Review: L'Oreal Infallible 24H Matte foundation

As some of you who know me may know, I love make up. I am forever trying out new products and like seeing what works for me. Usually, it's mascara that I tend to buy loads of as I get bored and want to try something new (more often than not I will end up going back to what I know!), but lately I have been searching for a good drugstore foundation.

I have worn Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation for years in the shade 2W1 Dawn and I love it. However, at £32 a bottle, it's not a foundation that I really want to wear every day, especially as some days I'm not really seeing anyone but I still want to wear a bit of make up. My skin is a nightmare - I have hyperpigmentation and it's really oily so I like medium to full coverage foundations that will keep me pretty matte throughout the day. I looked around online and saw that L'Oreal Infallible 24H Matte foundation seemed to be a popular choice with great reviews so I thought I would give it a go.

The description of it on the Boots website says of the foundation: "Introducing New Infallible 24HR Matte Foundation by L'Oreal Paris. A matte result that lasts up to 24 hours. Clinically proven; waterproof, steamproof. All the comfort, none of the shine. Perfect coverage. No Cakey effect. Easy to apply, enriched with perlite technology, and reduces the appearance of shine up to 24 hours". 

Sounds good. I swatched a couple of the shades and found that all of them had pretty pink undertones. I am half South American with yellow undertones. However I really wanted to try it so I bought it in the shade 13 beige rose, which seemed to be not a completely bad match when I swatched it on my hand and also on my neck. (Whenever I am trying out a new foundation I always try the colour on my neck as my hand is a different colour to my face so I am more likely to get a closer colour match by doing it this way). 

To prep my skin, I used The Body Shop Tea Tree Oil toner and moisturiser and then applied The Body Shop All-in-One Instablur primer (one of the very few primers that doesn't make my skin break out). I applied the foundation using my fingers (shock horror, I don't use beauty blenders or foundation brushes! I've always just used my fingers and find that this works for me so I stick with that!). The coverage is buildable, I would say a medium to full coverage and I applied a bit extra on my nose and my chin to get a fuller coverage. It gave me really good coverage with a semi-matte finish. I also used powder on top of it to make it that bit more matte. 

The foundation does actually wear pretty well throughout the day. It definitely does not provide 24 hour matteness on my skin; my nose was starting to show some oil breakthrough after 4 hours but it blots away pretty easily without disturbing the foundation too much. It also doesn't oxidise and the colour stays true which is always a bonus.The foundation was still on my face at the end of the day and even though my nose was pretty shiny by this point, the rest of my face looked pretty good. I wouldn't say completely matte but definitely not that far off. 

I wanted to love this foundation, I really did. For people with pink undertones and a skin type similar to mine, I think that you would love this foundation. At £7.99 you really can't go wrong. By looking at reviews and colour swatches online, it looks like the colours in the US vary slightly and that there could be more yellow tones available there in which case, you may well find your perfect match. However, for me, the only downside of this was that it was just that bit too pink. I think I could probably get away with it without it being too noticeable to anyone else but I would prefer something with more of a neutral to yellow undertone. The search continues! If you have any recommendations, let me know!