popular in Japan. I purchased mine on the US website when they had their 20% sale

Tiny mirror – could be useful if you reapply lipstick

The lipstick feels light in the hand and doesn’t feel super luxurious, it does look cute here though

For me personally, I don’t find their products to be amazing or have a really great shade selection. It’s good for people who don’t wear a lot of makeup and love the packaging (aka me). Personally I find their blush packaging to be more appealing than the lipstick.

Got this powder in Hong Kong which is actually pretty good – not sure why they don’t include the base products on the US website, maybe not enough shades?