My Honest Seint (formerly Maskcara) Beauty Review (Non-Seller)

This relatively new brand of makeup has made a definite splash in the cosmetics industry. Women are obsessed with it and it’s beautiful products and packaging and can’t seem to wait to get their hands on it.

I was one of those women. I myself had watched the founder of Seint (Maskcara) and several influencers for several years before taking the leap and trying it for myself.

And I wanted to let you know what I thought of it.

This post is not sponsored by Seint/Maskcara beauty, I am not an seller of Seint/Maskcara and the opinions are all mine. This post, however, does contain affiliate links, which means that if you click and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks! Now on with the show…

In November 2020, Maskcara changed their brand name to Seint. According to their website, ‘Seint’ is the original traditional French spelling of the English word ‘saint’.

There is also already a clean makeup brand called Saint, so that would be extra confusing.

Why Did Maskcara Change Their Name to Seint?

The website says that the original name wasn’t fitting the company as a whole for a few reasons, and that saints are not created but “recognized for the good they bring into the world” and they give a similar recognition for and preservation of beauty.

In this article, I will use both the Seint and Maskcara names, and will start with a little bit about my general order, and how it went on my face. If you want to know more about how to apply the makeup, what I ordered and thought about the colors and brushes, and how to order, that information is also below.

Seint Demi Colour line

Seint makeup recently introduced a new line of products called Demi Colour, which is intended for you to look natural, as though your wearing no makeup at all. You can go here for more information on how Demi Colour works.

My Seint/Maskcara Package: What I Bought

The package that I got was very nicely packaged a with the pretty products inside.

The first picture is the items mostly unboxed (with the tins opened to show general colors.) I got two brushes, one (free) compact because I order 4+ tins,and 5 tins — 2 foundational colors, one contour, one highlight, and one illuminator.

The Signature Seint/Maskcara Brushes

Seint has a very unique set of brushes that are specifically designed for use with their products.

The brushes I got were the 30 second HAC brush and the B Squared Bronzer and Blush Brush (in the image below).

I only bought the B Squared brush because it came in a bundle with the bronzer I was buying and the combo was significantly cheaper.

They have very similar tips to other brushes, but frankly, these brushes are beautiful in that they’re sturdy and gold & rose gold.

They are also all double-ended. Which is really convenient to not have several brushes; but that’s not all it’s cracked up to be…

A couple of things I didn’t realize about the brushes: being double ended is great in that you get two-in-one, however, they become a bit of a bear to store.

You can’t really stand them on one end, as that’s not terribly sanitary but also might press one end of the brush into an unwanted angle.

Also, they’re very long, and I found that most of my makeup brush storage holders for travel won’t fit them without one of the ends being bent.

One hack my Artist imparted was that you can use the individual boxes that they come in to protect them during travel.

I thought that would’ve been the best idea, but that would only last so long and I knew I would need to find a long-term solution.

Overall, if I were to buy more, I would next have bought the Detail HAC brush, as it would’ve really helped with the contour application, but I figured I would space out my purchases over a few months.

The basic brushes to get started were approximately $35 each, which I found a little pricey, but they are double ended, so you can consider the price two for one.

I did find some similar, highly rated makeup applicators (as below 👇) on Amazon if you can only afford the Masckara makeup itself but not applicators.

The Seint Compact Palettes

I bought this compact, as this one and many of the other ones are really beautiful.

However, I was disappointed, and wish I would have gotten a picture. The compact was an overlay of paper. Now, I didn’t expect the compact to be actual marble.

However, I thought that maybe it was a plastic with a printed design, or at least maybe a paper with a glaze to smooth it on top.

With the products being cream, it stained the paper section of the compact, was difficult to clean off/keep clean, and I really don’t know that the paper would hold up over more than a couple months of use.

Since you have to swipe up/down or sideways, there is very likely that some of it swipes onto the compact.

The Seint/Maskcara Method of Makeup Application

I began following the founder of Seint (originally called Maskcara) makeup, Cara Killpack, several years ago, when she, as a beauty blogger, won an award from Allure Beauty in approximately 2014, for her HAC (pronounced ‘hack’) method.

HAC stands for “highlight and contour”, which is basically a way of applying makeup such that you create light and shadows on your face to respectively bring forward and recede the appropriate areas to make your face look more perfectly proportioned.

Notice I didn’t call one specific product “foundation”

Today, Seint has taken the HAC concept to a new level, and offers a line of highlights, contours, bronzers, illuminators, blushes (which also serve as lip colors), eyeshadows, makeup tools, and even skincare.

That’s because Seint/Masckara has what they call IIID (3D) Foundation, where the “highlight” and “contour” colors work together to make up your foundation.

For Seint/Maskcara purposes and here, “highlights” are general foundation that will go all over your face.

So, you’re applying the Seint termed “highlight” (aka, foundation) colors generally all over the face, often using a lighter color under the eyes, down the nose, anywhere you would use a concealer in the traditional highlighting and contouring makeup routine.

I feel like I should say, you may be confused by the term “highlights”, as those are typically referred to in the makeup world as shimmery colors used at the tops of cheeks and directly beneath the eyebrows.

Those are the “illuminators” in Seint terms.

The concept is generally that, instead of applying foundation all over your face and then going back and applying layers of concealer and contour over that, you have different colors of foundation and put those on in the applicable areas, saving you time and many steps.

Here is Seint/Maskcara’s method, which they supply to their customers, for applying their products.

Also, they have these beautiful magnetized makeup pallets/compacts, so you buy a small tin of the makeup item and snap it directly into your compact.

And they have really nice patterns on the compacts, classy and, honestly, just fun to open and close.

It does seem a pretty fabulous company, as it does really seem to uplift women in more so enhancing their natural beauty instead of completely remaking their face and wearing tons of layers of makeup.

It is a direct sales company, so the sellers/distributors are called Seint “Artists” and receive a commission on their sales.

Does Seint Have Clean Ingredients?

Before I buy any skincare product, I look at the “clean-ness” of the ingredients.

Since Seint nor Maskcara are explicitly evaluated by EWG, you have to look up ingredients separately then make your own decision.

Per the EWG Skin Deep website, here is a list of the Sandy highlight ingredients and each of their safe ratings from EWG:

Liquid Paraffin- 1-3;   Petrolatum- 4; Ozokerite Wax- 1;   Beeswax- 1; Cetyl Esters- 1; Lanolin- 1;  Zinc Stearate- 2; Phenoxyethanol- 4; Iron Oxides- 2;   Titanium Dioxide- 1-3; Ultramarines- 1-4

Here are what the number ratings mean from the EWG site:

Generally, I shoot for products that have a 3 or less overall product rating from EWG, but it’s not a disqualifier. But there are definitely cleaner brands out there.

There are some products in their database that have individual ingredients with a 4 rating and they will still give it an overall 3 rating.

So, having a few ingredients rated at 4 didn’t bother me too much.

Other “non-toxic” beauty companies use some of these ingredients as well, namely the Phenoxyethanol.

By the way, the term “non-toxic” is not regulated in the US by the FDA or any other organization.

How to Buy Seint/Maskcara Makeup

In order to buy the products, you should contact a Seint “Artist” (the company’s direct sales reps).

Though you can buy directly from the company, I believe in supporting women in business and helping them build.

I’d rather someone directly benefit from my purchase, as the Artists get commissions on their sales.

Plus, you have a contact within the company to help you should you have any problems or questions.

Some of the Artists will have direct websites where you can fill out a short questionnaire and submit a makeup-free photo, and others will have you direct/private message them on Instagram or Facebook.

As I said before, I’d been following several Artists, and I finally picked one that I felt was very energetic, smart, and sweet.

She also gave a lot of tips on how to do makeup for the older face, particularly on how to do eyeshadow on hooded eyes, which I have.

I filled out the form on her website, and she emailed me with colors that she was recommending for my particular skin tone and concerns. She also answered my questions really well.

Ordering

When you go to their website (each artist has their own personal website, so I won’t provide a link here), you will see that their makeup line products are reasonably priced.

The majority of their basic products (foundation, bronzer, illuminator) in the larger tins are $14-16, and they claim that they will last for a few months.

All of the products are very pigmented, which means you will only need a little bit to get the coloring and coverage that you want.

This, in turn, means that your products last longer.

(However, as discussed above, my contour took quite a lot to show up, but you don’t generally use much of it so it still may have lasted the expected amount of time.)

After a quick search, I couldn’t find how long Masckara officially projects that their products will last. However, it must have come from somewhere, as I have seen the following approximate lengths presented by multiple individual artists’ websites and Instagram accounts.

You can also get a “free” compact to put your tins into by ordering a certain number of products.

It varies by the size of the compact as to how many products you need to get it for free, but I ordered 5 tins so I got the basic Quad compact that fits 4 tins.

I figured I’d upgrade to a bigger compact if I like the product.

I bought 2 brushes, 2 highlights (foundation) (one lighter and one darker), 1 contour, 1 bronzer, and 1 illuminator, and got a free compact because I had bought at least 4 tins.

I spent $130 before tax, which really wasn’t a bad price, especially because foundations can be significantly more expensive per unit.

Also, I could tell based on how I used them, the bronzer, contour, and illuminator would have lasted me quite a while. I had a beauty blender sponge already, so I didn’t order one of theirs.

The packaging is a really nice presentation and makes you excited to try it all out!

What I Thought of the Makeup

My first time using the makeup was really nice.  It went on pretty easily.

I don’t generally like to do too much highlighting under my eyes, as I just look washed out if I do that. The same with trying to cover my dark circles and bags. That’s just what works for me.

So, my order of the lighter foundation was fairly useless for me, but that strategy works for a lot of people.

Do I think that the foundation colors will last as long as they say?

I doubt it. I had made a pretty good dent in my tin in about 3 weeks, and I didn’t even use it every day.

It did cover fairly well, and while my dark spots didn’t completely disappear, it did cover them to greatly decrease them. (My biggest spot is on my left cheek.)

It did cover my redness pretty well, which I have all over, especially at my lower lash line and on my chin.

Please excuse my serious and weird face, I’m not the best at taking selfies but tried to get a good representation of how the makeup covered.

Left side

Right side — before blending

Front face in sunlight — just Seint/Maskcara brand makeup, with a little bit of mascara on my eyelashes, no lip color applied yet

I wasn’t a huge fan of the Bella bronzer.

Frankly, it looked like I smeared red clay mud on my face. And yes I was using it as directed. And then stopped using it because I didn’t like i

The contour color I was recommended was okay, but it took a good bit more of the product than the foundation and bronzer before it would show up on my skin.

Conclusion – My Seint/Maskcara Makeup Experience

I will tell you now, I did, sadly, end up returning everything I bought.  And there are a few reasons that led to this decision, but there was one primary reason that was out of my or anyone else’s control.

Seint (formerly Maskcara) has a 30 day money back guarantee if you are unhappy with the product.  They also offer an exchange program where you get 60 days.

It’s always important to check something like this before you spend this much money.

My Color Match

Now, I know Seint has a different application technique, but I was generally applying correctly…

Let’s just say makeup application is not nearly the hardest thing I’ve done in life, and I had watched enough Artist tutorials to get the gist of how they intended for it to be used.

Here was my problem with my order: the colors recommended were too yellow for my skin tone.

I needed a bit more of a peach/orange/pink in my foundation, and communicated this to my Artist and requested colors that were more fitting, or at least a color chart and I would pick out my own.

It is probably difficult to tell because it doesn’t capture well via computers, but over the bridge of my nose and into my temple is the yellowness that I disliked (the only part that has makeup). I also look like I have a huge crook in my nose… need to up my selfie game, lol …

As with any transaction, as I said in this post, you have to be your own advocate and should research ahead of time items such as return policies in case it doesn’t work out.

I don’t know about you, but when I spend over $100 or so, I make sure I know what I’m getting into and what steps to take if it doesn’t work out.

~And here is where I have edited the rest of this section.~

I had a long writeup on the individual interactions with the Artist. The info and communication with her was at first very timely and helpful. I want to give credit where it is due.

As I began to have issues, however, it became… confusing & frustrating… in many ways that indicated to me that she has a lot of customers and had trouble keeping up with all the replies she needed to make, as I had to follow up on two requests for info/help (first one sent on a Monday and followed up Thursday, second sent on a Friday and followed up the next Wednesday).

There was also a lack of continuity in our conversations, which also told me she was overwhelmed with the sheer volume of customers & dm’s she has, as a major instagram influencer.

At the end, the Artist asked me to provide an application video, as she thought I was using too much per application.

Again, they tell you the coverage is “buildable” (meaning you can use more if you feel you need it), but also, if my sun/age spots were showing through, I clearly wasn’t using it that thickly.

I did not provide that video – partly because I could tell application wasn’t going to solve how completely off the colors were for me.

I am not a professional makeup artist, but I have dealt with foundations enough to know what’s what; I just wasn’t familiar with Seint’s particular color line.

If you’re not getting the customer service you need to be successful with a product, return the product and find another Artist who will help you or will give you other color options.

Generally, you want to stay with the direct seller who got you interested in the product (I learned my lesson on that), but if they can’t provide consistent customer service when you have problems, you are not obligated to stay with them for life.

I am a bit of a stickler on foundation matching and being an appropriate color, including matching my neck, and when the color was that far off, adding or subtracting the same product isn’t going to help.

The only thing I could do to help the yellowness subside was add a swipe or two of the Bella bronzer onto my brush (remember how I said earlier it was very red, and later said I needed more of a red tone to my foundation color?)

But trying to blend colors on a brush is a very delicate balancing act and I didn’t want to be out in public with weird streaks of red clay mud on my face because I pressed too hard on one stroke and didn’t blend well enough or couldn’t blend without redoing it all.

But in regards to returning the product, while we were trying to hash out the color matching issues, I was concurrently discovering that when I used the product, I was having a completely different issue…

My Skin Reaction

The primary reason that I ended up returning the Maskcara was that, as much as I tried to deny it, my face would begin to feel hot and itchy every time I used it.

I’m not sure which ingredient was irritating my skin, and my skin never broke out or turned red with heat, but it felt like it did, and it itched nonetheless.

I was hoping for a while that I was wrong or that it was a new botanical perfume I’d been using, but the last time I used solely the makeup as a test, my face began to itch again.

This all made me sad because I would have definitely hung in with it and found the right shades that suited me better by myself or with a different Artist if I had to, but alas, it was not meant to be.

I’m not sure it was a full-blown allergy. I don’t have super sensitive skin, and it’s compatible with most products, but this was enough to be uncomfortable while wearing it.

And I have had several comments below that say the same thing, so clearly it’s not just me. But, I do know people who use it just fine, including one who does tend to have sensitive skin, so, to each her own.

What I Am Using Now

I had not planned on going over other options, but due to some comments and social media message requests for alternatives, I went ahead and added this section.

I can NEVER find foundations that I like in a texture, coverage and shade that I like.

I’ve really only found one foundation that I’ve ever really liked (until recently), and it is the Revlon Photoready Insta-Fix.

It comes in a stick, which is fine, easy for application. The price is definitely right!

But, I wanted to try something a little different.

I have recently been watching a few Youtube videos on really great foundations.

One I saw recommended by famous Youtube makeup influencer Tati Westbrook on her Youtube channel is the L’Oreal Infallible 24Hr Fresh Wear.

She said that she had gotten so many comments as to how great it was and how it was sold out everywhere, so she tried it and posted a video putting it on and then at the end of the day.

And she was quite impressed, and in her end-of-the day segment of the video, you could tell it stayed really well.

I have recently been using it and I wholeheartedly agree, it is pretty fabulous.

And the price is great, too. (Though she mentions in this video that foundation is the place to spend your money, but when you get a great one like this, it’s arguable – except that I prefer non-toxic if I can get it.)

I use the color 490 Golden Amber for the summer, and a little bit of that mixed with 440 Natural Rose in the winter.

If you tend to be very pale, definitely go down to one of the lighter shades, as I tend to be darker than my friends who generally call themselves pale.

TIP: Put your foundation on and blend with a damp beauty blender sponge. I LOVE this one because it’s so fluffy.

It goes on so well, and is great for aging and/or variously textured skin!

Using the beauty blender hides my large pores, imperfections, and age lines SOOOO much better.   Can’t stress this enough, wish I had found this secret much sooner!

Quick, On the Go Makeup

I also bought the stick version of the Infallible foundation for days I just want to run out quickly but want a bit of quick coverage.

I ca draw it on, rub it into my skin, and go!

Aging Skin

I’ve also seen multiple times from multiple Youtube stars with mature skin recommending the It Cosmetics CC Cream as the winner for a decent coverage, and is good for a quick routine on the go.

This is going to be my next purchase to try.

Mascara Recommendations

The secret to really amp up regular mascara for volume and length is to layer two different mascaras.

I am currently using this one first (not my favorite applicator ever, but you get used to it) then putting on top of it my all-time favorite, always reliable waterproof mascara, both of these are very agreeable to my pocketbook.

(And when they say waterproof, they mean it! Though it also comes in regular (non-waterproof) formula for most days.)

I have also tried this mascara because I heard it looks like you have on false lashes. I will say, for a one-off mascara, it is pretty great. Let me know in the comments below if you want a full review on it!

Non-Toxic Mascaras I Love & Recommend

If you want non-toxic mascaras, I have been using this ‘Volumizing and Lengthening Vegan Mascara & Lash Conditioner/Serum for Fuller Lashes’ and I feel like it really lengthens my lashes a bit, I love the applicator and typically use the fatter end.

I also have this vegan & cruelty-free ‘Length & Strength Mascara’, and the price is much easier to afford than the one above – I do like the applicator on it as well.

Leave me a comment below if you want me to update with pics on how all of these mascaras performed and what I liked best!

Would I Recommend Seint/Maskcara Makeup?

Probably. Especially if you don’t have sensitive skin.

If you’re really excited to try it, like I was, I would say go for it.

You can always return it if it’s unsatisfactory.

But if you’re looking to switch to non-toxic products like I am, there are a lot of better options out there. I was willing to sacrifice that if it worked, bc the product isn’t super toxic, but when I think about it, if I’m honest, I got drawn in by the packaging and gorgeous influencer Artists probably more than anything.

No product experience is 100% perfect for 100% of the population.

Regardless of my personal experience with the (suspected allergic) skin reaction and issues with my Artist, these are no fault of the company, nor are they a reflection on individual artists and the product itself.

In addition, the company is uplifting to women and their natural beauty, and I know lots of people in my artist’s Facebook group are delighted and satisfied with their purchases (though some post pictures and I do see that their purchased color is not great for their skin tone and it looks like a mask, but maybe it’s the lighting, who knows…)

I liked the way the makeup applied and sat on my skin more or less but didn’t wear it for long periods of time, so I really can’t comment as to whether it stayed extraordinarily well.

The price was good for foundation, but the initial overall investment for foundation, contour, blush, bronzer and a brush or two is probably $100-$150.

But that’s to be expected with a direct sales product.

The question, based on my experience, is how long the products, particularly the foundation, would last with regular use.

Even at that, the price isn’t terrible to replace, but I suspect that I would have been replacing them more often than I expected. Other friends who have used this makeup for a few months now somewhat agree with this.

How to Return Seint Makeup

Before you purchase anything like makeup that is highly individual, you should look up the return policy.

Seint currently has a 30 day return policy. You can find the details here.

Scroll down to the bottom, and there will be a ‘Start Return’ button.

I found the process pretty easy and the refund was issued timely once they received my returned package.

Let me know what you think. Have you tried Seint/Maskcara?  Did you like it? What other brands of clean makeup have you tried and like?  What should I try next? Let me know in the comments below, I would LOVE to hear from you!