Today I’m taking a look at a highly recommended high-street product called L’Oréal Infallible Matte foundation. For just £7.99 you get 30ml of product, which comes in a limited range of only six shades (although not unusual for a high-street foundation). I went with the lightest colour, ’10 Porcelain’. Finally, L’Oréal claims this lasts for 24 hours!
I’m not going to work today, but I will be wondering around London for the entire day – so this foundation will be put to the test.
Before
Redness is fairly under control – but as usual, still looking for a good, full coverage.
After
Impressively, this foundation lives up to its claim of being full coverage. I started by putting down a thin layer with a brush, and then added a second, fuller layer using my beauty blender to cover my redder areas. This gave me a full, but not cakey-looking coverage with a really excellent colour match (for me).
After about half-an-hour of settling in, I really liked the finish of this foundation. It’s matte but it isn’t flat or powdery-looking. My skin looks bright and healthy, without looking dewy or greasy. Here’s a close up you can see a bit better.
It’s not perfect, but the coverage is great, colour is good, my pores look okay and the finish is pretty.
1pm check-in
I’m afraid I only have one picture for my afternoon check-in as I was in the middle of Camden Market, and taking this photo was pretty embarrassing!
As is normal for me I have a bit of a greasy nose, but actually the bits down the sides of my nose are coping pretty well. My forehead is hardly slick at all, and I’m very impressed that the foundation has stayed on my chin and nose so well.
7pm check-in
This check-in was actually around 9pm (after 12 hours of wear) so the lighting is just… terrible. But I did what I could! Lipstick = long gone. I’m also reaallllly tired.
The foundation directly on my nose is close to being off – but in fairness, this is partly because I attempted to blot my oil using tissue paper hours earlier. It didn’t work. Around my nose it’s just starting to come off, but I scratched my nose a tonne today.
I think my cheeks and forehead look pretty good. My forehead is pretty oily by now, but it took a really long time to get that way and I didn’t powder all day. Despite the oil, the foundation stayed in place really well and didn’t settle in my fine lines at all. It started to break up on my reddest cheek area (where sunglass lenses sit roughly) but you could only tell if you looked closely.
Also, two very small spots came up on my chin during the course of the day. I can’t necessary blame this on the foundation, but I’ll definitely keep an eye on it when I wear this in the future (and I will, I’m looking forward to it!).
My conclusion
Colour me impressed – so far, this is definitely one of the best foundations I’ve tested.
Coverage – 9/10
This is a full coverage foundation that isn’t cakey at all. If you want a sheerer coverage that’s easy to achieve using a makeup brush or a damp beauty blender, so it doesn’t have to be as heavy as I’m wearing it. I barely needed any concealer at all.
Pore smoothing – 7/10
My pores look average – but definitely not highlighted, which is a bonus in my book.
Finish – 8/10
I really enjoyed the finish of this foundation. Matte but not powdery, smooth but not dewy or greasy, I felt like it gave a nice, healthy glow to my skin.
Fine lines and wrinkles – 9/10
I was really impressed by the smoothness of this foundation – it didn’t settle in any cracks or fine lines at all, including some of the most difficult ones I get around the corners of my mouth. After 12 hours it wasn’t dry or cracking and my skin felt smoother than it has with most other foundations I’ve tried.
Longevity – 8.5/10
I take umbrage with so many makeup brands claiming their foundations have ’24 hour wear’ and the like, because it’s basically bull-crap. Especially for people with oily skin, that wear-time just isn’t achievable. However – this did last over 12 hours and barely budged (except on my nose, as usual), so this is a great option if you need long-wear.
Pros
- Excellent coverage
- Great pale shade (for me, with very pale skin and cool, pink undertones)
- Easy to blend and apply
- Great for oily skin – matte but so smooth
- Didn’t settle in fine lines and wrinkles
- Lasted for ages
- Lovely, healthy-looking finish
- Gives many high-end foundations a run for their money
- Super-cheap!!!
Cons
- As usual, couldn’t quite cut it in the nose area, but I can forgive this as my nose is oily as hell
- Started to separate a tiny bit on my cheeks after 12 hours
- Only 6 shades.
Keef’s comments
Keith really managed to surpass himself with today’s comments on my foundation:
Your skin looks like an alabaster whale.
For context, Keith and I watched ‘In the Heart of the Sea‘ last night. It’s a film that recounts the tale of a New England whaling ship’s sinking by a giant whale in 1820 – an experience that later inspired the great novel Moby-Dick.
The whale in this movie is meant to be a white sperm whale. Except this whale isn’t a lovely, smooth, pure-white whale as you might imagine, but is instead a scarred, barnacle-laden, pock-marked whale with some large patches of white between great swathes of grey. Given this, Keith’s attempted ‘compliment’ back-fired somewhat and I sulked for at least a full minute.
Totally addicted to base 