Hello all! I'd been firmly stuck in my ways foundation wise for a while but when I recently ran out of my trusty L'oreal True Match I decided to try something else. Having recently seen a review of this Rimmel foundation from both Nic Chapman and missbudgetbeauty I decided to give it a go. I've been becoming oiler and oiler recently and I wanted something that was going to last through that, so this sounded perfect.
This foundation claims to offer lightweight full coverage whilst keeping skin hydrated for 25hrs. Now, I've really been putting this to test over the past couple of weeks and so I think I can tell you pretty confidently whether these claims are fulfilled or not (at least I can for people with similarly oily skin to me).
Firstly, the coverage. For some reason, I trusted that this would be the full coverage it claimed to be. I'm not sure why I did this because never have I found a drugstore foundation that claimed to be full coverage to actually be full coverage. This is no different. It's a pretty thick formula which initially made me think it would fulfil, however it almost blends away to nothing. Perhaps that's slightly too critical. I would say it's an okay medium coverage, but it's definitely nowhere near full. I have acne scars which are still fully visible through this but which True Match (a foundation which claims to offer medium coverage) covers easily. The thing that annoys me so much about foundations like this is, if they had claimed to be medium coverage, I would be perfectly happy but because they're claiming a coverage they don't have, I'm instantly disappointed. Furthermore, due to the thickness of this foundation, it looks like you're wearing a lot of makeup but with little coverage to show for it. Therefore, the foundation doesn't live up to the coverage claims. For a daily foundation, I think the coverage is fine, I am just annoyed that it isn't the full coverage it should be.
I will admit that I have solely used brushes to blend this foundation in and a different result may be achieved with a sponge or fingertips.
Secondly, I can't speak much of the hydration because I use so many mattifying and oil controlling products that I can't really feel if this makes a difference. However I will say that this foundation always feels very comfortable on my skin and I never look dry or cakey by the end of the day, which does suggest to me that the comfort serum is working.
As for the longevity of this on the skin, I will say it does pretty damn well. Even if I haven't primed or touched up and I'm pretty oily by the end of the day, the coverage is all still there. Because of this, even if I am oily, I still look okay because my skin still looks uniform and even. It doesn't go patchy or break up like some other foundations do when I begin to produce oil. I think the longest I've ever kept this foundation on for is about 10-12hrs and, aside from around the nose because I have had a whopper of a cold the whole time I've been trying this, it still looked great and intact at the end of it. Whilst the coverage was disappointing, this was mainly what I was looking for from the foundation so I'm still pretty happy.
Another thing I'll say is on the shade range. I know that they do a shade lighter than Ivory online but when I went in store to buy it they didn't have it. I don't know if this was just in my superdrug or if the lighter shade just isn't available in stores but it was pretty annoying because it means I now have a shade that is too dark for me. I can just about get away with it if I blend well and highlight with concealer but I wish I didn't have to do that. I personally don't think the shade range is great (Rimmel in general don't do great shades in my opinion) so if you can find something to work for you that's great.
All in all, I do quite like this foundation. Whether I would repurchase it is another question. I am disappointed by the coverage but I can get over that. The thing that bugs me most is the way it looks like I'm wearing a lot of makeup. I do love the lasting power of it which is why I will continue to use it but I think coverage and appearance wise there are much better foundations at the same price point. Mixing this either with a moisturiser, BB Cream, or lighter coverage foundation might reduce the heavy look it gives but it will also reduce the already disappointing level of coverage. I will probably try the lighter coverage version of it next time in the hopes that it looks less heavy as opposed to repurchasing this as I personally don't think this is worth the money.
Let me know any thoughts you have on this foundation if you've tried it!
Nikki xx
