Revlon Photo Ready Foundation

Riddle me this. When is a photo ready foundation not a photo ready foundation. When it’s got SPF. Or so I’ve always been lead to believe. This may be a makeup myth but I’d always been told that the particles that provide the sun protection reflect camera flashes in such a way that in photos you end up with a greyed out ashen looking face. I was surprised then when Revlon came out with the foundation, marketed specifically to make you ‘photo ready’, with SPF 20. My initial reaction was maybe the whole SPF = bad photo is wrong. After all the folks at Revlon know more about makeup and photography than I do. I tried taking photos with and without this foundation on myself and to be honest I couldn’t spot any extra greyness but then my skin is pretty dull anyway. I did however notice that my face appears somewhat lighter than the rest of me. Now this foundation is a great colour match for me so I am going to blame this on those pesky light reflecting SPF beasties.


Regardless I bought this foundation for three reason. Firstly with the £3 off at Boots + £2 off Revlon till spit this as only £7.99, I’ve been reading the reviews and wanting to try it and at that price I couldn’t argue. Secondly I’ve hit pan on my Maybelline Dream Cream foundation and I can’t bring myself to use the Rimmel Stay Matte Mouse when it’s done because it turns me orange. (I know I won’t ever wear it but I can’t bring myself to throw a full pot away. What to do?) Thirdly SPF 20 is pretty good going and I’m a fan of any product that protects my skin. ( Even though as I mentioned in my second to last post it might not even get to your skin to do any good!) But is it any good as a foundation?

NOPE. At least not for me. I will start off with the positives. Revlon seem to understand that we are not all escapees from Willy Wonkas chocolate factory. Some of us live in Scotland. Pale is in vogue and we need foundation to work with that. Shade 002 Vanilla (I think the lightest) is wonderfully pale with none of the usual yellow or beige undertones that often ruin foundation for me. Also the pump dispenser is hygienic and the curved glass bottle looks rather stylish. And the little sparkles everyone has been so worried about really aren’t visible on my face unless I’m staring into a mirror close up. That, for me, is the end of the good parts. The formula gives light to medium coverage despite saying complete coverage on the back of the bottle. I have tried applying it with every type of foundation brush I have and sponges but it does have a tendency to be a little streaky on my nose. Not that it’s a lasting problem. Within an hour round the crevices of my nose is has started to disappear. Give it two and my entire nose is naked. NAKED I TELL YOU. I must have more setting powders than any normal person would ever need but none of them work.

If you have dry skin and only want light to medium coverage you could do a lot worse than this foundation. It lasts well on my dry cheeks and the coverage there does not seem patchy at all. If your skin is oily, or if you plan on actually taking photos I would avoid this one like the plague. Bare nose and ghostly face = not a very pretty image.

Hope everyone is doing well. I am now a third of the way through my exams and it’s pretty hectic. As I said normal service will resume from the 15th of May (I really miss posting! Is that sad?) To everyone else in the middle of exam time best of luck xx