Hello all of you! Matte foundations have been gaining a lot of popularity lately. Every brand has its own version of matte or soft matte foundations, it’s kinda hard to choose which one would suit you. Even when the weather is dry, it seems like there are no hints of matte makeup products going away. If you have the oily skin type, you’re definitely gonna need at least a few of these mattifiers, but at the same time, you don’t wanna risk buying anything that will ghost on you, or cake at least. Personally, I find matte foundations to be quite a challenge to use with. They just kinda make my face look flat, undefined and kinda aged.
I’ve been testing a few mattifying foundations lately and most of you may have heard their names/brands already. I narrowed down my choices to the top 5, or should I say, the best 5 matte/mattifying/soft matte foundations according to my test and experience with them. I’d like to say that they’re all really great matte foundations, but some are much better than the others.
5 Milk Makeup Blur Liquid Matte Foundation in Medium Light (1 oz: $40) – A water-based, weightless, oil-free, silicon-free, full-coverage mattifying foundation. It has a fruity smell in an easy lightweight packaging. This formula doesn’t need to be applied a lot because even though it’s water-based, it’s still very pigmented. The matte effect is on the soft side, so it still gives a natural look, and it does a great job of hiding imperfections.ย However, after 4 hours of being into it, this foundation started to break apart and it was kinda sliding. It also settled into the pores and crease lines, so wearing this for long hours is not a good idea. I suggest using this only for a couple of hours, like running errands.
4 Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation in 210 (1.08 oz: $34) – Another oil-free foundation that’s meant to be lightweight, buildable, with a medium to full coverage. It doesn’t have any strong scents, and it’s one of those true soft matte foundations I’ve even tried. I like that it feels really light on my skin and it blends into it easily. I also notice that it’s really good at resisting sweat and humidity. Though I wish that it had an added Spf, I still like the fact that it doesn’t break on the skin after hours and hours of wear, so I didn’t have any caking issues with it. This foundation’s effect is a soft natural matte, which still allows for facial definition with complete skin coverage. It might have kinda settled on my pore’s hours later, but only very slightly and it decreases the shine on my face for a long time. On top of that, there’s a whole lotta shade range in this line, so for sure, you will find that right tone for your skin.
3 Yves Saint Laurent All Hours Full Coverage Matte Foundation in B30 (0.84 oz: $58) – Here’s a high-end full-coverage mattifying foundation that is also oil-free, noncomedogenic, and infused with black tea antioxidant. This has a soapy-floral scent that is kinda not my cup of tea. When I first tried this, I didn’t really like it. The formula feels too thick and too creamy, so I could feel it kinda sitting on top of my skin. Also, this slides and moves a lot, but I realize that it takes quite a while for it to settle on the face. It has a soft matte effect but you cannot go overboard with this because it’s so pigmented that it almost feels like a concealer. I was gonna put this at my top four, with the Fenty Pro Filt’r as my top three, in fact, I was really torn, but what I like about this is that it didn’t settle on my pores at all, not even on my fine lines. Several hours into the wear, and this foundation seems to keep getting better and better. It didn’t dry my skin, no caking, and it gave me a soft natural glow. Also, love that it comes in Spf 20.
2 Laura Mercier Flawless Fusion Ultra-Longwear Foundation in 2N2 Linen (1 oz: $48) – Oil-free, long-wearing, matte with a medium to full coverage foundation. I really like that this formulation has no detectable scent. It feels really lightweight on my skin and I love that soft matte effect while covering all my redness and blemishes. It’s also sweat/water resistant and you also don’t need to apply a lot. It’s pretty well-pigmented being a lightweight matte foundation, so too much of this can give you that cakey foundation look if you’re not careful. This just gives me a nice no caking coverage. I’m a long time fan of Laura Mercier foundations, especially the Candleglow Soft Luminous Foundation (reviewed HERE), and I feel like this particular foundation is a good matte alternative. I just wish it came with an SPFย and more range of shades. Sigh…
1 Dior Diorskin Forever Perfect Foundation Broad Spectrum Spf 35 in 034 Almond Beige (1 oz: $52) – My first honor in all matte foundations so far. Never knew I could love a matte foundation this much, and frankly, I didn’t really expect much from this foundation. I’ve never owned a lot of Dior foundations before, and I was never really a fan. But this 16-hour medium-coverage luminous matte foundation deserves its Allure Best of Beauty Award. Something is really nice about this foundation. It’s mattifying but it doesn’t cake, it doesn’t settle into fine lines or creases, and it has a natural matte effect that just doesn’t make your face look flat. The formula is the lightest I’ve tried, not too creamy, not too watery, it just melts right into your skin without moving around, and it sets fast yet you still have enough time to blend. No need for finishing powders or some extra exorcisms, just spread and go. LOL, my kind of foundation. It takes away the shines off my face while feeling really comfortable with it all day long. Somehow, it reminds me of Chanel Perfection Lumiere Velvet (reviewed HERE), but with more pigment and coverage to it. It’s almost perfect, even the strong floral scent is a delight and it doesn’t bother me, but it does tend to oxidize slightly on me, but it’s hardly noticeable, so not a problem at all. However, I wish there will be more shades to choose from this range in the future, but anyways, I highly recommend this.
There’s goes my top 5 favorite matte foundations. I like them all and they’re all good but they’re not all the same. If you’re looking for a good almost all-around matte foundation that is not super high-end, I think Fenty’s Pro Filt’r is a good choice, but it doesn’t have any Spf though. If you’re into fancy schmancy matte foundations complete with Spf, gorgeous scent, medium to full coverage that lasts a long time, then go for Dior Forever Perfect Foundation.
Hmmm, I’m currently eyeing the newly-released Diorskin Forever Undercover Foundation which is a water-based, 24-hour, full-coverage foundation. We’ll see how it fares with the Dior Forever Perfect Foundation. Updates soon…
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