Finding a new look with Ivy Wild Beauty

Disclaimer – Products in this post were gifted. All opinions are my own.

I don’t know about you, but every time the seasons change, I feel the need to completely change up my makeup look and rotate the items that I’m using in my collection. This usually leads to a shopping trip for more seasonal makeup, despite having a makeup collection that would rival an actual store.

This year, refreshing my makeup collection became a lot easier thanks to Ivy Wild, a new(ish) clean beauty boutique right here in DC. DC is an interesting city in terms of beauty. There aren’t a ton of beauty stores like you might find in New York, and my personal opinion of why that might be has something do with, we’re all too damn busy to care about something as frivolous as makeup.

For a long time, I felt like I stood out. I love wearing a full face of makeup with bright lipstick or smoky eye looks, and in this city, where many careers are in the government, or something to do with politics, over the top makeup – or even a full face of visible makeup – hasn’t really been a thing. The look here is very understated, if the makeup is visible at all. I see a dab of foundation, a touch of blush, a bit of mascara, and maybe some lipstick, but it’s rare that I see much more than that. It’s understandable, given that many offices here have a more conservative environment.

But in the past few years, I’ve started to see that change. Maybe it’s a change in industries here, and an arrival of more “creative” or relaxed office environments, or maybe it’s due to a general increase in beauty marketing and social media, but I’ve started to see more makeup everywhere. I see more colored lipstick, more colorful eyeshadow, more conversations about beauty, and more beauty stores, beyond the scattered Sephora stores, Blue Mercurys, and makeup counters in department stores.

That’s where Ivy Wild comes in. Nestled in a little alley way, Ivy Wild is just barely one year old and they focus on clean beauty products. You all know how I feel about clean beauty, and how I tend to think that it’s mostly a marketing ploy, but Ivy Wild does it well. In my head, it’s the slightly edgier sister of your average clean beauty store. They carry brands I’ve only ever seen on Instagram, like Kosas Cosmetics, Rituel de Fille, Context Skin, and so many more.

They are also more than just a beauty store. They host events regularly – whether it’s a masking and meditation, events to learn more about the clean beauty industry, or just fun parties. It’s a place I love to just hang out in while eyeing some of the newest beauty releases.

I’ve been shopping there ever since I found out about the store over the summer, and was absolutely thrilled when the owner, Rachel, invited me to the store for a shopping session to put together a spring look (yes it is very much summer weather, it was April when I went!)

When I went, Saint Cosmetics had just released a new concealer and foundation that I was eager to try. Saint Cosmetics is a brand I didn’t even know about before Ivy Wild, but it is a Canadian clean beauty brand with a focus on high performance makeup. I’ve tried their highlighters before and was really impressed by how soft and silky and luxurious all the products felt. The products also have a slightly higher price range, but I think they have the quality to patch it.

The Flawless Radiance Antiaging Foundation ($54) is a lightweight, but still full coverage foundation with a natural airbrushed finished. The ingredients include rosehip oil for anti-aging, Kakadu Plum Extract for brightening, as well as coconut oil, olive fruit extract, sunflower oil, and rosemary extract. Coconut oil doesn’t bother me but I know it’s an irritant for some people.

I tend to stay away from full-coverage foundations, but I was impressed by this one. I would actually describe it more as a buildable medium coverage. With a damp foundation brush, I sheered out the coverage to be more medium coverage, and I actually like adding a liquid illuminator to it to make it even more luminous. The lasting power of this foundation is fantastic – the day that I went in, I actually forgot to powder my face – which is usually a critical error for me and my combo/oily skin – and it still looked flawless 8 hours later. I was a little dewy, but my face didn’t look oily, and the foundation didn’t break down on me. I’ve been wearing it with a setting powder just out of habit, and it lasts all day, no problem.

Here is a photo from a day I was testing the foundation. I used a setting powder and it lasted all day (10ish hours) and you can see that my skin is glowy but not oily.

I wear the shade Linen, which is a pretty good match for my warm olive medium skin (about MAC NC30), though I will be mixing it with darker foundations for the summer when I’m more tan. The shade range on this is decent, but there could certainly be more options for darker skintones.

I have been loving their Skin Perfecting Concealer ($32), which comes in a peach shade that I use as an undereye corrector. It is very lightweight and about medium coverage. It blends really smoothly with my fingers but also sets nicely without creasing on me. This is probably one of my favorite products from Saint Cosmetics that I’ve tried.

The last item from the brand I used for a new look is their On Cloud 9 bronzer ($35). It’s super soft and silky bronzer that has a warm-leaning bronze, although I would still say it’s pretty neutral toned.

For the rest of my look, I knew that I wanted fresh and springy vibes. I’m already a huge fan of Kosas Cosmetics, and the peachy coral shade in the Papaya 1972 Color and Light palette ($34) instantly brings some life to my face. The highlighter side of the palette is a beautiful every day highlighter, but I wanted to bring some extra glow to my face, so I added the Rituel de Fille Rare Light Luminizer in Anthelion ($29) on top. Rituel de Fille makes some of my favorite cream products for combo/oily skin because they have a drier texture and they set down.

For my eyes, I wanted something super simple but also slightly different from my usual look – something that didn’t require many steps but was still high impact. To achieve this I chose the Rituel de Fille Eye Soot in Sigil ($38), which is a beautiful champagne beige shade with pink shimmer throughout. The eye soots have a unique cream-powder texture and they apply best with a dense fluffy brush. To amp up the look even more, I added the Eye Soot in Ara ($38), which is a creamier and very intense iridescent pink. I absolutely love the combination of both of these, although the creamy texture of Ara tends to make my makeup crease faster.

To touch up my brows, I tried out and loved the PYT Beauty Browmop Pencil in Warm Black ($16). I didn’t end up getting this because I tend to just use one brow pencil at a time, and I have a couple extra ones to use, but I would definitely get this in the future.

To finish everything off, I picked a warm nude lipstick (my fave) from TMF, an Australian clean beauty brand, in the shade Stevie ($28). It is such a good nude for me, and I love how longwearing these lipsticks are.

Overall, I really loved how my look came out and most of these products have come home with me to give my makeup bag a nice spring refresh. Here I have everything applied.

I also have swatches of all the products

• Saint Cosmetics Flawless Radiance Anti-Aging Foundation in Linen
• Saint Cosmetics Concealer in Peach Medium
• Saint Cosmetics On Cloud 9 Bronzer
• Kosas Cosmetics Papaya 1972 (blush and highlight)
• Rituel de Fille Luminzer in Anthelion
• Rituel de Fille Eye Soot in Sigil
• T.M.F lipstick in Stevie

There are also plenty of brands that Ivy Wild sells that I didn’t feature – including many skincare and haircare brands like Joanne Vargas, Dedcool, Olio e Osso, and more. If you live in the DC area, or come to visit, I highly recommend stopping by this store to just hang out and check out what they have.

Ivy Wild Beauty
Manhattan Laundry Building
1328 Florida Ave, NW
Unit 2 
Washington, DC 20009
202-804-5441