Review| Rimmel Stay Matte foundation

My favorite product from Rimmel has always been and always will be their Stay Matte setting powder in Sandstorm. The color match is great and the pressed form, while rather tacky in its plastic packaging, is super convenient and non-messy. For every day, it has never failed to keep my face relatively oil free without looking too matte. And the best part? It's under 3 dollars everywhere I've checked.

Now with the release of a Stay Matte primer as well as foundation, there's hope for people on a budget but still want a base product that will keep them ultra matte. Today I'll be reviewing the foundation, which comes in eight shades. Its sanitary squeeze tube can be found taking over drugstore displays everywhere and retails for under 5 dollars.

For the price of a latte you can't ask for fancy glass and smoke and mirrors.Simple and portable, if only you didn't need a damp sponge for the best effect.

Also, are you pink and pale, pinker, orange, super pink, or beige? There are 8 available shades, but I often only see two or three stragglers left on displays.  To be honest with ya, I wasn't intrigued at first because I could tell that the limited shade range wouldn't have olive tones for me.


Though their intentions are well and the foundation performs beautifully, my biggest gripe with this product is the abysmal shade range. I still purchased it to see how this performs and write a review based outside of color match issues. I chose 203 True Beige which believe me, is a true beige. It seems to be at the same tone as NW25 or NW30, perhaps NC37.

See what I mean? Beige. Under very bad lighting it blends somewhat well, but in broad daylight you can see that my neck is much lighter and more yellow. Here's the problem, it looks amazing on the skin and performs like Revlon Colorstay and Covergirl 3-in-1 without feeling as heavy. And....I have no match. Okay then. I did see a Youtuber around my shade and she tried out 200 Soft Beige, which still seemed very neutral but closer to my tone.

The consistency of the product is a thick mousse that isn't too heavy and applies nicely with a Beauty Blender. I wouldn't use a brush with this unless it was a stippling or buffing brush. It doesn't set too quickly, but it's still best to work in sections. The overall finish is semi-matte and medium to full coverage. I didn't need a concealer for any red spots or patches on my skin.

Look at how thick that is though, like a loaf of doodoo. Blech.

I found that it didn't exactly "control my oil" but kept my skin looking semi-matte all the way to satin by the end of the day. Yeah, I wore it around the house and probably looked like an oompa loompa to the husband. And while he noticed that the color was off, he also said that if I really wanted to make it work, I could just blend all the way down my neck to match my tan chest.
...He knows too much.

I didn't notice any caking, creasing, or fading with this foundation until the 8 hour mark. To be honest with you, it looks like Tarte 12 Hour Full Coverage Foundation ($38 retail) for an extremely low budget production! It really is light-weight for how much coverage it offers. While I wasn't sweating buckets on the times I tried it out, it still kept that semi-matte finish for the entire time I wore it. With a matte setting powder the foundation can go for ever.

The only other problem I see with Stay Matte is that it definitely "looks" heavy on the skin, simply because it is very full coverage for me. While it didn't emphasize pores, it made my laugh lines stand out a bit. Primer isn't crucial, but something that eradicates lines may help. It's also best to use much less than you think you need and keep sheering it out with a damp BB.

While I like it and think that those who are combo to oily with neutral/pink undertones will be over the moon, I can't stand a foundation that doesn't match. If Rimmel introduces just a few more yellow-toned shades to round it out, Stay Matte would be in my arsenal for summer.

Did you try this one out?

xo Be