Quick Read: Not a fan. Because it separates on my skin, is not transfer-proof, melts away in heat and humidity, and provides only sheer coverage at best. I can see this working in colder weather or for people who do not need a lot of coverage, but for me this simply didn’t work.
Read on for my detailed review
Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation
MRP: Rs. 549
Quantity: 50ml
The Packaging
This Maybelline foundation comes in a thick glass bottle which is sturdy and travel-friendly. The pump is helpful, too.
My experience with the product
The Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless liquid foundation is a universal favourite, the go-to of every woman young at heart, and a wildly affordable product. It’s available in 40 “super saturated shades” globally and in 18 shades in India, so finding your best fit shouldn’t be a problem though it may take a bit of a trial and error.
I purchased the wrong shade for my skin – Ivory 115. I should have picked up a beige shade, preferably Light Beige or Buff Beige (I think). Picking up the wrong shade is my fault, but this review is not about the colour but about the formula of the foundation and how it sat on my skin.
I love a matte foundation because, hey, us oily-skinned folk come blessed with shine. This was definitely matte but didn’t control shine beyond the first 30 minutes of application.
I also found the Maybelline Fit Me foundation to be not at all transfer-proof. It came off very easily. It couldn’t withstand natural oiliness, or heat, or humidity, and in less than 2 hours on a July afternoon in Gurgaon, this foundation had almost completely melted away.
I wasn’t happy with its coverage either. As someone who had at that point ample acne marks on her face, this foundation did nothing to even out the skin tone. I also found it very sheer and not at all long-lasting. That’s my main beef with it.
The company promises this foundation minimizes the appearance of pores but that was not my experience. If anything, pores looked enlarged on my face. One day at the Delhi airport, just a few minutes before my boarding call, when I made a trip to the ladies’ room I noticed the foundation getting blotchy and coming off in patches on my face. To the best of my knowledge I hadn’t been sweating in the air-conditioned airport, nor had I been exceptionally oily that day. I had never seen that happen before but it wasn’t a pleasant sight so I washed my face with water to get rid of the foundation entirely.
I haven’t returned to this foundation since.
I don’t understand what may have caused the blotchiness on my face. My skin wasn’t dry underneath, I make it a point to use a moisturizer and a foundation-compatible primer before I lather on base makeup, nor had I been dabbing at my face with a tissue. I guess I won’t know what really caused it but that experience did make me lose faith in this foundation.
(Unfortunately for me, I mistakenly ordered two bottles of this foundation from Nykaa, and since foundations are non-returnable on that website, I was stuck with twice the product that simply didn’t work. I’ve also since thrown away both the bottles so I don’t have any images of it to upload and I can’t use the ones available online due to copyright issues. Note to self: Always take pics of skincare and makeup products!)
I have nothing against Maybelline in general; in fact, their Dream Matte Mousse foundation range, which was discontinued a few years ago, was my favourite foundation at the time. It sat beautifully on my skin, gave it an enviable airbrushed look, and photographed very well. That foundation produced “wow” results, this one is just “meh” or “nope, not working”. Or OMG! in the worst possible way, as it happened to me.
My experience, however, need not be yours. If you don’t mind spending Rs. 549 on a popular product that so many swear by, by all means give it a shot. But do get the right shade.
See you later!
