The hunt for a great makeup foundation is at times an adventure. With so many factors to consider such as coverage, texture, application and affordability, it can be hard to know quite where to start. Recently, I had the opportunity to test out quite a few, whether it was through my monthly Ipsy bag or through my own purchases. With so many new ones I’ve discovered, I thought it would be helpful to provide some reviews on these products.
*Affiliate Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links and ads where I receive commission from purchases made through my recommendations. As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn on qualifying purchases.
Yensa Foundation
The Yensa BC Foundation is a new one I discovered in my Ipsy a month back. I was definitely curious about this one since it is both a CC and BB cream, yet boasts full coverage properties! Say what? How cool is that? So on a scale of 1-5, I would give this puppy a 4.8! Really good stuff! I am personally a huge fan of CC Creams and Tinted Moisturizers in general. With my aging skin and forehead wrinkles, the lighter weight foundations, the better for me. Some full coverage products only accentuate my wrinkles more. However, this product offers the CC cream texture with the full blown coverage of regular foundations and I was very pleased at the coverage. As you can see in my before and after pictures, my age spots and red patches don’t bleed through. I’m wearing shade “Medium Warm” in the picture below. I also loved the smooth application. It was very easy to apply without any flaking or caking.
The price point on this one runs around $38, but you can also try it in the travel size for $15. I love when companies offer a travel or mini size so I can take it for a test drive without dropping serious dough first. You can find it easily on my Like to Know it shopping app. Shop the Yensa Foundation through my links to take you directly to the product.
L’oreal Infallible Matte Foundation
Though I do love my high end makeup, I try to opt for affordable, convenient options as much as possible. Therefore, I’m the queen of testing out drugstore makeup. L’oreal is a brand I tend to find really kills it in the base and mascara makeup game. Though hard to believe, the Infallible is foundation I had actually not tried yet, so I finally got around to testing it out when another drugstore brand was running low.
As far as a rating goes, I may give a couple of disclaimers first. I was not properly able to judge quite fairly. First, I don’t think my color match was exactly precise. I chose the Shell Beige (102) tint. But, it was slightly pale for my skintone. I also chose the matte coverage, which I’ve known to be a mistake for me. While I occasionally dabble in matte finishes in the summer sweaty months, I tend to stick with luminous finishes more. The mattes really dry out my skin and as you can see in my before and after pictures, the forehead wrinkle forces are strong with this one. Sigh. However, for a drugstore brand, I would judge this one as a very good foundation. The coverage is pretty darn good and you can’t beat the affordable price. I would not say it was as durable as the Yensa. By the end of the day, I did find myself retouching up some spots. My rating would probably fall around a 4.4 or so. But if I could rank it for the price, I’d go much higher. This one runs between $9-$11 at most drugstores and groceries. And, of course, you can also find it here on Amazon.
L’Oréal Infallible Powder Foundation
In addition to the L’Oréal Infallible Liquid Foundation, I jumped on the bandwagon and decided to grab the powder one, as well. I never, ever use powder foundations, because I am old and wrinkly. There is nothing worse for my forehead wrinkles than some dried powder product. But, since everyone was dishing about this one, I thought maybe there would be some kind of exception. I was wrong. Not gonna lie, this was the biggest flop for me in the history of flops.
Not only did this product dry me out like the Sahara desert, it also provided very little coverage. I hear everyone rave about the coverage and I’m over here thinking I don’t know what you jokers are smoking! There was no coverage and the powder just sat concentrated in one place with absolutely no glide whatsoever. I am not even sure I can rate it beyond a 1.5. Seriously, this always happens with me, where other people’s treasure is truly my junk. No offense, L’Oréal, your liquid version of this really rocked. So, you are redeemed. I just am afraid I am going to have to trash your powder for poor little ol’ aging 40 plus women like me.
But, perhaps if you aren’t as ancient as me and are looking to trust the word of the other young ones out there, be my guest. You can find this product in most drugstores and groceries or here on Amazon. They typically run you between $8-$11. At least I didn’t go broke on a product I will never touch again.
Mary Kay Timewise Luminuos Foundation
I am a huge Mary Kay fan and have used it most of my life. I think you could say it was my first beauty love and one I keep running back to over the years. I even became a consultant and sold it twice. When it comes to skincare, this brand has always been a favorite. As I was comparing other foundations to my old Mary Kay tried and true, the Luminous Foundation, I was reminded that very few brands can compare for me!
It truly still is probably tied as my number one pick even against some very high end products. The coverage is great, the smooth texture works beautifully with my aging skin and it hangs in there for a full day. As I compared the before and after pictures of myself to all the others, I think this one and the Yensa were my top pics. I would even give this one a 4.8 as well!
Typically you would need to find a Mary Kay consultant to order through. However, there are a few naughty black-market Mary Kay products you can find available on Amazon and EBay if you look. Technically this is against the Mary Kay rules (I know this because I specifically had to sign a contract as a salesperson agreeing not to ever sell inventory on Amazon or EBay). But, as a buyer, when I need what I’m looking for and can even do it with free Prime shipping, I’m not feeling as guilty as I should. Just saying.. Therefore I’ve got it linked here for you straight from Amazon. If you need a different shade, however, you may have to dig a little further. I’m not as up-to-date on what these products go for with Mary Kay consultants. But, this particular one on Amazon is running around $19 currently. Not bad at all, this is pretty standard prices for Mary Kay. They tend to run as a medium end brand. But, I find them to give high end results for me.
Mary Kay CC Cream
In addition to the Mary Kay Timewise Luminous Foundation, I’ve also used the CC Cream option on and off at times, as well. There were times I thought I really liked this product and rated it much higher. But, after testing out some of these other goodies, I won’t lie, it’s not nearly as impressive to me now. Gonna have to rank this puppy quite a bit lower. I’m going to go with about a 2.8, maybe? Though it’s easy to apply and middle range on affordability, the coverage is just not there as much as I’d like. I know, I know, it’s just a CC Cream, so those are known not to be full coverage. However, I got a bit spoiled by the Yensa cream as well as the It Cosmetics CC Cream that covers so much more.
However, I do love that it has sunscreen in it and it can be a nice light weight option for beach days or on the go. The CC Cream runs anywhere from $18 to $22. Once again, you find this one through a Mary Kay consultant or through the naughty bootleg Amazon market:-) For your convenience, I’ve linked the Very Light shade, the light to medium shade and the medium to dark shade here from Amazon.
Illamasqua Foundation
I have been wanting to try Ilamasqua forever! So I was thrilled when it showed up in my Ipsy bag one month. I gave it a spin immediately and really loved it! The particular shade they sent me was the “SB 09”. I think it ended up being a good match.
My first impression was that it has great coverage but a little goes a long way. I found that I applied a little too much and had to work on blending it out. It was easy application, maybe a little thicker than some of the previous light-weight ones I had applied. But, it wore like a dream and held up well all day. I’d probably rank it about a 4.5. The price on this foundation runs around $38. Once again, I have it linked for you here on my Like to Know it app.
Urban Decay Naked Weightless Liquid Makeup
I got lucky and scored my sister’s old Urban Decay hand-me-down, so I was able to test out the Naked Weightless Liquid Makeup. My sister has extremely sensitive skin and therefore, must shop high-end to avoid breaking out from certain products. Her pain is kind of my gain, because I get to try so many of her high-end hand-me-downs she tries out. I do hate that it’s at her expense, but at least some good can come from it. I’m very happy to give her the opportunity to make good of the situation;-)
So I was a little surprised that I wasn’t so impressed with this one. A little disclaimer first, though: my sister and I are not at all a shade match. Her cool-toned skin is much paler than mine. So, I definitely didn’t have the best shade match. The foundation was also a bit old and may have even reached it’s expiration date, now that I recall. So, those are two factors to consider. I just found the product not to cover as much, and on top of that, it was almost griddy-like in the application on my skin. I felt it was going on a little patchy and almost seemed to form little griddy bubbles. (Ok, maybe I need to recheck that expiration date, I will admit).
This foundation runs around $40 and can be purchased online or you can find it at Ulta and Sephora. I’ve got it linked here on my LTK app, as well.
Juvia’s Place Stick Foundation
I am a huge fan of Juvia’s Place. Their eyeshadow palettes are so bomb and so affordable. But, I have been trying out some other products from them, as well, that aren’t just eyeshadow. The stick foundation is one of those products and I will unfortunately say I’m not as impressed with them as I am their eyeshadow formula.
The coverage is just not the greatest. It didn’t apply well for me either. I found it was not as spreadable. However, it was pretty lightweight and perhaps a good option for travel, when you don’t want to lug a Iiquid version around. I hate to disrespect the brand but I simply can’t rate the foundation sticks very high. Therefore, I’d probably go with a rating around 2. Sorry, Juvia’s Place, my bad. But your eyeshadow palettes are true champions in my book, so don’t be too sad.
So, that about wraps it up for the makeup foundations I’ve been testing out recently. Hopefully, some of these snapshots and details provided some insight on how these products wear, especially for aging 42-year-old skin.
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