The Lightest Shade: 3 Foundations That Didn't Work Out For Me
Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog! Today I am talking about one of my favorite topics: foundation. In the hunt to find foundations that are light enough for my fair skin, I came across these three over the past year only to be extremely disappointed. My skin has become much drier over the past few months, so it has become quite the task to find a foundation that works with my dryness and accommodates my pale skin. If you share my skin type and tone, you definitely know the struggle, but luckily I have tested out a few foundations to see if they can work for gals like us so you don't have to spend your hard-earned cash.
These three foundations in particular that I am writing about today have a lot of hype behind them, and I had a lot of hope, but unfortunately they did not work out for me for one reason or another. These are all medium/full coverage foundations, but if you are into lighter coverage, check out my post on BB Creams for pale skin right here.
Full disclaimer: if one of these foundations are one of your favorites, by all means keep using it. These ones just simply did not work for me and my skin type.
So without any further ado, here are my thoughts on some foundations that did not work out for me (with swatches!)
Swatches of all of the foundations side-by-side (left-no flash, right-flash)
KAT VON D: Lock-It Foundation in Light 41
Holy breakouts and clogged pores! Never again will I be using this stuff. I was so excited to find a super fair foundation, but I was so upset with how badly it broke me out. This is a super full coverage foundation, so I was afraid that it would clog my pores, but I did not anticipate it to give me some of the worst acne I ever had.
Before it broke me out, I did like how it looked on my face. It made my skin look smooth and amazing in pictures, but up close it was quite noticeable that I was wearing foundation. It was so thick that it looked like I could dig a chunk of it out of my face an inch thick. It also did not last very long as I began to get oily very quickly, and it started to break up after a few hours. Then of course once my face went haywire, I completely removed it from my makeup collection.
In terms of the shade, it was one of the lightest foundations I have ever tried. While it had a pinky undertone, it surprisingly worked well with my warmer complexion. If I could have this exact shade in other foundations that I love, like the Covergirl Healthy Elixir, (that I wrote about in my favorites of 2017) I would be one happy girl. But, even though the shade was amazing, I can't think of any other positive things to say about this foundation. Definitely not worth the splurge in my opinion.
WET N WILD: Photo Focus Foundation in Porcelain
Everyone seems to love this foundation with a passion, but I cannot stand it. Not only can I not get past the scent of it (it smells like pure paint), but it looks awful on my dry skin. It takes forever to blend out and it sits on top of the skin -it never seems to sink in and become one with my face. It also clings to any and all texture which enhances my dry patches horribly.
It is also a very heavy feeling foundation, and while it does look great on camera, I hate the feeling of foundation sitting on top of my face all day long. So with the combination of the dryness and the heaviness this leaves me with, this foundation was a no-go for me. In terms of its shade, it is not light enough for my pale complexion. My Sephora color IQ is Y101, so I am the lightest IQ, and this foundation is roughly 1-2 shades too dark. It also has a super strong yellow undertone. While I do have a warmer undertone, it was too yellow for me. I was quite disappointed with this one, but at least it was only five dollars so I can't feel too badly about trying it out.
bareMinerals: BarePRO™ Performance Wear Liquid Foundation Fair 01
We have arrived at the final foundation that did not work out for me. I had so much hope for this foundation because its description on Sephora's website made it sound perfect, especially for dry skin. It also has an amazing shade range, but man this stuff is hard to work with. Never before have I had such a hard time blending out a foundation. It dries down way too quickly so it is super hard to make it blend out flawlessly. It leaves my face looks streaky and patchy, and because of this, it emphasizes texture like you wouldn't believe.
I would definitely not recommend this if you have dry skin because it will cling to dry patches and the matte finish will make it worse. I do have to say though that when I first tried this out, it did in fact last all day, and it looked good...from a distance (like a long distance) and on camera. So perhaps if your skin is more on the oily side, this may be worth a try, but I suggest getting a sample before buying the full-size. It also isn't the lightest foundation I have ever tried. It has a yellow undertone and it was half a shade darker than my skin tone when first applied, and it darkens a bit more after it sets. I was hoping this would be the next best foundation, but unfortunately it was not.
So these were some foundations that I will be taking out of my collection and never using again, but thankfully I have a bunch of other foundations that I love and use every day. What are some foundations that were disappointing for you? I would be interested to hear your thoughts.
As always, thanks for being here,
Christina :)