It's been quite a while since I last did a week of foundations, and this one has been a while in the planning, so I thought I'd better get on with it! This week I'll be reviewing five foundations, weightless ones, full coverage ones, invisible ones, and others ...
I'm starting off with Avon's latest foundation launch, Ideal Flawless, which is described as an "invisible coverage foundation".
Packaging:
This is a heavyweight glass bottle, with a pump mechanism, not ideal for travel, but it's a handsome enough bottle for the dressing table.
Formula:
This is a rather thick liquid formulation, which just a hint of shimmer visible in the bottle (not visible on the skin, thank goodness), which spreads extremely easily over the skin, and feels feather light during wear. It's rather silicone-heavy, so unsuitable for skins who don't tolerate those easily, but it makes your skin feel gorgeously smooth and velvety whilst you're wearing it. Touchably soft, even!
Shade Selection
This is shade: "Creamy Natural". Please bear in mind that the skin of my hands is considerably paler than that of my face for some reason, so these swatches will look a bit odd. There's an amazing range of shades in this range, Avon offer 16 shades, from the very palest "Ivory" or "Light Pink" through to "Nutmeg" and "Earth". I've tried all 16, and, instead of being the second palest colour in the range - something I normally am, owing to being pale, but not that pale - I'm right in the middle of this shade range. I could probably get away with wearing "Nude" or "Medium Beige" as well, depending on the time of year, and the light I was going to be seen in, to be honest. It's nice to see a range of shades that caters for both cool and warm tones, too.
Coverage:
Let me intoduce you to Maurice, the Control Mole, you're going to be seeing him a lot this week, so if skin blemishes offend you, I suggest you look away now:
And here's how Maurice looks after a coat of Ideal Flawless:
Yup, that's some pretty good coverage right there, that is. I'm impressed. Maurice, not so much so.
Finish:
Avon Ideal Flawless blends easily onto the skin, leaving it velvety and smooth, and is, as promised, more or less "invisible" on the skin. It has a satin-matte finish, which isn't at all flat owing the aforementioned "shimmer" in the bottle, and doesn't leave skin too dewy either. You can finish with powder should you need too - and if you are oily-skinned, I'd recommend it - but it isn't 100% necessary, I very rarely bother with powder, to be honest.
Wear:
Avon don't promise any particular long-wearing capabilities for this foundation, which is just as well, as the lasting time is about average, it'll see you through the average working day, but you will notice fade after around six - eight hours or so. You'll need another application if you want it to take you from day to night though.
Price:
This is an absolute bargain, costing £12 at full price, but is currently on offer on the Avon Website for just £10 a bottle for 30ml. Online swatches are beyond dreadful though, so do a bit of searching around to find your shade.
Ingredients:
Overall Thoughts.
This is an excellently priced product, with great coverage, average lasting power, and a wonderfully light feel on the skin - highly recommended, even if the online swatches mean that finding your exact shade might be a little problematic.
The Fine Print: PR Sample. I was not swayed in any way by the mention of Aleesha Dixon in the marketing of this product. Sorry, Aleesha.
This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.
Bwahahaha Maurice, so funny. Loved every bit of this foundation review! Omg what if my hand was a different colour than my face too. I know that I always end up too pink to match my neck as well. love this bit about weightless and full coverage, sounds like a good uniqlo down jacket to me. if this had been in physical shops, I would have deffo tempted. however finding my shade on my own is already hard enough, I could do with added difficulty of mailing order. thanks for amazing review x
ReplyDeleteI think the colours are forgiving enough that a shade or two either way wouldn't be a total disaster, Liloo. But I agree that it's difficult to find your own shade with some online websites. Keep an eye out for my post on Thursday though - an online store that's thought of everything!
DeleteLOL Maurice the control mole. My day is really off to a good start!
ReplyDeleteToo bad it doesn't last long enough though. I'm too lazy to carry my foundation with me for touch-ups.
It will last you most of the day, but yes, you'd probably need a touch up at some point in the late afternoon, early evening.
DeleteMaurice is it? He called himself Leroy when he knocked me up and ran off with a mole cluster on David Dickinson's left arse cheek.
ReplyDeleteIt's too late! I've a bunch of freckles brewing even as I type!
DeleteGreat post and I love Maurice too.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit I never look at ingredients, is there a post anywhere youve written about what the ingredients do and are meant to do, when you say it's silicone heavy I don't know what that means.
Thanks hun
Silicones are what make the product feel smooth on the skin, without being greasy. Some people can find that they clog the pores somewhat, but most people can wear silicone-based products without problems. If you ever find a product that makes your skin feel more like, say, velvet than silk, then you'll probably find it has a lot of silicones in it.
DeleteThey're not bad for your skin, but if you had problems with them, you'd most likely already know by now.
I now know who Maurice is! That aside, it looks good. Though trying to match my shade online may be a bit 'faffy' for me. Not a bad price either.
ReplyDeleteAnother foundation I like the look of- have been impressed with avon these past couple of years :) x
ReplyDelete