Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet + Matifying Foundation Review

Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet + Matifying Foundation

Foundation. It’s a never ending struggle. I can never seem to find the perfect one. If the color works, it doesn’t work with my skin type. If it suits my skin type, the color is off. I have developed this terrible habit of buying a new foundation every time I enter a grocery store because of this. A couple of months ago, I finally decided to put a stop to all of this insanity and invest in a high-end foundation. Probably the biggest advantage to this is being able to walk into Sephora and get color matched. If you haven’t tried it, I would highly recommend it. I ended up narrowing it down to two foundations that not only suited my skin type, but they blended with my skin tone so well, I couldn’t even tell they were there. I opted for the Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet + Matifying Foundation for $36.00 because I was told it had full coverage and it’s a brand I’m familiar with.

Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet + Matifying Foundation is an oil-free, water resistant foundation made to help control shine. If you’ve been following my blog for any amount of time, you probably already know I have really oily skin. This, of course, creates a nightmare when wearing foundation. Once the oil starts building up on top of my skin, my foundation goes slip-sliding all over the place, often caking up and becoming a prime target for fingerprints, should I choose to go off the deep end and do something crazy like scratch my nose. I need something that will keep my face looking matte and that won’t shift around or feel heavy and powdery.

Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet + Matifying Foundation Swatch in No. 25-Warm Ivory

I ended up purchasing No. 25-Warm Ivory, for light skin with pink undertones. I swatched the foundation on my wrist as soon as I got home to make sure I wasn’t trying to convince myself that it matched in that horrible Sephora lighting, just because I was desperate. The foundation is blended in below the swipe in the photo. You almost can’t even see it! So far, so good.

Before Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet + Matifying Foundation

I feel I need to show a photo of myself without foundation so we know what we’re working with here. My biggest problem areas are around my nose and my chin where I have a lot of redness due those being the most sensitive areas on my face. I don’t deal with acne too much anymore these days, but I do have some blood vessels around my nostrils that can be challenging to conceal at times. Mostly, I just need to even out that blotchy skin tone. As always, I put on eye makeup first to avoid having to do much clean up after eye shadow fallout or eyeliner mishaps.

Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet + Matifying Foundation on Face

I tested the foundation out with several different primers and even without a primer, and it seems to perform the best with NYX Shine Killer for me. A little goes a long way with this foundation. On a normal day, I use about a pea-sized amount. Given that I blew through a bottle of my previous foundation of the same size in just a few short weeks, I am shocked that this tiny 1 oz bottle has lasted over two months, and I am nowhere near finishing it off yet. For me, the coverage is pretty good, but for more severe skin conditions, I wouldn’t recommend it because I can still see some of the red areas on my face through the foundation. It’s medium coverage at best. All that’s usually required for me is a thin layer, but if it is ever necessary for me to build it up, I don’t feel it performs as well because it tends to cake up and look really powdery, especially once it starts setting (which is rather quickly). I always use a beautyblender sponge to apply foundation because it gives a streak-free finish, and it works with this foundation just as well.

Finished Look with Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet + Matifying Foundation

Here is the finished look with finishing powder, blush, and lipstick. I’m keeping it simple today because it’s cold and rainy and I just want to snuggle in my cozy clothes.  This is, by far, one of the better foundations I’ve tried, but it’s not without its flaws.

Cons:

My face still gets oily in just a couple of hours as usual, so it doesn’t control the shine very well.

It creases up in my smile lines around my mouth, so I am always having to buff those areas back out with my beautyblender.

It has pretty decent coverage, but it’s not a miracle worker.

Pros:

A little goes a long way, so the price is justified.

Despite still getting oily, my makeup doesn’t slide off my face and it lasts for at least 6 hours.

I’m allowed to touch my face again without having to worry about leaving streaks or fingerprints behind.

It’s incredibly lightweight.

It has more of a dewy finish than a completely flat, matte look, so it’s more natural-looking and less mask-like.

My face matches my neck, making this the perfect color.

Overall, I’m really happy with the Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet + Matifying Foundation. It’s a definite improvement from what I’ve used in the past. I do wish the coverage was better and that it was more effective with oil-control, but I would definitely purchase it again unless I happen to find something better first.