I’ve used a few products from Maybelline before and have always thought they were a decent brand for make up and they did the job, but I’ve never been blown away by them. However, I had heard lots of good comments about their matte foundation which is exactly what I was looking for. As someone who suffers with breakouts due to acne and having a combination (more oily) skin type, I need something that has full coverage and prevents my face becoming shiny.
The website says that this foundation is ultralightweight and oil free, so I just had to try it and see if everything they claim is true!
Application
As always, I used the product first thing in the morning after applying my normal Katherine Daniels moisturisers and primer, and then using a damp beauty sponge (from Real Techniques) I applied the Maybelline foundation.
I found that it went on pretty well at first, but some patches seemed to have more coverage than others – this felt like a lot of hassle having to try even it out which resulted in an overall patchy foundation. So I restarted it and it went on a little bit nicer. I always use a matte powder on top of my foundation because I HATE having a shiny face. It seemed to work well with my powder.
However, after about 3 or 4 hours, I started to notice the shine really coming through and I had to top up my make up a handful of times throughout the day, which is something I really don’t have time to do – especially if I have 3 or 4 gigs in one day! By the end of the day my face looked patchy, and I just wasn’t impressed overall with the foundation.
Colour Match
I went with Natural Ivory as my colour of choice for this product. There are 40 shades to choose from which is great but as I was ordering online it wasn’t easy to see the colours clearly. However, when the product came, I was pretty happy with my choice as even when using the foundation, it matched my skin tone quite well.
Unfortunately, when I put my powder on top it seemed to go quite a bit darker and therefore wasn’t easy to blend down my neck – leaving a bit of a ‘foundation line’ which is a no-no for me! I had to do a lol of blending with my sponge and powder brushes to make it work.
I did try it again once I had fake tanned but found exactly the same issue – a real shame because who doesn’t love spending under £6 on foundation!
Final Thoughts
I really wanted to love this foundation but unfortunately it just didn’t live up to expectations. Some aspects of the product were ok but quite honestly I won’t be in a rush to use this product again. The price is great at only £5.99 but I think that’s reflected in the quality and the amount of time the foundation stays on nicely for, and there are many other budget friendly foundations out there that work better.
If you’re looking for bargain and only need your foundation to last for a few hours then this one could be for you but I’m sad to say it won’t be a foundation that makes it on my favourites list. Sorry Maybelline, tries hard but could do a lot better – 5/10.
