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| MUA Matte Foundation |
Hi Beauties,
Today’s Blog post is a review of the M.U.A Matte Foundation.
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| MUA Matte Foundation |
I have been using this foundation for quite a few months now. I purchased it from the M.U.A website when they had a 3 for 2 offer on.
This foundation retails at a mere £2 for the regular 30 ml of product, so it is well and truly a budget product. I purchased this foundation in the lightest shade out of the three available.
My shade is: Shade 1 Soft Sand.
Here’s what M.U.A have to say about this product on the back of the pack:
“A creamy texture that blends beautifully for that perfect velvet finish and long-lasting matte complexion”.
Although, I do like this foundation and I would recommend giving it a try, I have found a few issues with it.
The first one is the ‘matte’ labeling. This foundation gives a very dewy appearance in my opinion, even though I always set my foundation with powder. I have tried this over various moisturizers, including a matte finish one, and yet the only time this foundation ever comes close to a matte finish is if I powder very heavily but even then, it doesn’t stay matte looking for very long.
This foundation can actually last and look quite good on the skin for a fair few hours if necessary (perhaps up to 8 hours) on my normal/combination skin providing I blot and powder a couple of times throughout the day.
I think that the ingredients list for this product may hold some possible clues to explain this ‘matte’ foundation’s non-matte like appearance. The top five ingredients are: Aqua (Water), Paraffinum Liquidum (Mineral oil, main ingredient in baby oil) Isopropyl Myristate (a synthetic oil), Petroleum Jelly ( a.k.a Vaseline) and Glycerin. From the top two oil ingredients after Aqua, I would generally consider this to be an oil based foundation. The 4th and 5th ingredients, Petroleum Jelly and glycerin respectively, are notoriously shine inducing agents. With this combination of main ingredients, it’s not really surprising that this foundation doesn’t give a particularly matte finish!
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| MUA Matte Foundation |
However, another problem with this foundation is i’m pretty sure it ends up looking quite a bit darker at the end of the day than it did when it was first applied. I think this may be down to oxidization (a chemical reaction between the natural oils on your skin mixing with the ingredients in the foundation).
Negatives aside, this is a pretty decent foundation, especially for shorter wear periods rather than all-day wear. For the price, it’s pretty good and possible oxidation aside, the coloring is alright for a light foundation as it’s not too dark or yellow/orange toned. It does blend fairly well, but it takes quite a lot of effort to get it looking even. The formula is quite thick and creamy which may be a plus for some people and a negative for others. Perhaps owing to it’s thickness, this does actually give quite good coverage (probably medium to full) which is rare for a budget foundation and it is also quite buildable which is good for areas where you desire fuller coverage but the thickness of the formulation can make blending it in hard work.
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| MUA Matte Foundation_Blob |
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| MUA Matte Foundation_Spread Out |
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| MUA Matte Foundation_Blended In |
In Summary
Pros:
– Excellent budget friendly price (£2.00)
– High coverage formula is quite rare for a budget foundation
– Reasonable wear time if touched up when necessary
– Doesn’t stick to dry skin patches or highlight imperfections
– Doesn’t have much of a noticeable / unpleasant fragrance
– Readily available from either Superdrug or the M.U.A website
– A little goes a long way so this product won’t run out quickly
– Easiest to apply with fingers
Cons:
– Dewy / shiny texture as opposed to the matte finish advertised
– Possible darkening of foundation (oxidization) throughout the day
– The mineral oil and petroleum jelly in this make me slightly cautious as I think these ingredients could potentially contribute towards acne in some people.
– Thick formula is blendable and buildable, with some considerable time and effort!
Thanks for visiting my little blog. Please feel free to join in the fun and leave a comment below as I love reading each and every one!
Hanna Rose a.k.a Miss Beauty Saver xoxox
Interesting. MUA have been repackaging a lot of their products lately and I'm surprised that they still offer this alongside their new Matte Perfect line.
That's a really good point and I have wondered about that too. I suspect that this older product may be discontinued in the near future with the new Matte Perfect line taking over. Although interestingly, upon comparing the ingredients list, I've discovered that both foundations contain exactly the same ingredients in the same order, so it looks like the actual formulation has stayed the same and it's just the packaging that has changed.