Sunday 30 March 2014

L'Oreal True Match foundation and powder #C3 review & swatches + L'Oreal True Match vs Armani Luminous Silk battle

L'Oreal True Match Foundation #C3

I have no idea how long L'Oreal True Match foundation has been on the market, but it has suddenly started receiving countless enthusiastic reviews from beauty bloggers. Encouraged even more by the TV commercial
that stressed such shade variety and colour matching properties of the foundation that every woman would something for herself, I made my way to the nearest drugstore that was offering this foundation with a 40% discount. I was quite unpleasantly surprised at first to notice that the shade range available in Poland is more than limited. The shades I oscillated around had the wrong undertone or were either too dark or too light.

Finally I settled for #C3 Rose Beige. This shade definitely has strong cool undertones and when blended at the back of my hand it looks horrendously pink, as if my skin was burnt or irritated, but somehow on my face and neck it looks perfect. The colour match is fine and the foundation adjusts to the skin tone and blends in perfectly. 
This foundation offers medium coverage, of course you can always slap on more, but then it'll lose part of its charm. I find that one pump is more than enough to cover my entire face. The product glides on my face beautifully and blends evenly no matter what tool I use. I absolutely adore the healthy satin finish it offers, neither too matte nor too glowy for my oily skin.
 It does transfer a lot, my phone looks like horrible mess, if I don't set it with powder, though there's no direct need to do so as far as the appearance of the foundation on my face is concerned.
The foundation doesn't last all day but long enough to give me a chance to touch up with some less translucent powder.

In spite of a couple of very minor drawbacks, I must say this is a beautiful foundation and it deserves every positive comment it gets. What's more, if you get it on offer, it's one of the most affordable, high quality foundations in the market.

L'Oreal True Match Foundation #C3

I was so amazed at the quality of the True Match foundation that I thought I'd pair it with True Match powder, hoping it would be just as good. But it turned out to be a kind of meh product for me.

L'Oreal True Match Powder #C3

First of all, I really hate the packaging. It's made of lightweight, cheap and tacky plastic that gets scratched very easily. The compact consists of two compartments, the top one with a transparent lid contains the powder, and the bottom one has a mirror and a horrible and useless puff. The puff is way too small, it fits the size of the compact really badly. It's about 1cm shorter than the side of the pan and it just gets tossed ridiculously from side to side. And I don't think I need to mention that it's simply too small to be used all over the face. What's more it's impossible to powder your face and look in the mirror at the same time. You need to pick some powder, close the upper compartment, open the bottom one and use the mirror and then repeat all these activities if a need arises.
You may say that nobody uses tools attached to such compacts and a bathroom mirror is much more suitable than the small one in the lid, but I happen to be the person who bought this particular powder for touch ups on the go, to pair it with my foundation and now I need to carry a separate brush and a mirror to use the powder.


L'Oreal True Match Powder #C3

What about the powder itself?
The shade I picked is C3 as I thought it would match my foundation. It's a bit too dark for the time being, but that's all right as I usually get some tan in spring and it'll match my skin tone better then. In the picture above it looks very yellow, while in the one below it's much more cool-toned. In reality it seems to be a fairly neutral light beige shade. In direct sunlight I detect slight shimmer, but I can't see this on my face.

L'Oreal True Match Powder #C3

This powder is very soft and powdery, but not sheer, which means that it's best to tap the excess off the brush and very lightly sweep it where needed or it may turn cakey on the skin, especially the oilier types like mine.
I've said that it's a kind of 'meh' product for me, by which I mean it's not bad at all, but there's also nothing special about it. It works all right, I like to use it in places where my foundation tends to wear off quickly, like around my nose. I also sweep it all over to set my foundation or mattify my skin on the go, but it doesn't have any oil control properties.

L'Oreal True Match Powder #C3

I would say that this is a decent powder if you get it for a fraction of its original price, which I did. But I would think twice before getting it at full price.
And the quality of this powder certainly does not match its liquid foundation counterpart!

L'Oreal True Match Powder #C3

EDIT:
So many people claimed True Match foundation was a dupe of Armani Luminous Silk that I really needed to compare these two. I got a generous sample from Douglas perfumerie and started the process of trying these out. I put them to a most reliable test, applying them one to one side of my face, the other one to another. And guess what???? The difference is minimal, if any.
I tested Armani Luminous Silk in shade #5, which I won't deny matches my skin tone better. But as far as the consistency, feel, application and finish are concerned, the two foundations are identical. Maestro seemed to have ever more slightly better coverage, but I found its smell quite repulsive, there was something plasticky about it and it reminded me of the scent of Make Up For Ever cream eyeshadows. The scent was imperceptible on my skin, however.
I'm quite sceptical when bloggers call something a dupe. Very often only the packaging or the concept is similar, but the two products compared hardly resemble one another. But in case of L'Oreal True Match and Armani Luminous Silk foundations I can vouchsafe the two products are quite the same. There's certainly no need to get both, if I were to choose I'd consider my budget and the possibility of getting a better colour match, but there really is no need to splurge.



Disclaimer: I bought the product myself for my personal use and I am not affiliated with any company. I am not paid to do this review and everything I said here is my genuine opinion.



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