Skin Perfecting Comfort Matte Foundation

3 Reviews

1. 

   artisticSheep5

   Reply

   This foundation really surprised me. It has a decent coverage and stays matte (approx. 8 hrs). It also stays true to its promise of making your skin smooth and lessens your problematic texture.

   I am NC 20 and 140 Cool Bare matches me okay. It is leaning more neutral (pinkish) but I can get away with it once the makeup is all done.

   Quick tip, this foundation will only work if you use a sponge. I find that once the foundation sets, it has a powdery finish (my dry skin gals may not like this) and you may want to set your oily t zone and leave the rest un-powdered. It slightly moves once the oil breaks through the foundation. However, for 8 hours it looks very polished makeup look. This is not a foundation for a no makeup – makeup look, ladies.

   Overall, I am quite satisfied and yes no pump! However, the formula compensates for its lacklustre packaging. Hope this review helps!

2. 

   pleasedGnu2

   Reply

   I love this foundation. I am 68, and was uncertain about purchasing a product with a matte finish but this is great. The previous reviewer made a big deal of the lack of a pump on the bottle but I don’t think the presence or absence of a pump impacts the performance of a foundation. I apply it with a damp sponge (Cool Nude) and it blends in beautifully with my slightly pink, fair skin. I finish it with ELF’s HD loose powder ( the shimmer one, also a huge fave of mine) and it’s perfect. I like the way it blends – it is buildable – and I like the fact that it does not look like I am wearing foundation. The color selection may not be perfect – drug store foundations tend to have fewer choices – but I am good with the color selection. A great product!

3. 

   alertLocust3

   Reply

   *** Product bought with my own money ***

   Application method : sponge

   PROS :
   – average consistency that’s easy to blend,
   – instant true matte finish (at least on me),
   – decent lasting power (not stunning, just good) as long as the skin is not oily,
   – natural finish, neither cakey nor too makeupey,
   – light to medium coverage (at best),
   – not drying and comfortable to wear.

   CONS :
   – slightly gooey texture (though less gooey than Almay TLC Makeup) which is still too thick to fill in pores,
   – emphasizes pores immediately,
   – creases very badly on oily areas within 2 hours,
   – settles in expression lines (except around eyes which is my driest area),
   – average shine control,
   – no blurring effect (just the opposite of the so called “optical blurring technology” claimed by Almay),
   – limited shade range,
   – no pump,
   – bad quality control.

   This foundation is a mixed bag for me.

   On the one hand it has a true matte finish (which I love), is easy to blend and has a decent lasting power.

   But on the other hand, it creases and cakes on oily areas as soon as oil peeks through, settles in every lines (forehead and smile lines), and emphasizes pores upon contact (and even further as day goes on).

   I can’t see the logic of launching a true matte foundation that works only on normal to dry skin while the most logical targeted skin types should be the oily/combo ones.

   I can’t find a good match : 100 Cool Ivory is a touch too light (but way too pink) and 110 Neutral Buff is one to two shades too dark (but has a gorgeous yellow undertone without any peachiness). This does not necessarily worsen my rating, it just means there’s not my shade in this range. I end up mixing 100 and 110 in equal parts to get a decent match (but I hate mixing shades, it’s a waste of time and product). There are at least several shades missing between 100 and 110 as there’s a huge jump between them (check the link at the end of my review).

   I’d like to point out the poor quality control :
   – the consistency of the foundation changes from one shade to another : 100 Ivory is way thicker (and has more coverage) than 110 Neutral Buff, then 120 Cool Bisque (just bought this one for comparisons) is thicker again,
   – the label doesn’t stick well to the bottle (there are lots of air bubbles under it) and the silver printings flake and vanish super fast.

   Now let’s talk about the missing pump. Seriously, Almay, how can you launch a new foundation in a glass bottle without a pump on it ??! The formula is too thick to easily pour it out of the bottle, and such an old-school bottle doesn’t offer good control over the amount of product you get (which means it’s messy and there’s a waste of product). I’ve seen on Almay’s Instagram account that they claim the lack of pump is a choice of theirs “to eliminate the use of unnecessary plastics in our packaging”. This is hypocritical as they are still launching new products with plastic-based packagings. If they really wanted to use less plastic, without penalizing users who like the praticity of a pump, they should at least sell reusable pumps.

   I just think they removed the pump to reduce the manufacturing process, nothing laudable here.

   As shown on the following picture, I fitted pumps on my bottles. The Colorstay pump works fine (you’ll have to change the pipe that goes into the product as it’s too short) but the cap becomes tricky to put back as it does not touch the bottle anymore (you may accidentally press the pump if you push the cap too far). I chose to use other pumps with a 24/410 ring and a long pipe that I can cut at the right length.

   Also here are dry swatches of the three lightest shades compared to my go-to foundation in the two shades that match me the best (Urban Decay Stay Naked in 20NN and 20WY)

   ALMAY Skin Perfecting Comfort Matte Foundation 100 Cool Ivory
   ALMAY Skin Perfecting Comfort Matte Foundation 110 Neutral Buff
   ALMAY Skin Perfecting Comfort Matte Foundation 120 Cool Bisque
   URBAN DECAY Stay Naked Weightless Liquid Foundation 20NN
   URBAN DECAY Stay Naked Weightless Liquid Foundation 20WY

   Will I repurchase ? Absolutely not ! Even if there was a good shade match, the overall performances are just average (except for the gorgeous-but-short-lived matte finish). Let’s hope that Revlon (which is Almay’s parent company) will launch their own version with a more sophisticated and better performing formula.