Testing Four New Foundations

If you’re a regular viewer of The Anna Edit’s YouTube channel you may have seen her video testing six different foundations over the course of six weeks. She shared thoughts and opinions on each and I’m doing something similar in this post. I have purchased a couple of new base products recently and have two drugstore foundations that have been sitting unused in my collection for a while. I will be mentioning the claims of each foundation, how each one applies and performs, doing a shade comparison and ranking the foundations from my favourite to least favourite.

When it comes to foundation I like a lightweight formula that doesn’t feel heavy on the skin. I like a foundation that offers natural coverage, evens out redness and is easy to blend. I prefer a finish somewhere between dewy and matte and one that is suited to dry skin types and doesn’t sink in to or accentuate lines.

The four foundations being put to the test are:

1. IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream in Fair
2. MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation in NW10
3. Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation in 010 Light Porcelain
4. Max Factor Miracle Match Foundation in 40 Light Ivory

Claims

IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream

• SPF 50
• Hydrates skin while diffusing the appearance of imperfections
• Full, flawless coverage that won’t crease or crack
• Anti-ageing benefits
• Delivers seven products in one

MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation

• SPF 15
• Medium, buildable coverage
• Natural matte finish that is smooth and blendable
• Oil production, shine and visible pores are kept under control by specially treated micronized pigments
• Up to 24 hours wear time
• Ideal for all skin types

Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation

• SPF 20
• Instantly reawakens skin with a healthy, radiant glow
• Light, moisturising texture applies smoothly and leaves skin feeling soft and comfortable
• Gives a flawless natural-looking finish
• Visible anti-fatigue effect with peptides and vitamin moisturising complex

Max Factor Miracle Match Foundation

• Enhances the look of skin for a healthy-looking finish
• Hydrating formula creates a natural, dewy complexion
• Blurs imperfections
• Lightweight texture for seamless blending
• Suitable for sensitive skin
• Oil free

Shade Comparison

Left to right: IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream – Fair, MAC Cosmetics Studio Fix Fluid Foundation – NW10, Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation – 010 Light Porcelain and Max Factor Miracle Match – 40 Light Ivory.

IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream is the most yellow toned but this blends out well and the product is designed to be colour correcting so it works on my skin tone and doesn’t look too dark once it is applied.

MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation is the one I feel matches my skin tone the best. It is quite pink in contrast to the IT Cosmetics CC Cream on the left but you can still see the neutral tone coming through. MAC’s shade system is really useful if you aren’t strictly warm or cool toned.

Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation looks orange-pink and this is what makes it my least favourite colour match. 010 Light Porcelain looks similar to NW10 but the more I stare at the two middle swatches the more I notice how much better NW10 blends into my natural skin colour.

Max Factor Miracle Match Foundation is probably the most neutral toned swatch and this neutral tone also translates onto the face. This shade isn’t the lightest that Max Factor do but it doesn’t pull overly warm or cool and I can get away with it. I need a touch of warmth so I don’t look washed out.

Application/Formula

IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream – This blends easily, a little bit of product goes a long way and product feels lightweight – like a soft mousse – as it is being blended into the skin. The finish is the perfect amount of matte and dewy and can easily be made to look one way or the other depending on your preference. For example, I don’t use powder often as I’m a dry skinned girl but if I was using a glowy primer with a bit of slip and this CC Cream I would powder. Alternatively I could use a primer that is not glowy and not powder as the CC Cream would add a natural dewiness to the skin on it’s own. This doesn’t have a typical foundation scent, it’s zesty and reminds me of laundry powder but fades quickly and doesn’t put me off using the product.

MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation –  This is the only one of the four foundations that claims to be matte and it still looks nicer on my skin compared to a couple of the others. It is a very soft matte finish that does not cling to dry skin and covers well. I use 1 and a half – 2 pumps to cover my face, the pumps are quite small and I find that extra half pump gives me the finish I like. The formula doesn’t feel heavy and drag across the skin and is comfortable to wear. I had a sample of this foundation last year in NW13 so if you’ve read this post you’ll know the formula is one I enjoy.

Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation – I purchased this foundation towards the end of 2018 but was focused on finishing up a couple of others first so it has sat mostly untouched since then. Upon initial application this does feel a little heavier than the previous two foundations and I feel like more buffing is required to get this blended into the skin. In comparison to MAC Studio Fix I only need one pump of Wake Me Up as more product comes out at once. This foundation is certainly the most dewy of the bunch but what I find lets this down is lack of coverage. Going in with another layer doesn’t necessarily fix it and as product feels heavier the brush soaks some up.

Max Factor Miracle Match Foundation – I can’t go past the scent of this foundation, it is the most unpleasant out of these, it’s like a cross between feet and corn chips (it’s weird). This test has taught me pricier foundations tend to have more of a lightweight formula and blend into the skin more easily. The product itself doesn’t feel heavy on the skin but the brush does soak a bit of product up. The formula feels quite thin and light and I need 2 pumps to get the coverage I like but this foundation does layer. Miracle Match is billed as hydrating and dewy but upon initial application it can be a little drying.

Performance

IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream – This CC cream can definitely be built up to full coverage and it does conceal and cover imperfections whilst still looking natural. The hydrating element of the formula means it doesn’t settle into lines around my nose and mouth. After a full day at work my face looks exactly the same as it did 10 hours earlier, there’s no fading or excess shine and my skin doesn’t feel like it’s caked in makeup. I can see why people love this, it lives up to the claims and delivers in spades!

MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation – This foundation claims to last for 24 hours and whilst I don’t wear makeup for that long this does have good lasting power. This stays put without breaking down or fading and keeps my skin looking nice and naturally made up. I think this will make such a lovely everyday foundation for work.

Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation – Where this foundation falls down for me is the lack of coverage. It barely looks like I’m wearing anything on my skin and doesn’t work unless I’m having a good skin day. It is very light coverage and doesn’t build all that well either. This can almost make me look too pink and washed out. This foundation does perform better over top of Fenty Beauty’s Pro Filt’r Primer as it is slightly more matte and combats the slipperiness of the dewy formula.

Max Factor Miracle Match Foundation – This performs better than the other drugstore option in this test. The formula feels a little drying when it is freshly applied but once product has sat on the skin for a while and my natural oils come out it looks fine. I can build this up to medium coverage which I struggled with with Wake Me Up and I also think this has decent lasting power, I don’t think it would break down too much after a day at work. I definitely think this needs to be worn in conjunction with a creamy concealer, my little pot concealer from MAC does accentuate spots and dry patches with this foundation.

Summary and Overall Ranking

Testing these four products together made me realise what I like in a foundation and put me in a better position to evaluate how they perform. Being able to compare and contrast has been useful and there are elements of each foundation I like. I will definitely be keeping two of the foundations and I want to do further testing and see how well the two foundations I didn’t enjoy as much blend with a sponge and how they perform with a different concealer applied on top. Foundation is an important step in my makeup routine and if I have to spend more to get a nicer result I’m not mad about that. I think price will be less of a factor in future foundation purchases.

The results:

1st place = IT Cosmetics CC Cream
2nd place = MAC Studio Fix Fluid
3rd place = Max Factor Miracle Match
4th place = Rimmel Wake Me Up

I ranked each foundation on six different criteria using a points system. The highest number of points, 4, was awarded to my favourite in each category, 3 points to my second favourite and so on.

(Click the image to make it bigger)

Rimmel’s Wake Me Up and Max Factor’s Miracle Match both tied on 10 points but Miracle Match has the edge as the overall look on the skin is nicer.

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Have you tried any of these foundations?

I hope you enjoyed this post. I know it was a wordy one and well done on making to the end!

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