Review: Foundations for Fair Skin (1)- Estee Lauder, Lise Watier

So, I'd like to start this out by saying that I am a ghost. Like, not a real ghost. I'm not actually dead and I don't hang around creepy places scaring people (okay, maybe a little) but if you look at my complexion, I might as well be dead because I'm so pale. Needless to say, it is virtually impossible to find a foundation that actually matches and does all the things I need it to. Not only am I extremely pale, but my skin is very discoloured in places and I also have acne scars and severe redness in some spots that so far has been impossible to hide. All in all, there's a lot to cover up and its proven to be very difficult to do so. I've tried everything from this point: low end stuff averaging from $7-$15, high end stuff costing around $50 and I've gone through three different lines of Estee Lauder foundations. You see, I'm extremely picky and I want the $40-$50 I spend to actually be worth it and when it's not, I tend to get upset. Add to the fact that I don't like slathering my face with concealers and creams etc because it always causes breakouts and you have a girl that is very difficult to please.

Let's start with this:

I've used Almay's Complexion Corrector in Ivory, it's too dark. I've used Cover Girl and it melts off within an hour. I've used Mabelline and it's the same thing as the Cover Girl. When I used Revlon, it made me break out like crazy! So after all of this, I decided to go get properly colour matched and invest some good money into something that would make me look normal and not like some melty faced oompa loompa. This is where the story begins.

Last year, when I was at Anime North, we had some time before heading to our hotel so we went to Yorkdale Mall in Toronto to do some shopping. Since my makeup obsession is certainly nothing new, I went straight for Sephora and asked for assistance in colour matching since clearly I wasn't having any luck on my own. Now, I won't go into detail with the whole sordid tale but I will say this: I was treated poorly, was told to buy Estee Lauder's Double Wear in Cool Bone (1W1) which is the lightest shade of this line.

The Sales Rep put it all over my face and it looked like it matched. I knew right away when I put it on myself the next morning that it was definitely a little too dark for me, which is very unfortunate. At that point, I was willing to deal with something that was slightly too dark because I actually really liked this foundation. I found that even for a medium coverage foundation, it was lightweight and it actually did cover everything that I felt I needed covered. It was also buildable, so if I layered it on problem areas, let it dry, and then added another layer, those problem areas literally disappeared. After a week of use, however, I realised that this foundation was just too dark and I couldn't wear it without looking like I was trying to be orange. I feel like I still compare every foundation I try to this one, so if you can wear it, I highly recommend this. It just wasn't right for me. 

After this little mishap, I went to my local Sears where I was informed that the Cool Bone shade was the lightest, and I would not be able to use this line. I was colour matched there for Estee Lauder's Lucidity line, which I never actually got to try because they were out of stock in my shade. Instead, I was sold the Invisible Fluid line in 1N1, again the lightest shade available. 

Despite my love for the Double Wear line, I did not like this foundation at all. It was far too sheer for me and my skin problems. Wearing this foundation literally looked like I was wearing nothing on my face and for someone with so much redness and scarring, this is just not something that I want. It was like the sales rep didn't even listen to my concerns and sold me something that matched my skin tone. I wouldn't have even known if it was too dark or not, since it was that sheer. I may as well have left my house without even putting on a BB Cream. Needless to say, I returned this  foundation within the week and went elsewhere to find something that would actually work.

The next foundation that I was matched to was Lise Watier's Teint Mousse Mattifyant in Ivoire. 

The good news is, I did not return this foundation, the bad news is that I did not re-purchase it either. I would say that this is a light to medium coverage foundation. For some reason, my skin is much better in the summer than the winter. I don't question it, I just go with it, so a light to medium coverage mostly worked. I did wear a BB Cream beneath it, L'Oreal's, and the two together were satisfactory. I was told in store that this foundation was buildable, it was not. I was also told it matched perfectly, it did not, but it was very close- just a tad too dark (which is the story of my life). While I won't buy this again, as long as one goes in with their eyes open to it, I do recommend it for people with better skin than I have. It was lightweight and easy to apply, although I don't recommend using a brush; it just doesn't work.

It seems that after this many trials, I should have been able to find something that worked for me, this is not the case. In part two, I will discuss Lancome's  Teint Idole Ultra in 110 Ivoire C, Estee Lauder's Maximum Coverage Camouflage Makeup in Very Light and Bobbi Brown's Long Wear Even Finish Foundation in Porcelain. I'm hoping to try Kat Von D's Light 42 as soon as I can make it back down to Toronto since I still haven't found that perfect foundation.