All posts tagged rimmel

I’m still on my quest for the best drugstore foundation. I like Revlon Photoready and rely on Rimmel Lasting Finish on days where I need a little more coverage but I still want to explore. I picked up a bottle of Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation after my Lasting Finish ran out. It was on special for €6 in Boots – how could I resist!

I am always attracted to products that claim to brighten and provide a glow but products that actually achieve this are few and far between. I expected this to be like Rimmels previous anti-fatigue offering, their Recovery Foundation. Wrong in some ways but right in others – the grit in Recovery is not in Wake Me Up, thank heavens! The shimmery face however, is the same.

Here’s a photo of me wearing the foundation to give you an idea of how it looks on the skin.

I should point out that I had a hefty amount of Make Up For Ever Full Cover on my chin in this picture and a little Photoready concealer under my eyes.

So what do I think?

The good:

• I like how it looks in normal lighting and on camera – natural and fresh. It creates a soft-focus affect.
• It’s one of those Smear-it-on-n-run foundations. No need to worry about brushes and bases and over blending.
• It’s cheap.
• The shade suits the undertones in my skin – ie. this shade is not pinky
• Coverage is on the medium side of light to medium. You will need concealer for posts and discolouration – but that’s not a foundations job anyway.

The bad:

• There’s no glow for me, soft with a touch of dewy and sparkle. The sparkle level is a little more than Photoready and looks fairly obvious is harsh lighting and sunlight. (I was a bit paranoid wearing it to be honest – it could have looked fine but I didn’t want to look like a disco ball).
• Staying power is a HUGE downer for my skin (normal to combination). I had no foundation left on my chin after 2 hours, well if you don’t count the bits clinging to the side of my spot! After a full day of wearing I had hardly any product left on my face, with the exception of slightly flaky areas, which looked worse.
• The shade range doesn’t cater for fair skin. If you’re NW/NC20 or lighter you will probably have difficulty finding a shade that suits.

Would I recommend?

For my skin type, no. If you don’t want a shimmery face, no. But this could work really well on dry skin, or even normal. If you have no issues with shimmer it’s worth a look. If you look on MakeUpAlley, some people love this so it could be a skin type issue with me. Personally, I won’t be repurchasing, although I will use up the rest of the bottle – I’ll just wear it on dull days :)

As I mentioned, I bought it in Boots for €6 – it’s well worth a try for that price. You might love it. Then if it doesn’t suit your skin type there’s no need for boo hoo’s. It’s usually €10.95 I think, hardly going to break the bank but we’re all looking after out cents these days.

Have you tried this? What do you think?