Crazy for Convenient Creams: A full review of the blk Multi Pots

Features

Mar 2

College was the time I lived for all the potted and tubed makeup. Those precious mousses, creams, and gels were my way of looking presentable on the fly without requiring skills beyond a little dotting and blending. I think it’s coming full circle now that I’m back to looking for simple products for a more low-maintenance routine.

Enter the new blk Face Stack Multi Pots in all its customizable glory. The collection features contour, blush, and highlighter disks that you can mix and match to get the partial or full stack experience! You start with a single pan with a mirrored lid that goes for P399. Then you can start adding additional 2g pans for P299 a pop as you see fit.

This particular line banks on the convenience of having a compact, stack-and-go face kit for a quick FOTD. Sounds handy but there’s also a potential for things to get messy. The stack is snapped together by magnets on four sides. While the magnets hold fast enough that the interlocked pans won’t easily be pulled apart, the sliding apart is a different story. If you plan on traveling with this in your bag on the daily, I suggest putting it in a firm case that won't let it move around. Otherwise, should a disk slide off and the magnets are no longer aligned, the exposed pan will be nicked by the other contents of your bag and the cream product will get on anything it touches.

The Face Stack is a wonderful supplement to blk’s Universal Collection. Since they’ve already got products that are universally flattering and easy to use, why not add more versatile pieces that are pretty much foolproof?

From the pan, the formula feels waxy but it takes on a mousse-like cream-to-powder sort of dry texture as you pat it on. The multi pot shades come across as sheer tints of color or shimmer on the face. Pigmentation is buildable and hard to overdo, with the blush being the most pigmented of the bunch. I find that the best application method is still with the fingers as you get a lot control over placement and blending. The warmth of your skin also melts the product a bit, making it easier to diffuse.

We purchased three shades for this article. Tan Lines is an ashy, matte cocoa that serves as contour or bronzer. This is the only contour shade in the collection, and while it registers fine on my fair NC15 skin tone, it might be too light for morenas. Room Service is a warm terracotta that works best as a cream blush. There are three other blush shades to choose from: Staycation (mauve rose), Wanderlust (poppy pink), Pool Party (pink peach). Jetsetter is a shimmering coppery gold highlighter. Like Tan Lines, it’s the only one of its kind within the line.

I tried Tan Lines and Jetsetter on my lids as cream shadows, but the formula doesn’t set completely. Expect creasing if you have oily lids. I also used Room Service on my lips, and wasn’t quite satisfied with the results. The formula feels a little too dry on the mouth, almost as though I’m using a mattifying primer on the lips. I would recommend the Multi Pots to be used primarily as complexion enhancers rather than for coloring the eyes and lips.

During my wear test, I noticed that the colors start to gradually fade at the 3-hour mark. I like that it subtly fades rather than separating from the face and looking like the stuff is sitting on top of the skin. Everything looks natural and effortless!