Product Review (& Selfie Test) : L’Oreal Infalliable Matte Foundation

Hey, all! This week I’m bringing you your not-so-average product review; in fact, this is a very special edition that may or may not be totally strange and crazy sounding, but bear with me. I’m putting the L’Oreal Infallible Matte Foundation to the test, which claims to be a 24 hour wearing foundation. To do this, I have concocted a hybrid, of sorts, review that combines a “First Impression” and typical product review.

Now, if you’re totally lost, please allow me to elaborate. In two of my past posts this month (Fourth of July & Summer Lookbook), I’ve already mentioned my use of this foundation. Due to this, I couldn’t truly do a “First Impression” type of review. However I still wanted to showcase the longevity and wearability of this foundation which is usually made possible by a “First Impression” format; thus, I combined the update type style of a “First Impressions” with a normal product review to bring you this “Selfie Test”.

Typically, “First Impressions” are done in a video or vlog format, however, if you are a regular reader, you’ll know that normally videos aren’t typically my thing (save for this one exception here). In order to make this as close as possible to the “First Impression” layout, I opted to shoot the photography for this post in the most informal manner I know- selfies. By doing this, it allows you to see the foundation in the moment, as I’m going about my day, rather in a staged or made up setting. In addition, you can see how the foundation wears in different lighting and how it progresses in real time. I shot two different days so that there was enough variety and factors to put to the test.

So, without further ado, let’s get started! First off, let me preface this with a disclaimer. I did not retouch any of these photos for the sake of showcasing the foundation as accurately as possible. Also, let it be known that I am not the world’s best selfie-ographer. In fact, you can probably even tell in my more regular photography in past posts, I’m still not quite that comfortable in front of the camera. Anyway, the point is, please disregard my awkward facial expressions throughout this post. I just never know where to look! …Rant over, ok, now let’s actually get started!

Here I am using the shade 104 Golden Beige, which actually, currently is a tad too light for me since I caught a tan last weekend. Also, for reference, I have combination to oily skin, but my T-zone is particularly really oily.

Day 1

To kick things off, for Day 1 it was my brother’s birthday, so for the most part I wasn’t as vigilant about taking many selfies as I was the second day. Also, this day I ended up getting a later start and being more active towards the end of the day. Just a note to give you an idea of my timeline. Additionally, this morning in particular I had a fresh shower where I had exfoliated and moisturized my face about 20 minutes before application. I used my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush and went sans primer, powder, and setting spray. Here are the results:

1. 12:50 pm Artifical Light– Here I am, fresh after applying the foundation and I only have my brows done for now. There isn’t too much of a noticeable difference of it being too light for me. My skin looks pretty smooth and flawless and the coverage is a nice medium-full. The description of this being a “demi-matte” finish I find to be pretty accurate. It’s matte but not flat. Right away, though, I noticed that the product did cling to a few areas of texture I had, like a few spots I had near my mouth and some rough patches I have in-between my brows and around my nose.
2. 1:35 pm Natural Light (Indoors)-Not much time since I first applied has passed. My face is noticeably lighter than my neck here. There is no creasing or settling and there is a powdery sort of finish to the foundation now that it has finished drying. It is still clinging to some of the texture I have, but has yet to emphasize my pores. I noticed that this photographs rather nicely, and looks probably a tad better in photos than in real life.
3. 5:26 pm Artifical Light– Ok, so it’s been awhile since an update, my bad. Four hours later though, it’s not doing too shabby. However the promise of 24 hours seems to be bleak at this point. There was some wearing off on my forehead and some discoloration on my cheeks showing through. At these same points, there is also a bit of shine.
4. 6:00 pm Natural Light (Indoors)– At this time, I just finished getting ready to go out for my brother’s birthday dinner. I retouched the points I mentioned before where there was oiliness and put on the remainder of a full face of makeup, however I still eliminated use of setting products to stay true to the original conditions. I noticed that since I had already applied the foundation, it was rather difficult to blend in powder face products like bronzer and blush. If you do end up using this foundation and want to wear a full face of makeup, I would recommend doing it all in one go, rather than wait and have the foundation set up on you.
5.  11:15 pm Artifical Light– Alright, so here I am again, another five hours later and here is the remainder of my makeup. For the most part, the foundation is about two-thirds of the way intact. Those same points of oiliness along the T-zone are once again shiny. Also at this point in the night, the foundation has mostly lost its powdery finish. My pores are also way more visible now.

Day 2

Now for Day 2. This day I was more active in the morning and waned off as the day went by. There are twice as many selfies this time, since I wasn’t up to much else this day. I chock it up to the fact that this day I was appropriately (and coincidentally) wearing my Célfie shirt. Anyhow, I applied with a Beauty Blender this day and did not wash my face this morning to see if a different result would be achieved. Also, I used a mattifying primer, powder, and the matching setting spray for this foundation to create a completely different scenario than the day before.

1. 8:50 am Natural Light (Outdoors)– I got an early start this day and was literally rushing out the door to pick up my brother from his practice, hence the awkward angle with the steering wheel smack dab in the middle of the picture. This is probably not even a minute after I had finished my full face of simple makeup and the foundation has not quite settled in. Right away, in this lighting you can tell that this foundation is way too light. With the use of primer though, I did notice that there was less clinging to patches, but it still clung to some spots. Also, since I did the rest of my makeup right away I found it much easier to blend in contour and the like. The coverage and finish is just as nice as it was the day before.
2. 9:45 am Natural Light (Indoors)– About an hour later, here I am with my caffeine fix. The foundation looks much more natural here and way less white. Coverage is still holding up and there is no oiliness or additional clinging to problem areas. My face looks pretty flawless here, I would say. (Or maybe it’s just this stellar facial expression.)
3. 10:45 am Natural Light (Indoors)– It’s still holding up! You can see the powdery finish pretty clearly here and there isn’t any unwanted shine at this point. (I am wearing a ton of highlighter this day.) Also, it has glided over my pores and blurred them nicely.
4. 11:50 am, Natural Light (Indoors)– Here I am right about to take a nap. The powder finish is still going strong and keeping shine at bay. In this more direct lighting, however, I do look a bit paler. I find that the use of primer has made this look much smoother throughout the day.
5. 1:45 pm Natural Light (Indoors)– This lighting looks a bit more natural than the previous picture, but the foundation is still doing well. There is the slightest amount of shine, but for the most part, it survived my nap!
6. 3:10 pm Natural Light (Indoors)– Here I am playing Super Smash Bros. There is a bit of fading on my forehead but there isn’t any more noticeable shine than there was before. The coverage around my cheeks is also starting to fade.
7. 6:10 pm Natural Light (Indoors)– Alright, three hours later and here’s where we’re at. It’s not too bad, but at this point there is some excess oil and shininess. Also, there is definite fading around the cheeks.
8. 7:30 pm Natural Light (Indoors)– After an hour and a half, everything seemed to just exponentially get worse. It went from fading slowly throughout the day to almost giving up on me all together. I’m extremely shiny here and the foundation is getting patchy all over. A lot of my natural skin is starting to show through.
9. 10:00 pm Artifical Light– Here I am in my room a couple hours later. There is an ashy color to my face, almost as if there is a whitecast. I look less shiny than before, but I think that is only due to the lighting. Foundation is still on my face, but it’s almost as if it’s completely ineffective. There is hardly any coverage and the powdery matte finish is gone. Also, it’s practically gone from the center and is just patchy around the perimeter of my face. The foundation isn’t really doing anything for me but sitting in weird spots, at this point.
10. 12:40 am Artificial Light– This is not a fun look. It is almost all gone, save for a few weird patches here and there. My forehead is practically uncovered while there is the most coverage left on my chin. Also, I’m extremely oily. You can probably wipe the grease off my face at this point. I think it’s safe to say that I just can’t get 24 hours out of this foundation.

Review

Alrighty, so despite some longevity issues, I actually really liked this foundation. Here are my thoughts:

• Formula– The formula of this foundation is a mousse like texture. It’s not a runny liquid, but it’s not a whipped foundation either. It is the perfect in-between. The formula is so smooth and airy and sits very lightly on the skin. 4/5
• Finish– The finish of this is described as a “demi-matte”, which I would say is extremely accurate. Like I said before, it’s matte but not flat. It sits pretty nicely on the skin, save for the clinging to some spots and patches. With a smoothing primer, I feel like this would be like less of a problem, though. Also, it dries to a soft, powdery finish on the skin that isn’t cakey. 4/5
• Coverage– This foundation has a beautiful medium-full coverage. It isn’t too heavy and builds nicely. It covers all of my hyper-pigmentation and redness without being cakey. 4/5
• Longevity– Alright, this is where we have some problems. As you could see in the selfies above, this foundation did not last on me, let alone the 24 hours that it claims. I got a solid five hours out of this before it just began to jump ship and abort mission on me. This would probably last a lot longer on normal to dry skin or even those with less oily combo skin. I feel like you need plenty of preparation to get this foundation to last if you do have oily skin though. Washing and moisturizing the skin, applying a mattifying and smoothing primer, and setting this with powder and spray is probably the ideal way to stretch the longevity of this out. 2.5/5
• Packaging– The foundation comes in a flat squeeze tube. The shape is nice and compact and the flat sides make it so it doesn’t roll around. Product easily dispenses and the amount is easy to control with pressure. I’m not sure if in the future, though, it will be difficult to get the last bits of the product out. To be honest, it’s nothing really exciting or high quality but it gets the job done. 3/5

Pros:

• Easily available at the drugstore to get your hands on.
• The formula and finish are absolutely beautiful. It is so effective yet light and feels like it is barely there.
• There is a fairly large color selection compared to other drugstore foundation ranges.
• This would be the probably ideal matte formula for normal to dry skin types as it is not too heavy.
• This foundation does not contain an SPF, which could be a con for some. Personally, though, I like to have at least one foundation that doesn’t contain SPF so that if I wear it at night or in pictures, I won’t get flashback. That said, it photographs very beautifully.

Cons:

• For the drugstore, this is on the pricier end at around $12.
• The longevity of this is nowhere close to the 24 hours its claims if you are oily to combo. Extensive preparation really needs to be done in order to prolong the wear of this and get it to stay in place, which can be really time consuming. It isn’t really a “slap it on and go with it” type of foundation.
• It is really hard to oil control with this foundation. Because of it’s built in powdery finish, you don’t really want to add too much powder and make it look cakey at first. But, since it gets patchy throughout the day it’s a little difficult to add powder on top of that. I think the best you can do is just be vigilant about blotting throughout the day, however I find this to be extremely tedious.

Conclusion: I really wanted this to be the perfect everyday matte foundation, but for me it just didn’t work out. There are too many additional steps of preparation for this to be an “everyday” sort of product for those on the oiler end of the spectrum. However, if you have drier skin or are willing to put in the effort to make this work, it truly is a beautiful foundation. It works especially well for pictures, so if you are only doing a photoshoot or something this would work nicely.

That’s it for this week!  Leave me a comment below on what you think of this style of format!

All my love,

Megan

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