Ardency Inn Partial Collection Swatches and Review

Press Samples

Ardency Inn Profile

Ardency Inn is a newer cosmetic brand that embodies the vibe of the downtown New York music scene. Products are vibrant, slightly edgy and meant to give makeup lovers fresh, creative makeup options. Ardency Inn was recently awarded Newcomer ov the Year by WWD's Beauty Inc. At the moment, they seem to be categorized in 3 separate categories--Punker, Modster and Americana. 

I was recently given the opportunity to try a selection of their products. I've been testing and using them over the course of the last few weeks (I even snuck a few in, in face shots I posted on instagram) and I'm finally ready to share my thoughts!

Where to Buy

Ardency Inn products are available directly through their site as well as through Sephora. 

Ardency Inn Americana Custom Coverage Concentrate Swatch and Review in Light Golden Beige

Product Type

This is a really interested concentrated complexion formula meant to be mixed with your regular face moisturizer in different ratios for different effects. According to Ardency Inn, 1 bottle of American Custom Coverage Concentrate is equivalent to 2 bottles of foundation. This had a fairly dewy finish when mixed with my daily facial moisturizer.

Shade

I received this formula in Light Golden Beige. This shade is a light beige with olive undertones to me. This was 1/2 a shade lighter than my actual complexion. Also, I don't really have an olive undertone, but this worked fine with my cool-neutral undertone for the most part. Ardency Inn offers a wide variety of shades. Judging from the swatches online, I'd probably be a mix of light pink beige and medium beige. I very rarely have an out-of-the-bottle complexion :)

Ardency Inn Light Golden Beige - light olive-tone beige

Mixing

This product comes with mixing instructions. The ratio of concentrate to face moisturizer changes based on the effect you wish to achieve, but this product is not meant to be used directly on skin without mixing it. These are the instructions provided:

To create your customized foundation: 
-Using the back of your hand as a mixing palette, add a tiny drop of concentrate directly to your daily water-based moisturizer. 
-Use slightly more moisturizer than usually needed for a full face. 
-Mix until tone is uniform and apply over the entire face using fingers, a sponge or a foundation brush. 
-Add another drop of concentrate to your leftover mix. Mix until tone is uniform and apply only where extra coverage is needed. 

To create your customized tinted moisturizer: 
-Using the back of your hand as a mixing palette, add a tiny drop of concentrate directly to your daily water-based moisturizer. 
-Mix until tone is uniform and apply over the entire face using fingers, a sponge or a foundation brush. 

To create your customized concealer: 
-Mix concentrate with your daily water-based moisturizer in equal amounts and apply where needed using fingers or a concealer brush. 

Application

I normally prefer foundation brushes, however, I found that this applied better with a damp sponge than with a synthetic foundation brush for me. I would suggest experimenting to determine what you like to use best. 

On the Face

This provided medium to nearly full coverage. I would not call this a full-coverage foundation per say, but coverage was very good. Obviously this can also be sheered down by using more moisturizer to create lighter coverage. I wore this over my favorite primer (Whip Hand Set the Stage primer) and found it was reasonably comfortable to wear. It is fairly light-weight on the skin and while I had virtually no oxidization even after a couple hours of wear, I did feel as though some of the driest parts of my skin felt a bit dry--not to the touch, but from within. I have very dry, sensitive skin so this is fairly common for me with most liquid foundations.

Update (1/17): I woke up the morning after a day of full wear with a reaction of tiny pink spots all over my face where I had applied this formula. I always use the same primer and moisturizer when testing foundation as a control so I know if it's the foundation. While this may not be an issue for many, I have incredibly sensitive skin and for whatever reason, this formula did not work for my skin. None of their other products irritated my face or eyes so I still highly recommend all other products, but do not recommend this formula for those with super sensitive skin and allergies. Those without may be fine.

Price

This retails for $38 (.5 fl oz). 

Where to Buy

This is available on Ardency Inn's site as well as through Sephora/Sephora.com 

Ardency Inn Punker Unrivaled Volume & Curl Lash Wax Review

Product Type

This is a mascara with a formula inspired by light-weight hair pomades.

Shade

This comes in a nice dark black.

On the Lash

I found this easy to apply with the chunky, curved brush. While this did add some volume, I didn't find it lengthened or helped my lashes hold a curl. I think this formula would be great for someone with naturally long lashes, but for someone like me with super pathetic lashes (who likes sky-high length and curl) it's probably not the best fit.

Price

This retails for $24 (.4 fl oz)

Where to Buy

This can be purchased through Ardency Inn's site as well as through Sephora/Sephora.com

Ardency Inn Modster Smooth Ride Supercharged Eyeliner Swatch & Review

 Shade

I received this liner in Dark Blue. Dark Blue is actually a vibrant, matte almost exaggerated Levi's blue jeans blue. Super pigmented.

Ardency Inn Deep Blue - matte, vibrant blue

On the Eye

This is a creamy, extremely pigmented liner and does not budge aside from some slight wear in my outer corner. Because of the shape of my eyes I often find even the most budge-proof liners often smudge and smear for me. This was impressive and I'd love to try some of their other colors!

Price

This retails for $19 (.04 oz)

Where to Buy

This can be purchased through Ardency Inn's site as well as through Sephora/Sephora.com

Ardency Inn Punker Original Smoky Shadow Swatch & Review

Product Type

This is a shadow pencil meant for creating a smoky look.

Shade

This comes in a charcoal brown. I originally thought it was going to be black, but it's a really lovely, super dark, smoky charcoal with a brown undertone. It's pretty much matte, but there were microscopic little flecks 

On the Eye

This is a pretty creamy formula. I did find there was a tiny, tiny bit of tugging on the lid, but nothing extreme by any means. This formula actually allowed me a few minutes to blend it out before setting. It was definitely one of the more easy to work with, non-budging shadow pencils I've used--and I'm a big shadow pencil fan.

Price

This pencil retails for $19 (.016 oz)

Where to Buy

This is available through Ardency Inn's site as well as through Sephora/Sephora.com

Ardency Inn Modster Long Play Lip Vinyl in Original Mix Swatch and Review

Product Type

This is a liquid lipstick with a beautiful shiny finish that provides a stain as well. This is a must-have, I'm just warning you now!!!

Shade

I received this formula in Original Mix. Is it red? Is it pink? Is it warm? Is it cool? This color is a shapeshifting chameleon!!! I kid you not, every time I looked at this on my lips depending on the light, angle, etc. it changed into something beautiful. I never read color descriptions if I can help it prior to testing things out so I can form my own opinion so when I read all the components that go into this one color (red base with orange and pink reflects) I wasn't at all surprised by my question regarding its actual color. 

My best whack at describing it is that it's a neutral red base that either leans slightly warm (due to the orange reflects) or slightly cool (due to the pink reflects) depending on the light and angle. Regardless ... it is BEAUTIFUL!

Ardency Inn Original Mix - High-shine red that can lean both warm as well as cool depending on lighting and angle

On the Lip

I am generally not a huge fan of applying liquid lipsticks with doe foot applicators because I like a really crisp edge around the mouth. This applicator actually hugs the lips beautifully though because of the curvature on one side. I still preferred using a lip brush with this, but for less quirky lip fanatics the applicator will be perfectly fine for application! 

This goes on beautifully. It is pigmented, opaque with 1 coat and ... oh my gosh the finish and vibrancy! I literally died the second I put this one, it is so beautiful. I never want to take it off, I want to put it on everyone I pass ... and now I absolutely must try the other colors Ardency Inn offers! I do recommend lining your lips or using a barrier around the perimeter of your mouth (I prefer a clear lip liner) if you tend to have issues with feathering like me as this did creep into the super fine lines around my mouth over time without either. This does stain, so keep that in mind if you tend to draw your lips on a bit bigger than they really are (I regularly do this). 

Price

This retail for $23 (.28 oz)

Where to Buy

This is available directly through Ardency Inn's site as well as through Sephora/Sephora.com 

Ardency Inn Face Look 

I wanted to create a look using all of the products I reviewed here so you could see them in action! Keep in mind that while the American Custom Coverage Concentrate was 1/2 a shade to 1 shade lighter than my actual skin tone, I was able to make it work with a bit of contour and bronzer. These photos were not retouched to make the finish of the foundation look better or more even. This is really how the foundation photographed for on me when applied over Whip Hand Cosmetics Set the Stage Primer (my all-time favorite primer). I mixed the Custom Coverage Concentrate with Dr. Hauschka's Daily Moisturizing Day Cream before applying it in these pictures.  

These pictures were taken in natural light, which here means snowy, wintry light which tends to really over-expose photos, so the saturation is turned up slightly here for color accuracy. 

You guys know I don't like harsh edges on eyes 99% of the time, so I blended out the edges as you can see below. 

What do you think of Ardency Inn?

Note: Products in this post were provided by the brand/PR. All opinions stated above are my own based on my personal experience and have not been influenced by the brand/PR.