With the release of many new drugstore foundations, I was a little disappointed that demi-matte is making a comeback. At the same time, it's refreshing to see a matte yet light-medium coverage foundation available at the drugstore in warm tones.
The L'oreal Infallible Pro-Matte Foundation in 104 Golden Beige ($11.99 at Target) is very promising. There are 10 shades in total. Here is a swatch of it (far right) next to Shiseido Sheer and Perfect in O40 (middle) and MAC Face and Body in C2 (far left). Holy shiz, this stuff is actually yellow! *insert tears of joy*
I think this picture captures the peach tone of it the best. It's not perfect if compared to my olive foundations, but is still a very good match for my skin. I'd say that 104 Golden Beige works well for NC25-30 skintone.
It's a slightly thicker foundation where less is way more when it comes to application.
Here is another swatch in slightly different lighting.
Here's how it looks on the skin, freshly applied, with no powder. As you can see, my skin looks flawless but you can definitely see it fighting against my slightly flakey nose. This photo was taken in natural indoor lighting.
Excuse my horribly flat/un-styled/ultra long mullet of a hairstyle, but I wanted to show you how it could not cover up the red zit on my forehead. It's definitely matte and not cakey, but I would avoid spreading this under the eyes if you're prone to creasing (see picture below!)
L'oreal promises many things, one of them being 24 HR wear in a light weight foundation. Impossibruh!! From my experience, I can clarify these claims for you:
Finish: Yes, this is truly demi-matte. It looks very matte and powdery once it's settled down, but after a few hours of facial oils seeping through, it gets this amazing skin-like finish. Dry skinned people with dry spots and flakes will find those accentuated badly. Very oily skinned people will be disappointed with the "oil control", because even I saw a "dewy" forehead after 4 hours.
Pssst. This foundation has NO SPF. Perfect for flash photography and nights out!
Wear: I found that although the majority of the foundation stayed on well after 10 hours, it started to slide and patch up at around 6 hours of wear. I had to use my fingers and blend out the product that started separating. With a powder, however, I could see this going for a little longer. Blush and bronzer stays beautifully on top of it.
Coverage: Medium leaning full as claimed. It covered most of my hyper-pigmentation but could not completely mask any ultra red pimples. A huge con for me was that it looked like makeup on the skin upon application no matter how little I applied. However, this was probably because it did an excellent job at covering pores. I also didn't notice any settling into my laugh lines.
I noticed no violating scent and the sanitary tube comes sealed against tampering plebes.
Texture: Yes, it's very light for a medium coverage foundation, but not as light as it claims. I still "felt" the product on my face if I used more than a pea sized amount. I liked applying this with a damp sponge or fingers. It can be streaky with a brush.
I also picked up the matching Infallible Pro-Matte Powder in 200 Natural Beige ($11.99 at Target). I've heard from a few reviews that this powder is very cakey and unnatural looking. However, I've discovered that is the case only if you layer it on top of the foundation.
On its own, the powder provides light to medium coverage. The powder itself is very creamy, finely milled, and comes in a compact with a sponge and mirror. It's also excellent at oil control; I noticed very little oil breakthrough even after a trip to the gym. Though the shade range is limited with only 8 shades, 200 Natural Beige is also a good yellow toned match for NC25. If you have huge dry patches or flakes, I'd skip on this. With my normal skin and small dry spots, this powder didn't seem to accentuate them too badly.
Overall, I was impressed that drugstore foundations are now thinking of light-medium and warm toned humans. While I wouldn't commend L'oreal for a breakthrough product, the Infallible Pro-Matte foundation is a huge step up from the chalky and paint like drugstore foundations of the past. If you're normal to slightly oily, I think you'd appreciate this one. It makes your skin look flawless, only requires a touch up or two throughout the day, and has a decent shade range for most skintones. I was actually more impressed with the powder for its mattifying properties and natural finish.
A first impressions will be up soon for Maybelline Fit Me Matte and Poreless Foundation and Powder, so keep your eyeballs peeled!
xo Be
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