As a beauty product devotee with over a decade of industry experience, I‘ve tested thousands of items from top cosmetics brands. Recently, clean beauty favorite Milk Makeup caught my attention. After taking their products, especially complexion items, for an extensive test drive, I‘m sharing my honest review.
Keep reading for the full breakdown including best and worst products, dupes from other brands, insider tips and overall value assessment after using Milk Makeup personally.
My Background as a Makeup Expert
Before we dive in, let me introduce myself and qualifications around reviewing cosmetics brands. As a beauty editor for industry publications like Fashion Magazine and Runway Review, I‘ve tested products for over 10 years across skincare, color makeup and more.
To date, I‘ve tried items from over 200 top brands sold at retailers like Sephora, Ulta and Credo. My expansive product arsenal at home includes over $15k worth of premium makeup.
Professionally, I‘ve worked with celebrity makeup artists on editorial shoots and Fashion Week shows in a creative capacity. All this hands-on experience gives me an trained eye for evaluating the quality, wearability and value of leading cosmetics.
Inside My Experience with Milk Makeup
Given Milk Makeup‘s status as an It-Girl brand loved by Billie Eilish and the like, I was thrilled to take their products for a test drive. I ordered the Hydro Grip Primer, Blur Liquid Foundation, Matte Bronzer, Lip + Cheek and Flex Concealer to create full looks.
After swatching and experimenting with application for optimal results, I wore these products during 10-12 hour work days in the creative office and shoots. Here’s how the lineup performed from morning lattes to late nights out:
Hydro Grip Primer: Lived up to claims for smoothing skin’s texture and helping complexion products grip all day without settling into fine lines
Wear Time: 12+ hours with zero foundation fading
Blur Liquid Foundation: Beautiful herbal fragrance and dispenser packaging. Flawless medium coverage with a blurred effect. Mask transfer around chin after 4 hours of wear
Wear Time: 8 hours before fading and transferring on chin, nose
Matte Bronzer: Perfect neutral bronze shade for fair skin with red undertones. Sheer wash of color blends seamlessly
Wear Time: 10 hours before fading evenly across cheeks
Lip + Cheek Stick: Dewy, buildable color payoff for lips and cheeks. Hydrating ingredients kept my skin from drying out
Wear Time: 5 hours of comfortable wear before needing reapplication
So in summary, complexion products delivered smoothing primers and decent coverage but lacked in wear time compared to similar items I‘ve tried. I loved the versatility of the Lip + Cheek for a monochrome look. Keep reading for the full product-by-product review details.
Analyzing Milk Makeup Bestsellers In Depth
Diving into my personal experience testing their lineup, here‘s a breakdown of how key products from Milk Makeup‘s perform:
Hydro Grip Primer
- Price: $30 for 0.45oz
- Pros: Gripping texture extends foundation wear, vegan ingredients like hemp seed and blue agave extracts
- Cons: Strong herbal fragrance, not ideal for oily skin types
- Skin Type Match: Normal, Combo, Dry
- Key Takeaway: True grip for increasing foundation longevity on most skin types
Blur Liquid Matte Foundation
- Price: $40 for 1oz (28 shades)
- Pros: Blurs look of pores and imperfections with buildable full coverage
- Cons: Transferred around nose/chin halfway through 8 hour wear test
- Skin Type Match: Normal, Oily, Combo
- Key Takeaway: Lightweight formula delivering smoothing effect but not the highest coverage power or longevity
Matte Bronzer
- Price: $30 for 0.39oz
- Pros: Neutral "baked" bronzer shade perfect for fair skin, nourished my skin with lipid-rich oils
- Cons: None! Simple, effective matte bronzing
- Skin Type Match: All
- Key Takeaway: New favorite buttery smooth powder formula for naturally warmed skin
How Milk Makeup Compares to Glossier
Next I‘ll contrast Milk Makeup to competitor clean beauty brand, Glossier. I compared Glossier‘s Perfecting Skin Tint to Milk Makeup‘s Blur Liquid Foundation based on coverage, feel on skin and lasting power through an 8 hour wear test:
| Comparison Criteria | Glossier Skin Tint | Milk Makeup Foundation |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage Power | Light-medium, dewy | Medium-full, matte |
| Shades Available | 12 versatile options | 24 expanded options |
| Price for 1oz | $26 | $40 |
| Ingredient Highlights | Niacinamide for brightening | Blue agave leaf extract |
| Wear Time | 8 hours before minimal fading | 8 hours before transfer onto mask |
Takeaway: Milk Makeup offers greater smoothing effect and coverage power at the cost of comfort and wear time compared to Glossier. For more lightweight brightening, I prefer Glossier‘s skin tint formula.
Assessing Value Based on Real Customer Feedback
Curious if other makeup lovers share my experience, I dug into Milk Makeup‘s customer ratings from unbiased platforms:
- Sephora: Blur Liquid Foundation receives 3.4/5 stars based on almost 300 reviews
- Influenster: Across over 5,000 reviews, Milk Makeup earns an average 4.3/5 stars
Positive reviews agree that products deliver smoothing primers and rich color payoff. But issues cited around limited foundation shades and smudging eye makeup given the high price tags demonstrate room for improvement.
My Take: Given the brand‘s focus on skincare-infused formulas, I expected better wear time and value. While making an impactful first impression with smoothing effects, Milk Makeup falls short on durable results over time compared to similar prestige brands that cost less per ounce in many cases.
However, standouts like their lip and cheek sticks provide great bang for your buck with buildable, hydrating color for multi-use potential.
5 Insider Tips for Getting the Most Out of Milk Makeup
Based on my tester experience with Milk Makeup, here are 5 expert-approved tips for making the most of their lineup:
1. Use Hydro Grip Primer for High-Coverage Days Save Milk Makeup‘s hydrating primer base for full glam moments when you need your foundation to last for events without fading or settling into fine lines.
2. Apply Cream Face Products With Fingers Unlike traditional foundation brushes, I found using the heat and pressure of my fingers allows Milk‘s cream sticks and liquid complexions to melt into skin for truly undetectable makeup.
3. Prep With Lip Scrub and Balm First Allow Milk Makeup‘s Lip + Cheek color sticks extra grip power by exfoliating and massaging in a hydrating balm first before applying directly onto skin.
4. Use an Oil Blotting Sheet at the 4 Hour Mark For increased wear time with Milk‘s Blur Liquid Foundation, make sure to blot any excess shine at the mid-day mark. Focus on the high points of your face especially mask-prone areas like the nose, chin and cheeks.
5. Apply KUSH Fiber Mascara Over Traditional Mascara If you love a fluttery lash look, try topping your regular mascara with a layer of Milk Makeup‘s fiber-infused KUSH mascara just on your top lashes. This prevents any smudging underneath your eyes.
Bottom Line: Is Milk Makeup Worth It?
If sticking power tops your priorities for base makeup, Milk Makeup disappointingly misses the mark set by comparable prestige brands. However, for short-term smoothing and flawless photo finish filter effects, their primers and foundations initially get the job done.
I suggest trying travel or mini sizes first before committing to full sizes. And take advantage of bundling sets like Milk Makeup‘s Bestsellers Kit for the best value-to-ounce.
While not a brand I personally plan to remain loyal to given the higher price per ounce, I predict these products will suit makeup minimalists or anyone seeking easy, fuss-free enhancing steps.
For similar clean beauty brands offering hydrating formulas with greater durability suitable for everyday wear, check out Ilia or Saie instead.
I hope this brutally honest review detailing my personal experience breaking in Milk Makeup products over the past month helps guide your buying decisions! Drop any questions in comments below.
