Full Coverage Foundation from the Drugstore?!

I’ve been on the full coverage foundation train for a while now, and I fully admit that I’ve been sticking to luxury brands for the most part. The thing about the drugstore is that I rarely can find a match that isn’t too pink. Even more so, I find anything claiming full coverage is really cakey and usually only suitable for oily skin. The dry skin struggle for decent coverage at an affordable price is real you guys. So when I saw some hype online for the newly reformulated Maybelline Superstay Full Coverage Foundation, I figured it was a risk I was willing to take for a $12 price tag.

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Maybelline Superstay Full Coverage Foundation Review

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Available at Target | Walmart | FeelUnique

Everywhere I look in the last few weeks I’ve seen people raving about the newly formulated Maybelline Superstay Full Coverage Foundation. I’ve been told it’s a dupe for some of my favourite foundations: Huda Beauty FauxFilter and Estee Lauder Double Wear. So naturally, I was curious… although dubious, but I figured for $12 I could give it a chance!

The Claims: “Saturated color pigments provide an ultra-transforming effect in this long-lasting foundation. The lightweight, yet high-impact coverage formula glides onto the skin for a flawless makeup finish that lasts all day.”

My Initial Thoughts: Considering the price of this foundation, I was surprised it came housed in a glass bottle with a pump! The brand seems to be going in a sleeker, less juvenile direction with their packaging which I am loving.

I matched myself to shade 112 Natural Ivory (for reference I am MAC NC20). It was the only light shade that looked remotely yellow enough (seriously drugstore brands still need to realize that everyone with fair-light skin doesn’t have pink undertones!).

The texture is a thicker, cream formula – similar to the Huda Beauty Foundation, but minus the intense perfume. While Maybelline promotes use with a blending sponge, I tried my beauty blender and found it didn’t move and cover the skin like I wanted. So next time I tried a flat top kabuki style brush and buffed it in with completely different results!

Like the Estee Lauder Double Wear, this sets relatively fast. So I do one side of my face then move on to the other, rather than dotting all over, then blending in. It doesn’t quite spread as easily as the Huda or Estee Lauder due to the thicker formula, so I do find myself using a bit more. I don’t need more to get full coverage per se, but rather just to make the product reach all the areas that I want.

Immediately upon first application, I thought it was not neutral/yellow enough, but a strange thing happened. As it warmed up on my face for a few minutes, the foundation oxidized to a warmer tone and ended up matching perfectly! Also strangely enough, after application, I immediately thought it was too heavy and cakey, but it settled down really beautifully. Much like EL Double Wear, Superstay seems to need a couple minutes to start looking its best. In fact, I found as the day went on this just looked better and better! It didn’t fade away in patches or look dry, nor did it break down in spots like between my brows and my chin. The bottle claims 24 hour wear. I wasn’t about to test that claim because who needs to wear makeup that long?? The finish was incredibly skin-like, and didn’t settle into my pores or fine lines, and did still look amazing at the end of the night. Oh, and yes, it is full coverage!

I’m so surprisingly impressed by Maybelline Superstay – it does what it says on the bottle. I really thought this was going to be a hot mess. Instead, I get a flawless complexion that I keep catching myself in reflective objects saying, “wow that looks good!”. I would call that a major win! While I wouldn’t call it solely a dupe for Huda Beauty Faux Filter, or Estee Lauder Double Wear, I would say it’s actually a hybrid of the two of them together. If you’ve been wanting something with great coverage but don’t want to drop the cash then Maybelline Superstay is perfect.

 

Maybelline SuperStay Full Coverage Foundation

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