Favourite Affordable Foundations | Oily Skin

Hello my darlings!

Todays post is all about my favourite affordable foundations for oily skin! To me, having the perfect base for my makeup is the key to a great face. I love foundation, one might call me a foundation junkie & as a result I love trying new products & switching it up every now & then. I have heard people say the key to a great makeup look is due to a great primer but I feel like no amount of primer can fix a bad foundation, you feel me?

I’m going to talk about these foundations in order of how much I love & recommend them. So, if you’re like me & you have oily skin & are in need of a new affordable foundation, keep reading to find out my favourites.

Please note that I gave two photos for each foundation, the first to demonstrate the look of the foundation on its own in its truest form & the 2nd  to give an idea of how the foundation looks after creating a complete look. I did the same simple, everyday look with each foundation to give an idea of how they can be transformed into a complete look while not distracting from the foundation at hand.

Links to finding each foundation online are attached in each of the names.

Enjoy! 

 

1. Covergirl Queen All Day Flawless 3 in 1 Foundation

(Shade – Q840 Almond Glow)

First of all, this is my all time favourite affordable foundation & it was of course mentioned in my last post, the Ride or Die Makeup Tag ! This foundation claims to combine the properties of a foundation, concealer AND powder. Sounds little too good to be true right? but it actually does live up to its name!

I wouldn’t say I don’t use concealer with this foundation but I don’t use as much as I normally would to cover blemishes. This foundation is definitely full coverage & pretty much hides everything, I’m just a perfectionist and even the slightest sight of blemishes makes me reach for a concealer. I apply this foundation using a damp beauty blender & 2-3 pumps is about how much I use to get a full face of coverage.

If you’re like me with blemish prone skin I definitely recommend you give this foundation a try. As you can see mine is on its last leg so I need to repurchase very soon.

In reading reviews before trying this product I noticed many of them said that this foundation gave them a matte finish but I for me I think I’d call the finish less of a matte finish & more of a  skin-like/semi-matte finish. I use the shade Q840 – Almond Glow & it is pretty much the perfect shade for me with yellow/golden undertone.

This line by CoverGirl is called the Queen Collection is designed for us WOC. There are 14 rich & beautiful shades, 5 of which are darker than my shade. The fact that there are 5 shades darker than mine I think is wonderful. In most brands my shade is usually the 2nd darkest available. Therefore I give some snaps to CoverGirl for creating this Queen Collection made specifically for us!

PROS:

• Great price for very high quality product.
• Semi-matte finish.
• Excellent coverage.
• Good oil control.
• Long wearing.
• Lightweight.
• Great colour selection.
• Conceals poors.
• It has a pump! (True makeup lovers can understand how nice this is!)

CONS:

• Not accessible in all markets.

 

Availability in Jamaica:

I am yet to see this product available in Jamaica so for now only available to us online. If you know of it being available please let me know in the comments!

 

 

2. L’Oréal Infallible Pro-Matte 24HR Foundation

(Shade – Soft Sable 111) 

This is one of my newer foundations that very quickly made its way into my favourites! This foundation is super lightweight, long wearing & gives a semi-matte finish. As an oily gal the word “matte” is literally what caught me, I’ll try anything that claims to give me a matte finish. The colour selection on this foundation however leaves much to be desired since I am the 2nd darkest shade (how is that possible in 2016?).

With that being said, of course the product is not an exact match for me as you can see below. It appears a little bit ashy at first but thats nothing a little highlight & contour modification can’t fix.

I applied this foundation with my damp beauty blender & it was easily blendable to achieve a medium to full coverage look.

Like many other WOC I always have to slightly modify the colour of many foundations that I use because of the lack of variety available to us with regard to shades. That being said it was no surprised to me that I had to work with this foundation to get it to match my skin when the look was completed.

This product claims to be 24HR wearing but lets be real who is wearing foundation that long? I wear this foundation for way less than 24 hours, I would estimate around 7 hours at any given time and I only find myself blotting oil close to the 6 hour mark which I think is pretty good! I personally don’t need a foundation that lasts any longer than that so its a win in my books.

Consequently, since this is a foundation that needs to be modified a bit to blend with my complexion I wouldn’t say this is the easiest foundation to use. I personally love the quality of it & i’m accustomed to taking a little while to do my makeup but if you need a foundation that you can quickly apply & go, this definitely isn’t for you unless you can find your exact shade.

PROS:

• Great price for high quality product.
• Matte finish.
• Great coverage.
• Lightweight.
• Good oil control.
• Long wearing.
• Conceals poors.

CONS:

• Poor colour selection.

 

Availability In Jamaica:

Pharmacies

Annibelleza  (Half Way Tree Mall) – Colour matching done here.

 

 

3. Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation

(Shade – Coconut 355)

Last summer I needed to try a new everyday, affordable foundation to cope with the summertime oiliness. I therefore decided to try this product because again I heard the word “matte” 😂 & of course after hearing nothing but good things all over YouTube I just had to try it for myself. It is definitely true to its claim of being matte & poreless and I really do like it. The foundation went on pretty easily & was a breeze to blend using a damp beauty blender. Since this foundation doesn’t have a pump I tend to estimate what would be 2-3 pumps when I pour it onto the blender.

This foundation claims to be medium coverage but for the life of me I can’t get it to be more than a light coverage foundation without being cakey. At best I get it to be an “almost medium” coverage foundation. That being said I have to reach for my concealers for blemishes because as you can see in the photo above my hyper-pigmenation as well as my birthmark are very much visible.

The foundation is long wearing & I can get away with very minimal blotting throughout the day. I reach for this pretty much as my going to school foundation because I really don’t need heavy duty coverage for school & the colour is great so I don’t have to put much effort into wearing it.

The reasons I still have this in my top 4 affordable foundations regardless of my issues with coverage are that it is a perfect colour match for me & it definitely keeps my skin matte. I absolutely love the finish even though I really wish it gave me better coverage.

That being said, if you’re the total opposite of me & only need a light coverage foundation that will keep your skin matte then this is your new best friend!

PROs:

• Natural matte finish.
• Lightweight.
• Blendable.
• Doesn’t oxidize once applied.
• Long lasting.

CONS:

• The lack of a pump. The product gets very messy very quickly & there is no  real way to control how much you get out the bottle.
• When I have dry patches this foundation clings to them like no other.
• Limited colour selection for deeper skin tones.
• Light coverage. (Wont cover blemishes)

 

Availability In Jamaica:

Pharmacies

Annibelleza  (Half Way Tree Mall) – Colour matching done here.

 

4. L’Oréal True Match Super Blendable Foundation

(Shade – Cappuccino N8)

This was the first affordable foundation that I ever loved. I used countless others before this one but when I found this I kicked all the others to the curb. This isn’t my usual full coverage type of foundation but it is buildable to give medium coverage.

I apply one layer of the product again, estimating what I would imagine would be 2-3 pumps, with a damp beauty blender & build it up in my problem areas without the foundation feeling or looking cakey, leaving me with medium coverage. As you can see in the photo below some of my imperfections can be seen but nothing too serious.

If you attempt to get any more than medium coverage you can enter cake-face zone, in a bad way. So therefore I do use a concealer in problem areas to get my desired level of coverage since as you know, I am a full coverage kind of gal.

This foundation gives  a skin-like satin finish with a beautiful soft glow and it blends perfectly into the skin to really give a true match, as the name proclaims

The shades of this foundation come in 3 undertones. The undertones available are warm,neutral & cool which is great since foundation shouldn’t be a one size fits all product. I use the shade N8 (surprisingly since I usually tend to lean towards warmer undertones) & I believe there are at least 2 or 3 shades darker than mine in each of the undertones. Definitely a good selection of colours available in this foundation.

This foundation is 4th on my list because it really isn’t very long wearing at all. I often find myself wearing this when I know i’m only going to be out for a couple of hours because it definitely gets greasy & feels a little heavy at about the 4 hour mark. It can definitely be worn for longer & I do wear it longer sometimes, just be prepared to blot.

PROS:

• Great colour selection.
• Medium coverage.
• Skin-like finish.
• Blends well.
• Good pigmentation, bottle lasts a long time.

CONS:

• The lack of a pump. Like the Maybelline, the product gets very messy very quickly.
• Consistency is very watery/runny.
• Not long wearing, tends to feel greasy after about 4 hours.

 

Availability In Jamaica:

Pharmacies

Annibelleza  (Half Way Tree Mall) – Colour matching done here.

THERE YOU HAVE IT!

These are my top picks for affordable foundation. Let me know in the comments if you have ever tried any of these or if you have any recommendations for me. Whether its a new foundation to try or ways to apply some of the ones in this post to get my desired coverage, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Talk to you guys soon,

xo Justine-Renee

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