On my lunch break last week I picked up the Maybelline Fit Me Matte and Poreless Foundation purely because it was a bargain on offer at only £4. That’s only 50p more than your morning coffee! I put it to work for the first time over the weekend and thought I’d give you a good old “first impressions” review.
When naming the shades of their foundations, drugstore brands can often get it very wrong. Ivory looks as though it’s been colour matched directly from the face of David Dickinson and with this in mind, the price I’ve paid for badly matched or oxidising foundations could quite comfortably have been used for a house deposit. Brands are slowly beginning to extend their colour ranges somewhat and following the likes of L’Oreal who offer their True Match foundation in a whopping 18 shades (of which I’m the first shade) which is one small step for us pale faces!
I tried the original Fit Me foundation when it was first released a year or so ago and although I liked the finish of it, it was relegated to a grave yard of “tried it, didn’t like it” foundations at the back of a drawer based on the fact that the ivory shade was not in fact, ivory. This is the first Maybelline foundation I’ve seen available in a “porcelain” and thought who better to give it a whirl that someone who struggles to find a foundation shade pale enough. ESPECIALLY coming out of the long winter months where sun is non existent.
The Maybelline Fit Me Matte and Poreless Foundation is geared more towards the oily skinned of us and has been re bottled into an economically and financially savvy squeezy tube meaning that not one drop of foundation is wasted which can often be my bug bear with glass bottled foundations. HURRAH MAYBELLINE.
What it claims:
Medium-Full coverage
Natural, matte finish
For Normal/Oily skin types
Ultra-blendable liquid foundation for a natural-looking matte finish.
Targets shine and visibly erases the look of pores.
Contains blotting micro powders and lightweight blurring powders.
12 hr wear; stays in place all day
Maybelline Fit Me Matte and Poreless Foundation First Impressions:
The shade: although significantly paler than its Ivory counterpart, I wouldn’t call this foundation a true porcelain but it’s close enough that once blended out it colour match pretty well. I’d say that when wearing it for a full 12 hour day at work and beyond, it seemed to oxidise ever so slightly, mainly where I’m super oily (hello orange nose) but not that badly that it’d put me off wearing it.
The application: the consistency of the foundation is quite similar to the holy grail Estee Lauder Double Wear. Other matte foundations on the market can be quite thick in consistency especially Revlon Colorstay and the latest L’Oreal Total Cover which feels more like a mousse than a liquid foundation. My favourite way to apply my base is with a beauty sponge: Real Techniques Miracle Complexion or Beauty Blender, I don’t mind either way BUT I always make sure the sponge is damp with water OR has had a few spritz of a setting spray. I apply the foundation over the skin with a “bouncing” technique which is exactly what I did with the Maybelline Fit Me Matte and Poreless Foundation . I first applied the foundation over the top of the MUA Skin Define Hydro Primer (which is an amazing dupe for the Illamasqua Hydra Veil, FYI). It applies really evenly using this technique and the coverage I would say is true to the medium to full claims, but is definitely buildable. The foundation also sets really quickly which I love as I hate when you’re left with sticky skin after applying foundation and have to contend with “cake face” when powdering.
The finish: This foundation is most definitely a matte finish. As mentioned above, once applied its matte pretty much instantly and I’ve found that I’ve not had to powder excessively – just a little dusting under my eyes to set my concealer and on my nose where I tend to find I get oily first and I’m DONE. It feels almost undetectable on the skin and has a really smooth satin like feel once on the face which is quite similar in finish to the L’Oreal Infalliable Matte but in my opinion, not as drying and the good news? It doesn’t transfer. The “poreless” claim is certainly something I’d dispute. I tend to have quite enlarged pores on my nose and cheeks and I didn’t find that this foundation did anything to dramatically disguise them, in fact I found it actually emphasised the pores on my nose. On second application, I used my go to pore minimiser, Body Shop’s Wonderblur primer and noticed a dramatic difference in the appearance of pores.
Overall?
I actually really like the Maybelline Fit Me Matte and Poreless Foundation, despite expecting to be little more “whelmed” by it and it says something that I’ve reached for it on the last three times I’ve applied a full face of foundation. For the winters months I think it would err on the side of too mattifying and drying, but for the warmer months and especially in summer when my skin is in full oil mode, I have high hopes for it.
Thank you or posting this review! I’ve been eyeing this foundation since it came out. Any foundation I tried ends up sliding off during the say thanks to my oily skin *cries* I’ll definitely pick a tube of this up when I’m out :)
Laura x | http://pale-girl-reviews.blogspot.com