Hello chocolate eggs!

 

Your homegirl is in desperate need of a new foundation which poses many-a-problem.

First, I am a terrible decision-maker and take 934892 hours to decide on really anything in life. This means that facing the counters at Sephora and Ulta and having to make a decision can be super triggering. I want something dewy, but not too dewy, great coverage but not heavy or cakey, long-wearing and doesn’t settle into fine lines. A tall order, I know.

My sister swears by drugstore foundations but I have never been a fan. I decided to do some due diligence on the topic and was inundated with information and conflicting views. So I decided to head to the store, see if anything was on sale and make a decision there.

I walked in to Rite Aid and faced the wall of infinite choices. L’Oreal Lumi? Maybelline Fit Me? Covergirl Bombshell? AAAAAH. My palms started to sweat as I rounded the corner to Wet’n’Wild and made the snap decision that yes, I, Natalie Kate, was going to try the Photofocus foundation.

Widely known in the beauty community as a dependable, photo-friendly foundation with good coverage and a $6 price point, this foundation is a favorite among many varying skin types. I was hesitant with my dry skin but since Wet’n’Wild was 30% off that day, I could roll the dice with $4.

I took another 238945 minutes selecting the right shade and ended up with Nude Ivory.

The next day I whipped ‘er out and smothered ‘er all over my mug. My thoughts are as follows:

PACKAGING

Love the glass bottle and the amount you get (1 0z). The spatula-esque applicator was aight. Definitely liked it better than the treacherous pour-out style but would have probably preferred a pump instead.

APPLICATION

The application was pretty easy. Not too hard to blend in and I found it easy to build up in certain areas.

COVERAGE and WEAR

The coverage is nice! Definitely not as luminous as I like (even with Mac Strobe Cream underneath) but not overly matte either. Upon initial application, the coverage and wear was pretty, as shown here. Also. CHECK OUT MY BUH-LINDING HIGHLIGHT.  It is Mary-Lou Manizer from The Balm! NO filters neither.

Where I started to get in trouble was when I checked my face in the mirror around 4 pm that day. This picture was taken at around 1 pm (in florescent lighting no less) to try and capture the severity of a very dry skin patch on my nose but you can see the foundation starting to break down and settle in around my mouth. Also, check out the little blemish on the corner of my mouth! Three cheers for realness!

Totally get that LOTS of foundations do not hold up super well for 8 hours, but this one looked especially gnarly. As  in, not-even-398434-sprays-of-Fix + would-have-fixed-this gnarly. The foundation had settled SO far in to my fine lines that they looked like the crevasses of Everest. Just baaaaaaad.

So I will definitely not be wearing this foundation to work everyday but for an afternoon tea and crumpets, it’ll do.

What do you y’all recommend I try??