Are powder foundations a thing again? I was never a huge fan of them but I am getting a little bit on the hype because they are really easy and quick to use. They are also pretty hard to formulate so let's look at drugstore take on a powder foundation from L'Oreal.
The L'Oreal Infallible 24HR Fresh Wear Powder Foundation is a powder foundation spin on one of L'oreal's most popular foundations. It's supposed to be weightless, full coverage, matte powder foundation with blurring effect and great lasting power. It is waterproof, heatproof and sweatproof and it should also be lightweight and breathable. It comes in 14 shades, I have the shade 020 Ivory and I got it at the drugstore for 309 Crowns on sale.
It comes in a powder compact, there's a little compartment under the pan with a sponge for the application. I usually like to apply powder foundations with these little sponges because it gives great coverage. At the bottom there's also a mirror. In the pan you get 9g of product. The shade I have was the lightest at the drugstore but it's still pretty dark on me and it's probably going to be a better summer shade. It does work for me now, but only when I buff it out and use a lighter concealer.
There are many claims to this foundations. It's non-comedogenic, suitable for any skintype (even acne-prone) and it's been dermatologically tested. It can be also used wet for even better coverage. How would that work?! The texture of it feels very smooth and silky. It's a little more powdery than for example my Fenty powder foundation. But they still feel very similar.
Wear test
I applied the powder foundation with the sponge that came in the compact. I think these are actually pretty good to get a decent coverage. I would say the coverage is high-medium and the shade is a little too dark for me so after application with the sponge I buffed it a bit with my powder brush to diffuse the pigment. It worked just fine.
I also applied it over my gel bronzer, cream blush and concealer. Right under my eyes I decided to use a more lightweight loose powder so my undereyes don't get dragged down.
The base products under the powder foundation were still visible under it but a little muted. I added a little bit of bronzer on top and a tiny bit of blush as well. Everything applied well on top too. Overall I have no problem with the blendability of the products.
List of used products
NYX Bare with Me Daily Moisturizing Primer
Essence Hello Good Stuff Face Primer
Benefit Porefessional Primer
L.O.V Effectful Concealer Pen Radiance Booster, shade 040 Refreshing Nude
Maxfactor Miracle Sheer Gel Bronzer, shade 005 Light Bronze
Made by Mitchell Blursh, shade Peach Sugar
L'Oreal Infallible 24H Fresh Wear Powder Foundation, shade 020 Ivory
Milani Eyebrow Tint, shade 120 Soft Brown
Nudestix Eyebrow Gel
Essence I <3 Colour Intensifying Eyeshadow Base
Colourpop Super Shock Shadow Matte, shade Shop
Dose of Colors Block Party Eyeshadow, shade Reflexion
Rude Cosmetics Roaring 20s Reckless Eyeshadow Palette, shade Mojo
NYX Cake That! Power Eyeliner, shade Black
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil, shade Stash
L'Oreal Air Volume Mega Mascara, shade Black
Hourglass Ambient Bronzer, shade Natural Bronze Light
Essence Blushlighter Gradient Powder Blush, shade 04 Peachy Dawn
H&M Illumination Lustre Powder, shade Delicate Pearl
I Heart Revolution Green Tea Fixing Spray
e.l.f. Tinted Lip Oil, shade Coral Kiss
Wear time 12 hours
I would say that the foundation lasted pretty well. I was wearing a mask for some time, I was touching my face quite a lot and it's not looking bad if you don't go too close. If you go really upclose, you can see that there's quite a lot of separation going on where my hands probably disrupted the powder foundation. You cannot tell from 10cm and further from my face though.
The texture feels OK on the skin. It doesn't feel heavy or cakey. I like how it warmed up to my body temperature and started looking very natural about an hour into wearing it. I really like the look of powder foundations these days. Besides the separation in places where I touched my face a lot, there's nothing else I dislike. I did a little touch up in the middle of the day when I had a patchy spot on my left cheek. I went over it a bit and it worked really well. I would say that the texture adapted really well to the foundation that was already sitting on my face. I really like the texture of this product and how it wears. It really looks like skin.
Final thoughts
I am actually pretty impressed, but as usual, I am not stoked about the shades of this foundation. The range is decent but for pale skin there's never a good option. I might have to go back to the drugstore and see if there's a lighter shade for me to use. Other than that this product is pretty awesome. It's quite affordable and currently it doesn't really have any competition in the drugstore.
It has great coverage, lasts really well, doesn't feel dry on the skin and looks flawless. It really goes on full coverage when you apply it with the included sponge but it you buff it in with your powder brush, you can get very decent satin and skin-like medium coverage. I can see myself use this all the time. Especially now that doing your make just for Zoom calls requires less effort because noone's gonna really see it anyway. This is such a nice product to just slap on and look fabulous. I would highly recommend.
Have you tried any other nice powder foundations? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading!