Hi Divas

 

I have been wanting to right this review for such a long time but since the great pandemic hit this year a lot of things, including my blog were put on hold.  It is probably a good thing that I am only writing this review now, since everyday glam makeup has gone out the window, thanks to mandatory wearing of face masks. Most women, including myself are opting for more natural and easy-going makeup looks instead of the full coverage we used to wear before things went down. Don't get me wrong, I still adore wearing full coverage, creative and dynamic makeup looks but going out on an everyday basis wearing a mask has made me opt for a natural glow from within. If you are wanting a foundation that is natural, hydrating and evens out the skin tone then the Fenty Beauty Hydrating Longwear Foundation is right up your alley. This is the second foundation launch within the brand which promises to be much lighter and more breathable than the original Pro Filt'r. The Pro Filt'r matte foundation is an absolute holy grail of mine, I was therefore very interested to see what the hydrating foundation has to offer. I was pleasantly surprised by the results.


The Hydrating Longwear foundation promises medium to full coverage with a natural finish and a smooth complexion. Compared to the first foundation this one has a lighter formula which is ultra blendable using the hands, brush or sponge. It contains Grape Seed Oil and Sodium Hyaluronate to hydrate the skin, keeping the face fresh and looking natural all day. The formula is sweat and humidity resistant which prevents your makeup from breaking down in hot temperatures. Fenty Beauty promises a natural even tone face but not a dewy, wet looking complexion. Rihanna wanted this foundation to be for all skin tones, as the original matte was mostly loved by combination to oily skin types. This formula is adaptable and would work for dry, combination and oily as it is not overly dewy and won't cause excessive shine. I love that the hydrating formula is much lighter than the original because it can be worn every day. The matte one is pretty full coverage and can be too much on a relaxed day out. The option to be natural or glam is great within the line.


The packaging is significantly different to the first foundation in that the hydrating foundation comes in a plastic tube with a pump. The packaging is convenient, simple yet has the edgy designs, which we know Rihanna's music for. I love that they incorporated her edgy music style into the packaging. The design is very convenient and reminds me of a BB and CC cream style. It is light weight and safe for travel. The foundation comes in a whopping 50 shades and the tube carries 32 ml of product. You can see your shade on the outside of the tube which makes it simple to detect especially for makeup artists. The shades are exact matches to the previous foundation which is wonderful. You won't be confused looking for a shade match if you already have it in the matte foundation. I am the shade 290 and both products match really well. The matte is a little darker than the hydrating foundation as I feel it oxidizes slightly more. It is not a problem for me though as the two are perfect for my skin tone. 


Upon application, I found that you have to shake the tube before you pump out the product. Unfortunately the formula seems to separate inside the tube and you get a mix if oil and foundation. I therefore shake it really well and then pump out a max of two pumps. The foundation feels very light and blends easily onto the face. I like to use my hands for an ultra-natural look. For more coverage I would use a brush or sponge. This is not full coverage at all and I find that building it up past two pumps can make the face look cakey and congested around the pores and fine lines. This product gives light to medium coverage. If you want anything more than that you would have to use the matte foundation. This formula evens out the skin tone perfectly but does not cover under eye dark circles or blemishes as the original foundation. You would have to use a concealer and powder for extra coverage. The consistency feels much lighter and breathable on the skin than the matte foundation. This one is therefore excellent for an everyday even complexion.

 



I recommend the Pro Filt'r Hydrating Longwear foundation to those who have combination to dry skin. If you love BB and CC creams with a little depth then this lighter foundation formula will be your best friend. This is great to wear beneath my mask these days as I want to look presentable and not scare people with my ghastly quarantine face;-) I hope you enjoyed this review and found it helpful. Have you tried this foundation? Are you even wearing makeup under your mask? These are strange times! Let me know your thoughts below.

Thank you for reading.

Xxxx

Hi Divas

Complexion products are my number one items that I cannot live without. I would probably take it with me on a desert island and have it be on my top ten list of essentials. When I first started wearing makeup at the age of 15, I only used black eyeliner and a gloss. I never bothered to cover up any imperfections on my face as I was young and carefree. Fast forward a few years later, I have ditched the gloss and constant lower black liner. As I have gotten older, I realised how much I value a smooth and radiant complexion over anything else. I would rather splurge on a holy grail foundation than another 16 pan eyeshadow palette. I love the euphoria of watching my dark circles and life problems disappear under a layer of foundation with my kabuki brush. I know I am being dramatic, but that step is honestly so satisfying to me. I have therefore tested many foundation formulas and tried an array of awful shades to find the true gems that suit me. I will be recommending my holy grail foundations that work for my normal to combination skin and medium skin tone with yellow to olive undertones. I mention my skin type and colour undertones as what may work for me, may not be great for you regarding dry to oily skin or someone with a different skin tone to me. Please be aware of that as you read my recommendations.


Too Faced Peach Perfect
 I'm starting off with the cutest foundation packaging out of the 5 products. It comes in a tube with a gold pump. I love the peach details on the packaging. I only recently started using this but I decided to add it to my collection as I love the easy application and quick results it gives me. This is a medium coverage foundation that is very matte yet super comfortable to wear. I love using this as an everyday base product as it gives the most natural finish and my face still looks airbrushed. The shade Warm Beige is great for me because it has the right amount of warmth and it does not oxidize throughout the day. The tube is great for a quick application and is very travel friendly too. I recommend it to someone who loves a matte finish and a natural looking appearance. I do prefer to wear this in the Summer months since it is so matte and you will need to use a hydrating moisturizer in the Winter to pull this one off. Full Review Here.

Fenty Beauty Pro' Filtr
I'm going to come out and say it now! This is the best foundation in formula and in shade that I have ever used. I have received so many compliments from many people telling me that my face looks flawless when I wear it. This is a matte foundation and gives a medium to full coverage. It literally hides all my imperfections in one sweep. It blends wonderfully into my skin and looks like a dream. The shade 290 has warm and olive undertones which miraculously fits me like a second skin. The shades in this foundation do apply lighter in tone but oxidizes to its true shade after a few minutes. I find that the shades do get warmer throughout the day but it just blends so effortlessly into my natural complexion. I love it! Regarding performance, this foundation lasts all day with no cracking or fading. If you have dry skin make sure to moisturize well before use. Packaging is sleek, pretty and equipped with a pump in a glass bottle. It can be heavy to travel with but I don't mind though. Full Review Here.

L'oreal Infaillible 24H Fresh Wear
 The performance and formula of this foundation is very similar to Too faced Peach Perfect except it has more coverage. Can you believe that a low-end base has more coverage than a high end one? Believe it because it is true! This is a lightweight and matte foundation that is very comfortable and breathable on the skin. It gives a natural appearance and can be built up to fuller coverage. This is great for everyday wear and is very long lasting too. The only con is that the shades do oxidize. I have the shade 260 Golden Sun and it definitely gets one to two shades darker throughout the day. I have to go one shade down to make it a perfect fit for me. Do keep this in mind when purchasing the product. The packaging is not my favourite as it has that chunky L'oreal block design with a stumpy pump. It's not sleek but it gets the job done. It is in my top favourites as I love the way it wears and the coverage is great. I really do feel it out shines Too Faced Peach Perfect regarding coverage as well. Full Review Here.

LA Girl Pro Matte
This is my ultimate favourite low-end foundation. I don't know why this product does not get the hype and love it deserves. It is perfect for combination to oily skin types as it gives a comfortable matte finish. I love using it on hot Summer days. It can cling to very dry patches, therefore do wear a hydrating moisturizer or primer in those areas. The formula reminds me of Fenty Beauty Pro' Filtr as it has the same texture and consistency when blended out on the face. It gives great coverage and lasts throughout the day too. The shade Light Tan is perfect for my Summer skin tone because it has a warm yellow undertone. Even though Fenty gives a much more filtered look this one can easily be considered a dupe for it. The packaging is sleek and comes with a pump. I have travelled with the glass bottle before and it was very easy to pack into my makeup bag. This is the cheapest foundation out of the 5 and you get great value for your money. I will keep repurchasing because I love it so much. Full Review Here.

Too Faced Born This Way
I'm going to come out and say it again! This is one of the best foundations I have ever used.
This too was my first ever Sephora foundation purchase and my very first high-end foundation. I have fond nostalgic memories of it. Since then, I have gone through two bottles and am now onto the third. The packaging comes in a luxurious glass bottle with a pump. The gold details on the bottle and box make the product look very luxe. The formula and texture of the foundation is creamy, slightly thick yet blends effortlessly onto the face. The product contains coconut water and hyaluronic acid which makes it very hydrating on the skin. I therefore only wear this in Winter and Autumn because it gives me a hydrating satin finish. It always looks beautiful on the skin and it gives me full coverage with a healthy glow. The shade Warm Beige is great for my Winter skin tone as you can't even tell I'm wearing foundation when I have it on. I may need to go up a shade and use Sand in Summer time though. The performance is wonderful and I sometimes forget I'm wearing makeup since the foundation feels so comforting on the skin. This is the most expensive foundation out of the 5 but you seriously getting what you pay for. Both the packaging, performance and formula is top notch. I would repurchase till the end of days, LOL. Full Review Here.


Thank you so much for reading and I hope you found my recommendations helpful. Do share your foundation favourites below and let me know if I am missing out on any great complexion products. Lots of love!


Divalicious Kisses
Xxxx

Hi Divas

This will be my first makeup review for 2018 and I thought I would start off with a bang! As you know Fenty Beauty dominated the makeup industry in 2017. Launched by one of the biggest super stars in the world, Rihanna came and exploded her beauty line changing the makeup game forever. She launched 40 shades of foundation in one debut. She shattered the cosmetic industry's exclusiveness and made everyone feel welcome in their own skin. For years many women had to settle for foundations that only came in certain shades and we had to adjust to it. Rihanna came and adjusted her foundation to us. I applaud her for taking the initiative and showing makeup brands around the world that including every skin tone can be done. I purchased this foundation at Sephora on my last trip to Qatar. It was not even on my radar to buy it. I actually had my sights set on the new Too Faced Peach foundation but that one had not launched in Qatar yet. I walked over to the Fenty Beauty section and my heart was set on the foundation. The price was a whopping 100 Riyal cheaper than most foundations in Sephora. I just had to get it and give it a try. I am so glad I did.

The foundation is packaged in a sleek glass bottle with a white plastic cap. The design is simplistic yet classy. It comes in 32 ml of product which is excellent. Since there are 40 options to choose from, finding your shade can seem a little daunting. The foundation is categorized into four sections which are light, medium, tan and dark. Every foundation in each category is graded by cool and warm undertones which are neutral, yellow, olive and peach. I am medium in skin tone and have yellow warm undertones. Therefore, I was searching in the medium and tan section for my perfect shade. I watched many Youtube tutorials and read many reviews to pick my shade. I decided to purchase 290 as this was described as medium to tan skin with neutral and olive undertones. I could have gone for 300 too as this one is described as medium to tan skin with neutral undertones. It is much warmer than 290 which has slight green/ olive undertones. I wanted to play it safe as I did not know how the product would oxidize on me. So I chose the lighter shade 290 as I can wear it in Summer and Winter too.

The product is described as a soft matte long wearing foundation. It offers medium to full coverage while promising to feel light as air on the skin. As you can see in the swatches above the foundation matches my skin perfectly. It starts out a shade lighter when wet and dries down to one shade darker, which is the true colour of the foundation. I found that it does not oxidize on me. It dries down to its true colour after a few minutes. I use two and a half pumps to cover my whole face. The foundation is quite runny so I like to pump it on my brush or hand first and then apply it to my face. The product blends out beautiful with a kabuki brush. You need to work quickly when blending as the base dries down fairly fast. The kabuki brush is quick and easy to blend out the entire face. For full coverage two pumps is more than enough to get the job done. Any more product added to the skin will look cakey and unnatural. I was really surprised at how full coverage this foundation is. It honestly covers my blemishes and under eye bags so well. It even covered my trade mark mole on my nose under my eyes. I had to use an ear bud to remove the foundation so that my mole was visible again. This foundation dries super matte and you don't even need to set it with powder. I always set my face with a translucent powder and setting spray. Doing these last steps, definitely locks in your makeup.

I wore this makeup look on the first day of 2018. As you can see my face looks absolutely flawless. It is Summer time in South Africa and we had a braai (barbecue) on New Year's Day. My makeup wore perfectly from the morning to the evening. It did not move, budge, melt down or cake up throughout the day. It felt and looked like I was walking around with an Instagram Valencia filter on my face. This product does an amazing job in blurring pores and giving that soft filtered look. It looks beautiful in photos too and looks great on camera especially in natural light. I love that it does not wear heavily on the skin but feels light weight and looks natural. You can obviously tell I am wearing a base but it enhances and perfects my skin and does not drag it down. I do have combination skin and get oily in my t-zone especially in the Summer time. For me this is a very matte foundation. It keeps my face oily free all day. For someone with oily skin this will be your best friend. For drier skin tones, you might have a problem with such a matte look and it may feel too tight on your skin.

I am thoroughly impressed with this foundation. Rihanna did an amazing job for her first makeup launch and knocked many brands right out the window. I definitely recommend this product to anyone who is looking for an affordable highend foundation that truly delivers great results. I would definitely purchase this one again as it looks flawless on me and is kind to my wallet. Let me know below if you have tried this foundation or if it is on your wish list. Hope you found this review helpful. Thanks for reading.


Lots of love
Divalicious Kisses!
Xxxx