Foundation Graveyard: Fair Skin Foundation “Fails”

Foundation Fails L-R: Neutrogena Healthy Skin, Revlon Nealy Naked, Stila Tinted Moisturizer, Loreal Magic Nude Liquid Powder, Revlon Photo Ready, MAC Studio Sculpt, Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer, Revlon Colorstay, Loreal Magic B.B. Cream

When I did my review of the Loreal Magic Nude Liquid Powder and Magic B.B. Cream, I mentioned doing a post on my “Foundation Graveyard” – about all of the other liquid foundations I’ve tried that have been fails – so here it is! As someone with very fair skin that’s also sensitive and prone to breakouts, I’ve always found it a struggle to find a foundation that is actually light enough to match my skin-tone (even the lightest shade is still not light enough) and that won’t irritate my skin. I have typically stuck with my BareMinerals Original mineral powder in “Fair C10”, but find that a powder foundation can be too dry for a Canadian winter.

Here is a quick run-down on why all of these liquid foundations were fails:

• Neutrogena Healthy Skin Liquid Makeup SPF 20 in “Natural Ivory 20” – WAY too dark. And orange. It looks soo much more orangey on the skin than in the bottle, almost as if some strange chemical reaction happened as soon as it made contact with the air. I was so disappointed because you can’t get Neutrogena makeup in Canada and I picked this up while I was in Florida visiting my Dad. It had gotten rave reviews,  but sadly the colour range was not meant to include us pale girls 😦
• Revlon Nearly Naked in “110 Ivory” – Out of all of the liquid foundations I’ve tried, Revlon does tend to have the best colour range and is usually the closest match I can find. Although the Nearly Naked started off as a pretty good match, it seriously oxidized during the day to get increasingly darker and more warm-toned (I’m cool toned). I also wasn’t fussy over the finish of this one. It was too sheer, emphasized fine lines, and didn’t have much staying power.
• Stila Sheer Colour Tinted Moisturizer Oil-free in “Bare” – The Stila Tinted Moisturizer is very popular. A Sephora SA colour matched me for this one. As you can see from the swatch below it was WAY too yellow and probably the worst of the bunch in terms of a colour match.
• Revlon Photo Ready in “001 Ivory” – I actually really loved the way this one looked on my skin. The problem: it doesn’t last AT ALL. It was a very close colour match, had a beautiful natural finish, and is oil and fragrance free. But literally within an hour it was totally breaking down and looking patchy.
• Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer Oil-free in “Porcelain” – I got this one after reading that the MUA for True Blood used it on actress Deborah Ann Woll who plays Jessica. That girl is PALE! I mean, she’s even a vampire. I thought – well, if it’s light enough for her… Sadly, the Laura Mercier foundations are all very yellow toned. This one is way too yellow and oxidized like crazy to just get darker and darker as the day went on. Even though it’s oil free, it also did not get on well with my skin and caused some clogged pores. Total fail.
• MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation in NC15 – I really really loved this foundation even though I had to finally admit it wasn’t the greatest colour match. It looked amazing and made my skin feel so soft. I spent a half hour with a MAC SA who tested out the NC15s from EVERY liquid foundation they made on me. They were all too dark except this one. Like the Nearly Naked, it would start off as a good match but then oxidize throughout the day. It was also too moisturizing for my skin and did start to cause some clogged pores and breakouts.
• Revlon Colorstay for Normal/Dry Skin in “110 Ivory” – The best colour match of them all (nearly perfect), the Colorstay was the only one that did not oxidize or shift in colour throughout the day. It’s also, as the name suggests, very long wearing. I can see why this makes a lot of peoples’ favourites list. The downside: it’s  difficult to remove. After wearing it regularly (I used almost the entire bottle) I was noticing a lot of clogged pores and breakouts.

L-R: Neutrogena Healthy Skin, Revlon Nealy Naked, Stila Tinted Moisturizer, Revlon Photo Ready, Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer, MAC Studio Sculpt, Revlon Colorstay

If you’re a cool-toned (pink undertone) fair skinned girl like me, I hope this helps you out knowing some foundations you may want to skip. My next post will be about the liquid foundation I have found that ISN’T a fail…stay tuned!