Revlon Colorstay Foundation

3.15.2010

Revlon Colorstay Foundation

I've been waiting to review this for a while, but I spent almost a week after my purchase trying to find the right shade. I'm usually a powder-kind-of-girl; as I don't like to take a whole lot of time doing my make-up and I like things I can take with me.  Sometimes I don't mind taking the extra time though, and I'm always reading rave reviews about CS, so I relented and bought a liquid foundation.  It cost me $10 on sale; usual cost was $13, a little on the expensive side for a drug-store brand.  This foundation has been popping up in blogs, reviews, and even on You-Tube and compared to MAC's Studio Fix Fluid foundation.

I originally purchased it in 220 Natural Beige for normal/dry skin.  In my opinion, the 220 for oily/combo skin looks a better match, but I don't think my skin could handle anything made for oily skin.  220 is supposed to be the equivalant to MAC NW20.

Claims:
-moisture-balanced
-Soft-flex technology- provides long wear coverage that won't crack or rub-off with normal activity
-SPF 15 or 6 (I'm not sure why, but there are 2 different SPF formulas)
-Natural flawless look
-16 hour wear

Okay, so back to my "story".  I purchased the 220 Natural Beige and thought it looked brilliantly perfect in the store, but when I got home it seemed a *tad* dark.  I returned it and tried the 180 Sand Beige (too yellow), and the 150 (better, but slightly yellow and left me looking 'pale') and the 210 Ivory (which blended nicely, didn't have the yellow undertone, but I was scared would be too light...I will be purchasing a bottle of this as my "mixer" if I need to lighten up my 220).

All of that and I ended up right back at the 220 Natural Beige!  I don't think I've ever gone through so much hassle for a bit of make-up before, nor am I the type to do so.  Was it worth it?  Completely.  This is my HG foundation!  It does everything it's supposed to.  Even for a foundation noob like me, it was easy to apply and layered well.  The formula is creamy, and blends in to look just like skin.  Only better.  It took away my redness, and even most of my dark circles sans concealer.  With concealer, no more dark circles!  It dries/sets rather quickly, and once it does it stays put.

One of my favorite things about this foundation is that it doesn't transfer.  I don't have a bluetooth, I use my cell-phone the old fashioned way, and this didn't even rub off on my screen.  This is the FIRST foundation EVER to do that!

It matches my skin wonderfully, at first I doubted it a bit but that was my fault, lol.  My face tends to be a different color than the rest of my body, and this evened me out perfectly!  My skin looks more 'healthy' when I'm wearing this, and even feels a little softer.  It also looks very natural.  I don't want to look like I'm wearing make-up.  It has medium coverage, but you can build it or water it down any way you like.  My boyfriend even likes this stuff. 

16 hour wear?  Yes, and more.  I fell asleep with this one twice and it was still on in the morning.  I still didn't break out, which was a surprise.  I always break out if I sleep in my make-up. :(

The oily/combo skin formula dries to matte finish (I had to buy the 150 in the oily formula because my store was out of the dry) and the normal/dry gives a semi-matte, slightly dewy finish.  I like the matte look, because anything else makes me look oily; except for this.  The 'glow' that this gives my skin is so pretty, I skip setting my make-up with powder when I wear this.  I love this foundation, it really does wonderful things for my skin!
So there's my CS story.  The reviews were dead on, I L.O.V.E. this stuff!  I'm even willing to buy a second bottle to mix shades because I love this foundation so much!  It wears all day, doesn't settle into lines or pores, or break me out. 

Cons
Funny smell in the bottle, a little like paint (goes away after you apply it)
SPF 6...6? Why bother?  Up the SPF or leave it!
Streaky when applied with my ELF foundation brush (I really blame the brush, but it's worth mentioning)
*slightly* orange tint (or is that an upside?  I look more tan!)

Rating
4.5