ESTEE LAUDER DOUBLE WEAR FOUNDATION

The Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Makeup SPF10 foundation has gained a huge cult following over the years. It was the first high-end foundation that I purchased, and I’m still using it three years on.

Despite finding many other foundations that I love, I just can’t be without double wear. Its long-wearing properties are unmatched, it has a very flattering natural finish on the skin, and when used sparingly gives a good medium coverage that isn’t too heavy for everyday wear. I apply this foundation with a damp beauty sponge and I find that it sits well on top of my dry skin as long as I use lots of emollient skincare underneath so that my skin is a little dewy/greasy beforehand. Whenever I wear this I feel like I’m having a good skin day, well… good foundation day anyway.

The shade range has been expanding and now features over 60 shades! Despite this I still don’t have a particularly good shade match and end up mixing shades throughout the year. I do find the breadth of undertones available to be very good though. Just a bit of a jump between shade depth at the fair end of the spectrum.

My closest shade match is 1N1 Ivory Nude. It is very similar to 1N0 Porcelain, however it has a slightly more yellowy undertone which I like since it cancels out some of the redness in my skin. I have been avoiding sun exposure more and more the past couple of years and I wear an SPF 50 every single day, so I have gotten a little bit too pale for these neutral shades recently. I bought 0N1 Alabaster to use as a mixer since it is almost white. 1N2 Ecru was the first shade I ever bought and is a good match whenever I have a tan.

I have swatched the four shades that I currently own below. The foundation was left to set and oxidise before taking photos.

This is my trusty foundation that I choose when I need coverage, if I’m in a hurry and want my foundation to blend and set quickly and seamlessly, or to be honest most of the time – it rarely fails me. My only critique of this is that once it sets, applying any other cream products on top can shift the foundation. For similar reasons I can never build the coverage once one layer has set as patches of foundation start to shift. Also, if I blow my nose the tissue can pick up some product, but due to the setting power I cannot smudge it back into place and it tends to leave a mottled effect where tiny spots of foundation have been removed around my nose and the rest has remained glued to the skin. For this reason I avoid wearing this foundation if I have a cold or my allergies are acting up.

Summary

Pros:

• Good medium to full coverage
• Extremely long-wearing and transfer-proof (unless rubbing skin with a tissue); 24 hour wear claim
• Natural demi-matte finish
• Huge shade range (over 60 shades)
• Sets well without using powder

Cons:

• Oxidises, so be careful when shade matching
• Pump not included with foundation bottle (but thankfully is available to buy separately, finally…)
• Not invisible on the skin so it is obvious that you are wearing foundation (only a con if you prefer your base makeup to blend into the skin and give the ‘no-makeup’ look)
• Can feel heavy on the skin if used as a full coverage foundation

The Foundation currently retails at £33.50 for 30ml, and the pump is sold separately for £5.50.

What’s your favourite long-wearing foundation? Let me know in the comments down below!