I’ve realised over the last few years that I’ve gradually moved away from traditional foundation. I tend to reach for lighter skin tints now, so I was really curious to see what would happen if I went back to three affordable foundations and actually wore each of them for a full day.
I picked up L’Oréal True Match, Maybelline Lifter Plump & Glow and Max Factor Facefinity Lasting Blur from Boots and tested each one properly on my mature skin.
And there was definitely a winner.
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Watch the full foundation test
Shop the foundations I tested
L’Oréal True Match Foundation – 2.N Neutral
Shop L’Oréal True Match at Boots
Maybelline Lifter Plump & Glow Foundation – shade 114
Shop Maybelline Lifter Plump & Glow at Boots
Max Factor Facefinity Lasting Blur Foundation – C102 Pastelle
Shop Max Factor Facefinity Lasting Blur at Boots
L’Oréal True Match Foundation
My winner of the three.
Of all the foundations I tested, this was the one I liked most.
The formulation felt creamy, it gave my skin a lovely glow and, importantly, it continued to look good as the day went on. It didn’t dry my skin out and I was impressed by the staying power.
I also didn’t notice it settling particularly into my pores or wrinkles, which was one of the things I was watching for throughout these tests.
My only reservation wasn’t really about how it looked — it was about how it felt.
I could feel the foundation sitting on my skin.
I’ve become so used to the much lighter feeling of a skin tint that wearing a traditional foundation again felt slightly old-fashioned to me. That was actually one of the most interesting things I discovered from doing this whole experiment.
Shop L’Oréal True Match at Boots
Maybelline Lifter Plump & Glow Foundation
The Maybelline came second for me.
It had a similar sort of weight and consistency to the L’Oréal, but it didn’t wear as well on my skin.
As the day progressed, I could see it beginning to gather in the wrinkles on my forehead and in the pores on my cheeks.
That’s exactly why I wanted to wear these foundations for a full day rather than simply showing you what they looked like immediately after application. A foundation can look lovely when you first put it on, but for me the real test is what it looks like several hours later.
It wasn’t terrible by any means, but between the two, I thought the L’Oréal performed better.
Shop Maybelline Lifter Plump & Glow at Boots
Max Factor Facefinity Lasting Blur Foundation
This came third.
The formulation was quite different from the other two. It was much more watery and gave me lighter coverage, which you might think I would prefer given how much I enjoy skin tints.
But the name “Lasting Blur” made me expect a noticeable blurring effect, and I simply didn’t see that on my skin.
As I wore it, I also found that it gathered in my wrinkles and pores and I felt it would need reapplying.
The other thing I noticed was that my skin felt itchy for a couple of hours while I was wearing it. That was my experience with it, and obviously everyone’s skin is different, but it’s something I noticed during my test.
Of the three, this was the one that worked least well for me.
Shop Max Factor Facefinity Lasting Blur at Boots
So, which affordable foundation won?
For me, the order was:
- L’Oréal True Match
- Maybelline Lifter Plump & Glow
- Max Factor Facefinity Lasting Blur
The L’Oréal True Match was the clear winner. I liked the formulation, it stayed looking good throughout the day, didn’t dry out and didn’t noticeably gather in my pores or wrinkles.
But the most interesting result of this experiment wasn’t really which of the three foundations won.
It was realising just how much my own makeup preferences have changed.
I think I’m a skin-tint woman now
After testing all three, I went back to my Hourglass Veil Hydrating Skin Tint, and the difference reminded me why I enjoy skin tints so much.
It sits beautifully on my skin, stays in place without gathering in my wrinkles and gives me the sort of glow I like.
That doesn’t mean I think an expensive product is automatically better than an affordable one — and L’Oréal True Match performed very well in this test.
I simply think I prefer the lighter look and feel of a skin tint now.
And that was probably the biggest thing I learned from testing all three.
If you’ve moved from traditional foundation towards lighter skin tints as well, I’d love to know — because I’m beginning to think I’m not the only one.
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