Happy Friday! It’s time for another ‘foundation friday.’ I haven’t formally titled these posts, but it sounds like a fun way to end the week and go into the weekend — with a foundation review! Foundation has long been one of my favorite beauty products, so it seems natural to me to include more of these reviews here on my blog.
I hope they’re helpful!
Today’s foundation is the Milani Conceal+Perfect 2-in-1 Foundation+Concealer. I prefer a medium to full coverage foundation, because I have acne scarring and sun damage that I prefer to keep covered up. On the weekends, you can find me in sunscreen and a CC cream, but during the week I do love a full face of makeup.
This Milani foundation caught my eye, because based on the name it sounds like a one-and-done foundation. I’ve only found one foundation/concealer product that works really well for me, and that’s the rms beauty Un Cover-Up Foundation/Concealer (you can find my review here).
The claims about this foundation are that it combats under eye circles, redness, and other skin imperfections, and it’s a full-coverage foundation/concealer in one. On the Milani website, it features a pump applicator. All three of the bottles I have do not have a pump. I can’t tell if the pump is an update to the bottle or not. It may be that the old styles are still in rotation. I purchased one bottle at Walgreens and two directly from the Milani website.
HOW TO APPLY
If you have the bottle like mine, the applicator is similar to that of a lipstick wand, only without the doe foot applicator. The applicator looks like a plastic paddle. I hope I can eventually find the bottles with the pump dispenser, although I won’t need to for a while since I have three different shades (more on that in a bit).
I take a small amount and apply to the back of my hand. Using my damp beauty blender, I pat and blend it all over my face. I have pretty dark undereye circles, so I didn’t even attempt to cover them up with this. This foundation is high medium coverage on me, but building it up to full made it look cakey. It looks best at one layer on my skin.
I tried one other way to apply this, which was a dense buffing brush. It did not look smooth with a buffing brush. It sets down to a satin matte finish. Typically, with foundations that are more on the matte side, my skin looks better with a damp beauty blender. So, that’s how I’ve been applying it.
SHADE RANGE
About those three bottles… I am usually the lightest shade in any foundation I purchase. That makes buying foundation pretty easy … until the lightest shade turns out to be too dark! That was the case with this foundation. I purchased shade 00 Light Natural at Walgreens and quickly realized it would be too dark. That shade is perfect for when I’ve applied self tanner.
I did a little research on additional shades and found shade 00A Porcelain and 00B Light on their website. I also read somewhere that the very lightest shades were only available online, so I purchased them through the Milani website. A few days later, I saw the shades at my local Target. So, if you need any of the lightest shades, definitely check there as well.
The 00A Porcelain looked a little too pale for me (shocker, that’s never happened), and the 00B is a little too golden. For one day, I had a golden face a lily white neck. Then, I applied fake tanner and mixed 00A and 00B together to match my newly-tanned neck. Well, that was too light! I just couldn’t win. Turns out, 00B is perfect when I have a fresh layer of tan on, and 00A is when I’m at my lightest.
When I continued my tanning routine, I hope that 00 Light Natural will also work.
Whew.
I took a look at the entire shade range, and it looks like they have a good range of light and medium shades, but they lack a good mix of darker shades. I hope they will released darker shades soon, just like they did with the lightest ones.
MY REVIEW
This foundation is really pretty on my skin. It has a gorgeous satin matte finish. Satin matte is a happy medium between the lasting power of a matte and the natural skin-like finish of a dewy foundation. It’s hard to find fair skin products that are the right shade, undertone, and texture, and this one fits the bill.
I do wish all the bottles had a pump dispenser, because that’s simply more hygienic. But, the paddle option is easy to apply and it doesn’t get messy. I’ve found that a little foundation goes a long way, which is really great for the budget. It costs $10, and if you hold out for a sale at Walgreens or Ulta, it could be cheaper. Since I ordered two of mine directly through the site, I paid full price for two of them. I purchased the first bottle during a sale at Walgreens and got the matching concealer at the same time. Side note: the concealer was awful and aged my under eye areas. I do not recommend the concealer.
This is going to be another staple foundation for me. The finish, shades, and price point are all great. It doesn’t need a powder to set on my face, but I do touch up my t-zone with a powder in the afternoon.
I love supporting drugstore brands that are cruelty free, and I hope this will be helpful for anyone looking for an affordable foundation.
Have you tried this foundation & what did you think? Check down below for more foundation reviews!
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More foundation reviews that might interest you:
rms beauty Un Cover-Up Foundation/Concealer
Wet n Wild MegaCushion Foundation
Marc Jacobs Beauty re(marc)able Full Cover Foundation
Rebecca has been writing about style, beauty, and lifestyle topics since 2011. Thank you so much for reading this post! Feel free to leave any questions or comments below. I love hearing from you!
