L'Oreal Age Perfect Radiant Serum Foundation

L'Oreal has a new to me foundation called, "Age Perfect Radiant Serum Foundation."  This foundation is designed for sensitive and mature skin.  It is infused with a hydrating serum and vitamin B3.  It claims to cover flawlessly, even skin tone and smooth without settling into lines.

#10 Ivory

My Thoughts

I use foundation on a daily basis so have tried my share of brands over the years.  I must say I really enjoyed using this foundation.  I received the shade #10 Ivory.  I normally wear ivory in other brands as well.  This ivory looked a little more yellow toned than I am use to but when applied to my face it blended right in and looked very natural.  It was a perfect match!

This foundation comes in a plastic squeeze tube which makes it easy to dispense.  The formula is not too runny or too thick, it was the perfect consistency.  I used a brush as usual to apply this foundation and it blended in smoothly.  I would say I achieved medium coverage with this foundation.  I used a setting powder on top of the foundation and found that there was a bit of resistance when applying the powder with my brush.  I found my skin was slightly sticky and thus the drag on the brush.

This foundation has a lightweight feel to it and it feels like I am not wearing make-up at all!  I typically wear a full coverage, matte foundation and it feels heavy on my face.  This foundation was a treat even though I only got a medium coverage compared to the full coverage I am use to and prefer.

I do have acne prone skin with what I would define as rolling scars.  Other foundations tend to settle in my scars and accentuate them.  This foundation did not do that at all.  My skin looked natural without the settling of the product in my scars.  In fact, my skin felt extra soft and smooth when using this foundation and it did not cause any pimples during the time frame I was using it.

I do have oily skin and found that I needed to use an oil blotting sheet half way through the day.  My skin would get extra shiny and for this reason I would probably avoid using this foundation during the warm summer months when my skin gets oilier to begin with.  But for the colder months, I can deal with using an oil blotting sheet once a day.   I really liked this foundation and can deal with this minor issue so it's not a deal breaker for me.  I would love to see a matte formulation though for those of us with oily skin. 

Overall, my pros for this foundation out weight the cons and I would recommend it to others to try especially those with dry, dehydrated skin. 

I received #freeproduct from Top Box Circle to facilitate this review. 

Maybelline Dream Velvet Foundation & Dream Blender

Maybelline has a couple of new products on the market: the dream velvet foundation and a dream blender.  Thanks to ChickAdvisor, I was able to test both of these products.

I tested the Maybelline New York Dream Velvet Foundation in the shade Ivory.  I am usually an Ivory in other foundation brands so selected this shade.  When I swatched it on my hand, it was very orange looking.  It did blend out to look less orange on my face but it was still a tad darker than I would like.  The shade is still wearable but if I were to purchase it in the future, I would get a shade lighter.

Swatch in the shade Ivory (#15)

This foundation is thick and mousse like in texture.  It does spread evenly on the skin but you may have to work quicker as it tends to dry quicker than liquid foundations.  After applying this foundation, my skin felt so soft and actually velvety.  I was really impressed by this quality.  The foundation also feels lightweight so much so that it doesn't feel like you're wearing foundation.  I found the coverage to be about medium.  I have acne scars which it blurred but didn't completely hide.

I have combination skin right now with dry, normal and oily patches.  I found that this foundation got a bit patchy in the oily areas on my face.  This foundation is suppose to have a soft-matte effect but I didn't really find it mattifying.  In fact, the first day I wore this foundation my sister commented on how nice my skin looked and how it had a dewy effect.  It may not have been matte for me but it certainly kept my skin hydrated.  

Overall, I would probably buy this foundation in the future if there was a great sale on it and I could find it in a shade lighter.

I have used cosmetic sponges in the past but nothing like the Maybelline New York Dream Blender.  It is basically a tear drop shaped sponge on a stick.  I found the sponge to be soft and dense.  I used this blender dry as I wanted a fuller coverage with my foundation.  This blender was a bit awkward to use but it did actually do a good job of blending and spreading my foundation.                                                    

I would have preferred if there wasn't a handle on this sponge as for me this would make it easier to use.  I also would have liked the sponge to be a bit bigger so I could cover more surface area. I did like the tear drop shape as it contoured to the curves of my face and I could get in to hard to reach areas like around my nose.

I did wash this sponge and found that I couldn't get it as clean as I would have liked to.  I found myself worrying that if I scrubbed too hard that it would pop right off the handle.  

Overall, this is a unique tool to keep your hands clean while applying foundation and it does a decent job of evenly spreading foundation without any streaks. Would I purchase it?  Probably not as I think there are others tools that are easier to use.

I received these products free of charge from ChickAdvisor for review purposes.

Maybelline Dream Wonder Liquid Touch Foundation

I received the Maybelline Dream Wonder Liquid Touch Foundation to test in the shade Porcelain Ivory.  It was a really good match for my skin tone.  For reference I wear Ivory in Covergirl foundations.

The first thing I noticed about this foundation was the dome shaped dropper that is used to dispense the foundation: 

I found this applicator easy to use but would apply the foundation from the dropper to my fingers and then my face.  I suffer from acne and breakouts so didn't want to be touching the applicator directly to my face.  I would have preferred a pump to dispense the product but that's just my preference.

This foundation is fairly runny and I wondered how it would apply to my skin.  I was surprised at how soft and velvety this foundation felt going on.  It felt like I was applying liquid velvet!  

Porcelain Ivory swatch

I found the coverage to be about medium and yet my skin looked natural and not "made up".  I felt like I wasn't wearing foundation at all.  I do have acne scars and while this foundation didn't completely cover them, it did a good job of blurring my imperfections.

Overall, I was really impressed with this foundation and will continue using it.  One note, this foundation comes in a 20ml bottle while most other foundations are 30ml so you are getting a little less than usual.