Drugstore Foundation Binge/Purchase Review

Right after I posted about wanting to make 2013 another "Use My Stash" year, I went out on a drugstore binge and purchased mainly foundations. I had mentioned in the blog in 2012 that I have been duly impressed by a variety of drugstore products and felt that the various drugstore lines have stepped up, making more quality products.

Foundation has been my color nemesis. I must have a really odd skin tone because I know that I definitely do not fall into the "typical" asian coloring of yellow/warm. I actually have more of a pink skin tone but not truly pink either. Neutral would seem like it would fit me the best and yet I do seem to have problems in that category as well. Whenever I wear something made for more yellow skin tones, I either turn into a very sallow coloring, turn orange or look like I'm wearing dirt. Whenever I wear something for pink tones, often it's way too pink or it makes me look a little too white. In actuality though, the pink tones seem to best suited since it definitely helps to brighten my face and not make me look sallow and sick. I have found that more neutral tones sometimes make me look ashy gray.

My go to foundations for 2012 were from the Bourjois line and Kate BB Cream gel. For both, the colors worked best with my skin tone--definitely not perfect but quite close. I also use a foundation from Clarins, which is great for drier weather.

Deciding to branch out, I first purchased Neutrogena Healthy Skin foundation. I was looking for something a little more moisturizing since the weather has gotten quite a bit cooler here. I first bought #60 Natural Beige but thought it was too light so I purchased #100 Natural Tan.

While I liked the formulation of the foundation, it just didn't work out. The foundations were nice and moisturizing, to the point where I would have to blot around my nose after 6 or 7 hours of wear, something that I haven't had to do in years. I didn't mind though. The worst thing about both of these colors is that they turned orange on me. I also didn't like that it didn't have a pump dispenser. The foundation is a bit runny so it was difficult to get a little bit of product out of the bottle as it just quickly poured out.

Next I tried out L'Oreal True Match Lumi, Healthy Luminous Makeup in C3 Creamy Natural.

I thought that the color looked like it would work out pretty good but at first it was way too light. The formulation was okay, a little less moisturizing than Healthy Skin but again after several hours of wearing it, it started to turn orange on me. I did like the pump dispenser.

I then thought that I would try something that I haven't tried in long time, powder foundation. I don't like matte finishes because it tends to make my skin look drier by bringing out fine lines. I noticed a new Bare Minerals foundation called READY Foundation. It's a powder but supposed to be hydrating. I first picked up a color that I used to use but found it was way too light. I then discovered that these foundations run light so you need to go with a darker color. I got color matched to Golden Tan.

I was quite skeptical and it turns out I was right. It's too dark and also turns me orange. I didn't use this long enough to form a proper opinion on the formulation. I'm hoping that I can return this to Sephora, although I've had it for a while.

By this point I had told myself that it was enough. I had spent close to what I would have spent on one good quality foundation and felt satisfied that I tried but didn't succeed and would stick with what I have been using. Then I spotted Wet N  Wild's new Coverall Cream Foundation. It was only $3.99 so I decided to do one last purchase.

I got it in 817 Light-Medium. It is supposed to provide sheer to medium coverage and isn't supposed to be heavy, chalky or dull. It has a semi-matte finish that is luminous. Here's the description on the back:

I couldn't get a good picture of the ingredients because of the curve of the tube. It's definitely not moisturizing like the other two foundations and I have to make sure to moisturize well before using it. I think that it would work better in the warmer months.

I was a bit worried that the color of it would be really pink on me. Here you can see how peachy pink it is compared to the other two.

Fortunately, it doesn't come out as pink as I thought it would. In fact, the color comes out to a very good match on me.

Here it is on half my face:

As you can see, it's slightly lighter than my normal skin tone.

Full face:

After more than 7 hours and no touching up:

As with all foundations, it does oxidize on me but very slightly and it oxidizes to a good color match for my skin tone! There is some SPF in it--SPF 15 so there is a slight whitish cast when taking flash photography, which makes it look lighter than my neck. Here I've taken a no-flash picture to show how well it matches my skin tone.

 

I'm very happy with this foundation and it's only $3.99! I have found it only at one store so I'm hoping that the other stores start stocking it. It has long-wearing power for me and it brightens my complexion as well as matches it quite nicely. I don't really have sensitive skin but so far, I haven't had any negative reactions to it. I have to admit that I'm only on my 2nd day of use.

I have done some other drugstore purchases but will save that for another post since this one has gotten to be much longer than anticipated.