Review: Maybelline Clear Smooth Extra Shine Free Powder Foundation

I’ve been using this product for about 1 and a half months now, and it surprised me that I’ve already hit pan. I guess this only shows how much I like it, so I decided to do a review on it.

Pan!

For the past year, I've been using BB cream, concealer and face powder on my face. It’s fine on most days, but I’m a lazy girl and sometimes even this minimal routine is too much for me. I decided to just get a powder foundation that would give me enough coverage so I could skip the BB cream and concealer on days when I don’t want to wear that much make up. Thank goodness I found this Maybelline Clear Smooth Extra Shine Free Powder Foundation.

What I love most about this product is that the color suits my skin tone. I love my BB cream, but what I didn’t like about it is that sometimes it made me feel a bit oily, and it made me look too gray or too pale in some photos, especially when flash is used. Apparently, this is a common problem you get when you use BB creams. It’s alright under natural light, but it can look terrible with flash photography if you apply too much. 

See for yourself:

Looks fine in natural light right?

Still looks alright here. Ezra and I both use the Etude House Magic BB Cream. It looks okay most of the time, but when flash is used:

EEEK! I look like I have a mask on! Okay fine, the flash and BB cream aren’t the only thing to blame for this bad photo, I think I put too much makeup on that day (and my hair is too frizzy). I look greasy yet cakey and pale and just plain horrible! Yuck~

Anyway, I’m glad I found this Maybelline powder foundation because it looks more natural on me and it has good oil control. The shade I’m using is called “Honey” which I like because it has a yellowish tone that suits my skin. Plus it’s cheap! I can’t remember the exact price but I think it was only around Php 350 (*EDIT* I’ve repurchased this three times and I found that some stores sell them for P250 or even as low as P225)

Another good thing about the product is the SPF 20 that the it provides. I wasn’t too excited about this at first because for some reason, some products with SPF make me breakout. Because of this, I tend to stay away from any makeup that has SPF in it. But since this was pretty cheap and it matched my skin really well, I decided to still try it. Luckily, it didn’t break me out.

The powder can be applied wet or dry, depending on how you want it. When I first started using it, I just applied it dry, like a regular pressed powder. But recently I discovered I liked it better when I use a wet sponge to apply it. It gives better coverage and hides/minimizes my pimple scars pretty well. I don’t even have to use concealer on certain days anymore. Look how well it hides the pimple scars on my cheek:

I like that it looks good in pictures too:

Camwhoring in the lab XD

Hair’s a mess, but I still like it

It looks okay with flash photography too:

Taken last Christmas. My sister looks a bit grey/pale because she’s wearing BB cream, but not as pale as I did in the other picture. Probably because she put the right amount on her face and didn’t go overboard like I did. (She’s pouting because my boyfriend gave us those giant crayons that are meant for little kids to tease us. I think they’re cute, haha. Thanks baby~)

Anyway, this review is getting pretty long. To summarize:

Pros:

• matches my skin tone 
• has SPF (and it didn’t break me out, yay!) 
• fits perfectly in my bag and comes with a handy mirror 
• inexpensive 
• can be applied easily (wet or dry) 
• gives good coverage 
• good oil control 
• non-comedogenic 

Cons:

• can’t think of one at the moment 

Overall, I love the product. I’ve hit pan but I expect it will last me a couple more months. I’ll definitely repurchase this when it runs out.