Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Let me start off by saying that I absolutely love makeup and I have a huge collection of everything from dollar store to high end, but foundation isn’t something that I typically shop around for. I have tried various different foundations, but I always go back to my one tried and true holy grail foundation: Estée Lauder Double Wear. I’ve been using it for the last 10 years and my mother has used it faithfully for the last 15-20. Not only does it give a flawless finish, but it could last through a hurricane with its 24hr wear. At $42 a bottle, I’ve always found that it really is worth the price for all of the positives it packs. I have “combination” skin that typically leans on the more dry side. I do, however, get pretty oily on the sides of my nose and the middle of my forehead (the “t-zone”). I recently started watching a beauty blogger who uses the Wet n Wild Photofocus pretty frequently in her videos. I looked at the foundation in a store here that carries it but they only had about 6 shades and none of them were close to my shade. I stumbled across the foundation on Amazon for $5 and figured “what the heck?! It’s only $5!” First I went onto Wet n Wilds website and looked at all the different shades they carry so I would get a good idea of where I thought I might fall. In Estée Lauder I wear 2n1 Desert Beige so I decided to order the Photofocus in Nude Ivory which is also a neutral shade that’s pretty fair but not as fair as porcelain. When I got the foundation I was excited to try it but I was also VERY skeptical. Too many times I’ve been fooled by the hype around a drug store foundation that turned out to be awful for me and came nowhere close to comparing to my Double Wear. I first tried it on all over my face at night just to see how the color match looked and to see if it oxidized any after it dried down. It was literally a PERFECT match. I was concerned when I first opened the bottle because it seemed to look and feel very thin. The smell didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would after reading other reviews. I put it on using a stippling foundation brush and it was a more medium coverage until I applied a little more and it was a more medium-high coverage. It is very buildable which I like! The finish was beautiful and after it dried down it gave my skin a very airbrushed look without settling into any fine lines. I was surprisingly pleased but I knew the true test would be how it survived an entire work day. I work in a very busy restaurant. I’m constantly running around and going back and forth into a 100 degree kitchen. It isn’t uncommon for my steps to track anywhere from 6-12 miles per shift depending on how busy we are. I’m also pretty hot-natured anyway so the sweating is inevitable! Most foundations will slide right off your face by the end of the night! I wore it to work yesterday for the first time. I applied it around 2:00 and worked an entire busy hot shift. I took this photo at midnight before I left to go home and my foundation STILL LOOKED JUST AS FLAWLESS!! I do use a silicone based primer, baking powder, and matte setting spray to extend the life of my foundations. It passed my test and exceeded every expectation I had which is unbelievable for a $5 foundation! I’m honestly shook at the fact that a $5 Wet n Wild foundation is the first foundation that’s been able to come close to comparing to the much more expensive Estée Lauder high-end counterpart!!!! TL;DR: If you’re on the fence, buy it! This pic is after wearing it for an entire sweaty shift at the end of a 10 hour day. After faithfully wearing $42 Estée Lauder Double Wear makeup for the last 10 years, this is the first foundation out of any high-end or drugstore that is truly comparable and worthy of being called a “dupe”. I have extremely sensitive “combination” skin that is very dry with an oily t-zone. I’m 2n1 in Estée and the WnW neutral shade Nude Ivory is a PERFECT MATCH and it’s only $5!!!!!! This is definitely a new staple in my makeup collection!