Review: BITE Beauty Changemaker Foundation System (Primer, Foundation and Powder)

In early January, BITE Beauty shook their customer base to its core- by replacing most of its core

lineup with, of all things, complexion products. The launch was executed complete with teasers from

the brand and a (probably officially-permitted) ‘leak’ post from Trendmood1. A handful of influencers

who had worked with BITE in the past had the chance to try out the foundation itself, anywhere from

a month to a year in advance. Several more influencers received the product collection upon

launch. 

[photo via Influenster]

The foundation built more hype than I initially anticipated, at least in the circles I run in, in part due to

(later confirmed) speculation that the BITE Changemaker foundation could be the ‘secret’ foundation

that influencer Samantha Ravndahl had been mentioning in recent videos. Among “regular”

consumers, however, the general consensus seemed to be that of bewilderment and frustration that

their favourite lip products were being discontinued, no matter what was coming out to replace

them. 

A lot of people have remarked that it was strange for BITE to come out with something completely

new before replacing their core lip formulas with the vegan alternatives that they promised. After

giving it some thought, I personally think that their decision to release the foundation beforehand

was ultimately the best way they for them to garner the attention they were looking for with the

launch. With previous reformulations of entire lines of lipsticks, we’ve seen a more blasé reaction

from the market in recent years (I’m thinking specifically of NARS’ reformulation of their core lipsticks

which received only short-lived, lukewarm attention). I feel if BITE had re-released their lipstick

collection so soon after liquidating their previous stock at 75% off, they wouldn’t have sold nearly as

well as the brand desired. Even if influencers adored the reformulation and pushed the product,

their main point of difference to the old formula wouldn’t be performance- it would be vegan

ingredients. Therefore, assuming that almost everyone who wanted to own an amazingly-formulated,

clean BITE lipstick purchased one (or five) during the liquidation period, they’re not going to need or

want to buy another BITE lipstick at full price for a while. That leaves BITE with the vegan market

and the influencer market, which wouldn’t break them even on the launch. They’d replace their

lipsticks and maybe their glosses, and then come out of left field with a foundation system to the

general reaction of “um, I’ll stick with the lip products, thanks.”

In launching the complexion products first, they not only capitalize on their existing in-store space at

Sephora (most BITE displays are a 1 or 2 bay display, and to make it any larger would require a

retrofit), but they capture the attention of a wider audience. People already love their lip products, so

they’ll be more open to trying the foundation system to get a taste of the BITE they’re missing-

without having to justify buying another $30 lipstick. Besides, the formula of this foundation hits a few

current market trends on the head- light-to-medium buildable coverage, “clean beauty” ingredients,

superfood antioxidants, a skin-like finish, and a long-wear designed for real life. With many people’s

2020 New Year’s Resolution being to increase their sustainability and health efforts, BITE has snuck in with a product 10 days into 2020 that aligns with that consumer.

But how does it perform? I wore the three products (primer, foundation, and powder) all together for

two days and then tried the powder on top of other foundations in my collection for an additional few

days. If you want to see how they stacked up, just keep reading!

PRIMER

For full disclosure, I did not purchase either primer but did take samples of both the Normal to Oily

and Normal to Dry formulas of the Changemaker Skin-Optimizing primer from Sephora. I have a

normal to oily skin type myself, but I’ve been getting some dry patches lately, so I figured I’d give

both primers a shot. Bite introduces the primer as “a clean, high-performance primer with skin-

optimizing technology to neutralize your skin type and grip foundation for flawless, lasting wear”. The

key ingredient callouts are as follows: the hydrating primer includes olive oil and a “hyaluronic acid

complex” which contains “a specialized blend of micronized hyaluronic particles and sodium PCA”,

and the mattifying primer contains willow bark, which “helps mattify, control shine and blur the look of

pores without stripping skin”. Both primers contain maqui berry, “an antioxidant-rich ingredient that

helps nurture your complexion”, and are vegan, cruelty-free and gluten-free. They do contain

dimethicone. 

On the back of the hand as well as on the face, the two primers feel subtly different. I applied the

hydrating primer on my dry patches like the sides of my nose and the perimeter of my face, and the

mattifying primer everywhere else. The glycerin feels apparent in the hydrating primer, but the primer

dries down quickly and doesn’t feel tacky or ‘grippy’ on the skin. In fact, it feels like nothing on the

skin. It sinks in right away and there are no immediate discernible effects on the skin. My dry

patches felt a little less irritated but not necessarily quenched or equalized or whatever they were

‘supposed’ to feel like. I actually felt that my foundation wore worse on the spots I used this primer.

Granted, I’m not the target consumer for this formula, but it’s worth mentioning.

Using only the hydrating primer and foundation, 7 hours in. Notice it starting to separate on the sides of my nose and coming off the blemish on my chin.

The mattifying primer feels nicer on the skin, even the back of the hand, in my opinion. It gives more

of an instant-gratification feel with its subtle blurring effect and a little bit of cooling. It dries down

quickly and doesn’t feel slippery or dimethicone-y, but it leaves the skin feeling just as weightless as

the hydrating primer. On the second day I tested out the system, I wore only this primer all over my

face, and the foundation wore a lot better on top of it. I still got a little shiny, but the primer gripped

the foundation better and I had less fading and “melting”.

First wear test, 7 hours in with both mattifying and hydrating primers.

I went ahead and also tested the primer and powder with my usual HG sheer coverage option (the

Nudestix Tinted Cover). The primer didn’t blur my pores for… well, anything.

Wearing BITE Changemaker Mattifying Primer, Nudestix Tinted Cover, and BITE Changemaker Pressed Powder

Both primers have the same scent as the foundation. It’s a hard scent to describe, but I’ve pinned it

down to “Glade candle that’s been sitting at TJ Maxx so long that it’s not very strong anymore, and

it’s been sitting with all of the other candles so its own scent is kinda muddled”. Vaguely soapy, fruity,

and florally. Not the most appealing, in my opinion, but also not the worst product I’ve smelled. The

main issue I have with the fragrance is that it lingers for anywhere from 30-45 minutes, which isn’t a

dealbreaker for me, but is certainly a turn-off. It is worth noting that the fragrance didn’t affect my

skin in any noticeable way in terms of redness, breakouts or sensitivity.

FOUNDATION

Here’s the heavy hitter! I took samples from Sephora of the shades L10, L15, and L20, which are the

three lightest shades. Here they are swatched on my face and on my hand. For full disclosure, I will

be receiving this in gratis at work at some point, and I picked the shade L15. I’m still unsure about

my choice of shade!

From left to right: L10, L15, L20

Bite claims this to be a “creamy, long-wearing foundation perfects your skin with buildable, medium

coverage.” The formula feels more like a gel. It feels very “slippy”, almost like a primer, and while it

blends right into the back of the hand, it’s a little more detectable on the face.

To do my face, I mixed all three shades together. For two wear tests, I used my Nudestix Blur & Buff

brush to spread the product evenly across the face. When I began to buff the foundation with the

brush, I couldn’t get the brush strokes to go away so I finished off with a damp beautyblender. I liked

the appearance of the foundation applied this way and found that the beautyblender made

everything look very seamless. 

One thing I noticed with this foundation that I don’t typically notice with others is how much product I

had to use in order to cover my whole face. A nickel-sized amount was not enough, and I had to

add more to cover my forehead. 

Second wear test- wearing BITE Changemaker system (foundation, primer, and powder) 1 hour in

The coverage was a little less than I anticipated, not doing much to cover redness upon first layer.

For two of my wear tests, I opted to stick with the one layer to see how it wore. In my last wear test I

applied two layers- I had the idea to apply a small amount with my hands to see how that applied,

and I couldn’t get it to look right, so I continued on with my beautyblender. This was actually my

favourite wear test out of the three, (it’s worth noting that I skipped applying either of BITE’s primers

and just went with my usual Smashbox Primer Water underneath). I felt like using mostly the

beautyblender and skipping the brush gave me a very nice finish- it had a pretty skinlike finish on

first layer. I built up a second layer of just L10 in the center of my face to see how the foundation

would layer on itself. I noticed that while the foundation began to look a little more “makeup-y” when I

did this, the coverage and blurring properties amped up without looking or feeling too heavy.

POWDER

“This long-wearing, lightweight formula lets you boost coverage for a silky soft, matte finish that

melds with your skin. Made to give you the put-together look you crave all day long, it creates a non-

cakey, soft-focus finish.” Their focus ingredient in the powder is what they are calling “volcanic

materials” which are supposed to “blur, control shine and absorb impurities.” 

I purchased the powder in the shade Light 1 (the lightest shade). I like this powder a lot, but I don’t

agree with some of its claims and I don’t know if it’s going to end

up satisfying a lot of people because of this. Let’s start with the three claims I agree with- it’s

definitely longwearing, lightweight and matte. It feels very dry and thin in the pan, and it’s nothing like

a powder foundation. I would go as far to say that I don’t notice any extra coverage with this powder,

maybe just a bit of a tint that helps to cancel out redness. The usage of the word “silky” or “soft” to

describe this is bizarre to me- I don’t think the powder is even substantial enough in texture to

ascribe to such characteristics. 

What it excels at, though, is making any foundation worth its salt last a hell of a long time. Oddly enough, I don’t find that using this on top of a sheer-coverage base is its best usage. Since it doesn’t boost the coverage, and makes everything matte and transferproof, it tends to cake up over sheer coverage and cancel out any healthy sheen brought to the table.

Powder over Nudestix Tinted Cover, 4 hours in, emphasizing dry patches around blemishes.

However, I wore this for a few days on top of a medium-to-full coverage, satin finish foundation and

LOVED IT. It made the makeup look flawless and poreless, and beyond that, it kept my foundation

looking its best for up to 14 hours. Seriously, I was outside, commuting in -20 weather, and then I

took a crash-nap with my face fully shoved into my pillows. My foundation didn’t transfer and stayed looking smooth, even, and satin-matte.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The new BITE Beauty foundation system has definitely made a splash and while I regard it as a

smart business move, some of the products weren’t up my alley. I’m pretty picky when it comes to

primer and foundation. I don’t think I’d use either primer again as they just didn’t do anything that

makes them feel worth applying. The foundation is something I’ll try again but I don’t see it being

even close to a holy grail or even a go-to for me. The powder is the winner of the three products, in

my eyes, providing something I was missing with its longlasting properties and improving my

everyday routine.

Have you tried the new products from BITE? What are your thoughts?