eup Forever's HD foundations, I was eager to try it for myself. Unfortunately, there is only one shop in England that stocks MUFE products, and I can't justify a trip to London just for some foundation. So whilst shopping I was delighted to find that L'Oreal have brought out their own Studio Secrets High Definition Smoothing Foundation. I was even more impressed to find that their shades run paler than most other drug store foundations. As I've been looking for a foundation that photographs beautfuly but doesn't cost the earth (I love NARS's Oil Free Foundation, but it's just too pricy for me at the moment), I decided to try it out. I picked up Rosy Porcelain, their palest pink toned shade. They also cater for those of you with yellow undertones, which was also nice to see.The first thing I did when I got home was compare it to two other foundations; MAC's Select SPF in NW15, and NARS's Oil Free Foundation in Mont Blanc. I took a couple of pictures, and whilst they weren't taken in the best light, they do show the differences.
Top: L'Oreal Infalible Concealer in Vanilla
Bottom from left to right: MAC NW15, L'Oreal Rosy Porcelain, NARS Mont Blanc.
With Flash:
Without Flash:
It's a little lighter than the NW15, but not as pale as Mont Blanc. Luckily for me, I have a little bit of a tan at the moment, so I can get away with it. It also looks a little more yellow, but I found this not to be a problem once I'd applied it.
I applied the foundation using MAC's 187 brush rather than the brush on the end of the tube. I did try using the provided brush, but I wasn't impressed. Once I switched to the 187 I was impressed by how easy it was to work with. I acheived an almost flawless finish with hardly any effort at all. The coverage is quite good too. It covered the couple of spots I had far better than NARS's foundation did. It feels really light to wear, although it is clearly a heavier finish then the NARS. I'd say, coverage wise, it's about on par with Select SPF.
This is a pic of me with just the foundation:
As you can see, it's not got a completely matte finish, and I did find I looked far shinier than when I use NARS's oil free formula. So I added a little L'Oreal concealer under my eyes, and then set it all with MAC Prep+Prim Transparent Finishing Powder (the best powder I have ever tried.
Here are the res
ults:Once I'd powdered up I was a lot happier with the results. It's a good coverage foundation that photographs well. And more to the point, it's light enough for me to use. The heavier coverage might take some getting used to, but with my skin breaking out at the moment it's nice to have a foundation that disguises it. Given the choice, I don't think I'd pick it over my NARS, but whilst I'm skint it's probably one of the best options I have, and I'm sure I'll be reaching for this fairly often. At least I can save my NARS for special occasions now. The bank manager will be pleased.
With MAC's 'MAC in HD' collection set to make an appearance this Autumn, I'll using it as an excuse to road test the Face and Body foundations (they're already perm, but have never really caught my attention). That's if they're pale enough....
