Sample Showdown

Due to the overwhelming kindness I received from my Foundation Face Off post, I decided that I would further this idea in my quest for the perfect foundation (which I may have found? Check here!). Now my purse is getting rather annoyed at me for buying foundation to try, and I'm quite frankly running out of room to house these foundations,  so I decided to go on a sneaky sample spree. (I like alliteration, can you tell?) Anyway, these are the ones I've collected, and my verdict on them!

Estee Lauder - Invisible Fluid - £27 


When I first put this foundation on in the morning, the first time, I was impressed, I thought it looked rather good. It applied really well, which surprised me as the sample I got in the magazine was not the best, but I really liked it. However, in a couple of hours, it had started to fade, and after around 7 hours it had started to collect in random places on my forehead, now I'm not a scientist but from what I've read, is this due to oxidization? Or is it because of the shake formula?The second time I applied it for these photos, I was not impressed, it didn't look smooth and flawless, it looked kinda cakey, but did calm down a bit, so strange. Anyway all of this has made it a no for me!

Colour - Fine, maybe slightly too dark
Coverage - Light to medium
Longevity - Around 6-8 hours
Sample Size - Rather good - around three uses.

Chanel Vita-Lumiere Aqua - £31


So many people talk about this foundation, and I tried it when I went to get my Estee Lauder Double Wear, and didn't like it, but I thought I'd give it another go with a sample. It applied so easily, and can really be built up, but give a natural look, which I liked, however I felt like my face felt greasy after, and it didn't look right. However on my hand where I put it before using my brush, it looked fantastic, so I think that it may be my skin type (whatever that is) that it doesn't work with. That said though, I think in these photos, it photographs really well, but in real life, it doesn't look that flawless, so I won't be getting it unfortunately, but I do recommend trying to get a sample of it. However, if I become rich one day, I think I would buy it, not cause I think it's fabulous for me, just cause I really want it. (I promise I'm not crazy! But for some reason I really want it!!!)

Colour - Great
Coverage - Light to medium, but build-able
Longevity - Only around 3-4 hours, which makes me think it's my skin type.
Sample Size - Average - two wears.

Benefit Hello Flawless - £24.50

This foundation has so much buzz around it, and I'm kind of left asking why? I think it's an ok foundation, and if it was on the highstreet/drugstore I wouldn't grumble as much, but it did just not like my skin tone. I was first matched to Honey which was just too orange for me and the Ivory colour was much better, but I think it was just a bit too light coverage, and hardly lasted on my skin at all, which is such a shame as I love Benefit and think their campaigns and products are gorgeous, it's just not for me.

Colour - Ok, still a bit too warm for me.

Coverage - Light 

Longevity - Not very, around 4 hoursish.
Sample Size - Good - I've only used it once but will definitely get a least one more out of it.

Diorskin Forever - £31 
This is definitely my favourite out of the four. It applied so smoothly and blended like a dream. It is pretty medium coverage leaning towards the light, but it feels soft on your skin, and when feeling my skin it felt so lovely, strangely it probably looks the worst from photos though. Unfortunately I'm not swayed to buy it, as it is slightly the wrong colour for me (only slightly, but for this money, I want an exact match!) and it didn't last 'forever.' By the end of the day it had worn off slightly, not as bad as the others, but it had, which again, is probably my skin as the woman at the counter was like, 'make sure you double cleanse' as it sticks around a lot. Ah well, if this was a highstreet/drugstore foundation, I'd get it within a heartbeat, but for this price, no thank you. Shame really!

Colour - Good, but still not perfect (which you can't tell in the main picture)

Coverage - Medium

Longevity - 8 hoursish
Sample Size - Average - around two

There are so many more foundations I want to try out there, but I kind of feel really awkward asking for samples. Many of the women at the stands were lovely, but some you could tell were thinking, go away cheapskate, especially if you didn't stay for a full makeover and buy a product, do you find this?

I feel the need to add that everyone has a different skin tone, and just because none of these particularly worked for me, doesn't mean they won't work for you. I have:
*an oily T-zone and dry cheeks with numerous blemishes and scars.
*I am rather pale, but do have a lot of redness too.


I also want to say that never go from pictures on a blog, try and get hold of things yourself. Different lighting etc can effect how things look in real life, sometimes for the better, sometimes for worse. I think that needs to be kept in mind.

So what do you think about getting samples? Are you a wuss like me, or a confident Connie?

Laura xoxo

*I didn't buy any of these samples. First picture is just moisturiser/primer, second is just foundation and large is a full face of make-up!