CLINIQUE STAY MATTE VS. L'OREAL INFALLIBLE PRO MATTE
Hello, and welcome to the first installment of my newest category, Beauty Bargains, which will appear as a part of Thrift Thursdays. Across the board, I am a thrifty individual and will ALWAYS try to find something of quality that is less expensive. Beauty is no acception. In the last month, I've been on the prowl for new beauty products that will not irritate my skin and have come across a lot of useful information regarding high-end versus low-end products. The biggest lesson I learned is that there are excellent products at both ends of the money spectrum and you will always be able to find something that works for you that will not cost a lot. Today, I will be comparing the Clinique Stay Matte foundation to the L'oreal Infallible Pro Matte Foundation. When I am determined to find something that works well for me and at a bargain, nothing can stop me. I will research the heck out of anything that can possibly be researched, and you better believe that I will come out on top raving about my bargain. L'oreal's Infallible Pro Matte foundation is no acception. It is a great foundation with a beautiful finish and long-wearing capabilities.
First I will say that I am not a makeup expert. I go through phases where I am kind of obsessed with beauty and phases where I'm all about the bare minimum right now, I'm obsessed (that also means there are more beauty bargains to come!)I had been looking for a foundation that will help control my super combination skin (I can get dry REALLY fast, but can also get oily in a hot second) I knew I wanted matte foundation, so I got online and started reading reviews. The first thing I tried out was the Clinique Stay Matte because I heard it was and outstanding performer that lived up to its claims. Let me just say that I was underwhelmed. Maybe my expectations were too high but I expected the matte finish to last a little longer than it did. The foundation wasn't SUPER expensive, but I felt like the performance was good, not amazing like I expected. So I went on the hunt to find something else that worked! I heard about L'oreal's Infallible Pro Matte foundation and decided to give it a whirl.
CLINIQUE STAY MATTE
The first thing I noticed about this foundation is how light it is. It is super blendable, but it does dry extremely fast. You have to blend it very quickly for even coverage. I loved the coverage, and the way it looked on my skin. The best thing is that Clinique does a wonderful job with the golden undertones, so the makeup was perfect.
This makeup settles into your smile lines like dust on a bookshelf. The whole day, I was checking the mirror to make sure I hadn't aged 20 years in two hours. The picture below isn't close up, but if you look at the left side of my face, you will see that line just sitting there. That is a downside of matte foundation it is wonderful for oily skin, but do NOT wear it if you have dry skin. My skin is combination, so it kind of amplifies lines in dry spots like around my mouth. I mean I know make-up moves and there really isn't a way to completely stop this, but there has to be a way to help minimize this issue. Please let me know if you have a tip!
No matter what a company says, your makeup will not last all day. Like I mentioned earlier, makeup moves and there is nothing that we can do about it. Even so the matte finish held up well 5-6 hours before needed to blot. Pretty impressive I have definitely had makeup where I needed to blot oil in 1-4 hours.
PROS
- Light and airy, does not feel heavy on skin
- Helps oil control for combination to oily skin
- Great shade range
- Fairly priced
CONS
- Settles into lines easily
- Will amplify dry skin
L'OREAL INFALLIBLE PRO MATTE 24 HR
Most drugstore brands tend to have about 4-6 shades so the first thing I noticed is that the Pro Matte has 12 shades. If L'oreal wanted to amp it up, they should add another shade in between the two darkest the gap is just too large. I have to work too hard to make the Cocoa 112 shade work for me it is slightly more orange than I would like. When used it with my concealer that has a yellow undertone, it works much better. In this photo the color match looks fine, but that was after I worked in my concealer and lighter finishing powder. It was flat out red before that.
LONG side note: The other problem with a lot of foundations for dark skinned women is that the darker tones will be only neutral or SUPER red. I'll be in the makeup aisle like, what about the dark-skinned ladies with golden undertones? It is amazing how associates will tell you that it is fine to wear a foundation where the undertone doesn't actually match you. One woman told me that I should just go neutral because "you can never go wrong." I'm sorry but making my skin look gray seems very wrong to me. Find me a warm foundation, please! Often times, makeup marked as neutral is not truly neutral and I may be able to get away with it, but if it is truly neutral (I'm looking at you Cover FX!) It doesn't work for me. In the case of L'oreal, they could stand to add more colors to this line. Stay tuned for my review of their True Match foundations - there are more colors available!
The next thing I noticed was the claim to stay matte for 24 hours. First of all, no makeup will ever do that. Second of all, who the heck would be wearing their makeup for 24 hours!? Not I! I quickly disregarded the claim as valid and decided that it meant the matte finish held up well. L'oreal did not lie about that the matte finish held up for a while before I needed to blot some oil off. It stayed matte for 6-7 hours before I needed to blot. I was impressed with the performance in general but definitely since it is a drugstore brand. Similar to the Clinique, this makeup settles into my smile lines, but now as much.
PROS
- Light and airy, does not feel heavy on skin
- Helps oil control for combination to oily skin
- Good shades for drugstore product
- Bargain priced
CONS
- Will amplify dry skin
- Not enough dark tones
IN CONCLUSION
Both foundations are excellent options for people with oily or combination skin. If you are looking for a bargain, I would definitely go for the L'oreal Infallible Pro Matte the similarities between the two are just too great to choose the one that is double the price. Especially since you can pretty much always buy it at Ulta with a coupon or on sale. If you are dark skinned, you may choose Clinique simply because there are just more color options. For me the Clinique looked a bit more natural on my skin because of the color match.
Have you tried either of these foundations? What is your opinion on them?