10 October 2013

Estèe Lauder Double Wear Stay In Place Foundation


Ask someone for a foundation recommendation, and I can guarantee Estèe Lauder Double Wear will get suggested more than once. And it's pretty easy to see why, Double Wear has a huge cult following and is one of the best selling foundations in the UK - Everyone seems to have it, had it or wants it. It promises an impressive 15 hour wear time, medium-full coverage with a natural semi-matte finish - Seriously, what's not to love about that!

I've been wearing foundation since year 7, which yes may seem young now I look back at it, but I started getting spots, blackheads and acne aged 10 and it had a serious effect on my confidence just before I started high school. I dread to think what I must have looked like, but I felt good so it doesn't really matter. Now aged 21 I can say I have tried almost every foundation available in my quest for perfection, but astonishingly I've never bought the same foundation twice. 

I started using Double Wear about 2 years ago, after reading countless claims and even odes to this so-called holy grail foundation. I went to the Estèe Lauder counter in Cardiff, and honestly had the worst counter experience ever, but I was so excited to try out this foundation I didn't let it bother me. When I used this the next day, I was pretty underwhelmed by it - It was just a very standard looking foundation, medium coverage, hard to blend and with no pump making it extremely hard to use. I would say it took around 12 attempts to get this to work for me, using different primers, moisturisers and application techniques before I had cracked the code to making this just about work.    

I found Double Wear very hard to blend into the skin, you have to be quick as it dries and almost sets which means it won't move.. So start with a decent moisturiser and a primer to help it blend a little better. The foundation sets a natural-matte finish, which is great for oily skins but not so much for dry as it will emphasise any little patch of dryness you may have. It looked quite flat on my face, which had to rectified with blush and highlighter as it seemed to totally wash me out. On my oily skin, I found that this foundation fell into any fine line I had and cracked around my eyes which subsequently aged me about 20 years which as you can imagine isn't at all a good look. On the plus side, this foundation lasts on the skin like no other. It will last you 9-5 with only the slightest touch up of power required. When removing this foundation I would seriously suggest a double cleanse to remove all traces of the long wearing formula, otherwise you're looking at pore-clog central.  

I don't think I'll buy Estèe Lauder Double Wear again, almost £30 for a pretty basic looking but long wearing foundation isn't really worth it in my opinion. Which means I'm still on the hunt for 'the one' so your suggestions are very welcome!

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