After the month or so that I’ve owned the Rimmel Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation in 103 True Ivory ($9 CDN) and wearing it frequently, I feel confident enough to say that not only is it a foundation that is exceptionally good for being so budget-friendly but it also is a fantastic foundation in its own right. Looking for more proof? By the narrowest of margins, this was edited out of May’s favourites post but only because I had been adoring so many other fantastic products and the post was getting excessively long.

The packaging of the product describes the foundation with the following description: “Feather-light, liquid mousse blends flawlessly for natural-looking all day shine control… [s]ilky smooth formula leaves a perfectly matte, baby-soft finish… [l]ightweight texture won’t feel heavy or greasy”. While some of its claims correspond in a spot-on fashion to how the foundation applies in my experience, I wouldn’t describe this as a foundation that controls oil effectively. I’m someone on the drier and more dehydrated side of things with maybe a normal t-zone at this time of year and I find that regardless of whether I powder this foundation or not, it develops some shine — nothing ridiculously greasy-looking or anything — after three hours which is on par with how well glowier foundations control a wee bit of oil coming through on the forehead and such. All of the other claims are spot on and although it’s not advertised as such, this is a fantastic high coverage formula on drier skins as it actually doesn’t highlight dry patches in the slightest. The texture is a mousse and therefore sheers out into what appears to be merely perfected skin unlike other cream foundations without compromising on the coverage front, providing skin with buildable medium-to-full coverage that looks like skin. I’ve kind of mentioned it in previous posts but I’ll be more overt about it this time, I’m convinced that this is the more affordable and better alternative to Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation as it does the same thing but feels more lightweight on the skin and sits upon it in a much more natural way, especially for those of us who are more normal to dry. The only difference for me is that the Rimmel offering is a touch less radiant, instead providing a flattering semi-matte finish that glides over any texture-issues in the skin without leaving it dull and flat. Like the Laura Mercier offering, it wears a long time on the skin – (I showered with this on and it survived) – but will develop some shine during that time and unfortunately does tend to transfer.

The fragrance-free formula is a silicone-based one and lays more on the moisturizing side of things than not and doesn’t irritate my skin in the slightest. It doesn’t contain spf either and as you would expect, this foundation photographs fantastically, leaving the skin looking perfected but still with some subtle inner glow. I’ve worn this in extremely hot weather (with a separate sunscreen underneath) and although it does hold up impressively well, you can start to feel it on the skin in comparison to super-light foundations such as my new acquisition, the Chanel Perfection Lumiere Velvet.

As I’ve said before, foundation sticks to my skin like glue so I tend to get insanely long wear out of most foundations but if you’re interested I would put this in the 12 hour category and add that unless you’re submerging your face into water it will remain intact – in other words, it seems to me to be water resistant. The lasting power of this one is fantastic but it doesn’t control oil particularly well like say MUFE Mat Velvet + would so it may require some powdering or oil-control products in the heat if you are oilier complected but I woudn’t skip this offering altogether if you are plagued.

As mentioned above, I wear the shade 103 True Ivory, which appears to be the fourth lightest shade in the range of eight that the foundation offers – however, most places only seem to stock 5-6 shades at any given time around here, the darker shades generally found in Shoppers and the lightest shade only to be found at Walmart and such around here. This shade matches me without any sort of tan (artificial or natural) but works with a bit of colour too but I’m fortunate with this shade range considering my moderately fair skintone. This foundation actually comes in a truly fair Light Porcelain shade so unless you’re absolutely porcelain-complected, you should be able to find a match, however those who have darker than a medium-toned skintone most likely wont be so fortunate. If you’re curious, I found the Ivory shade to be rather pink in comparison to its counterpart in my staple Wake Me Up so I went to the next shade that instead featured beige undertones.

From returning to using my tretenoin-antibiotic gel for nearing three weeks, my skin isn’t at its clearest with the purging still evident on my visage, as you can probably tell from the before picture FYI but I still wanted to include the makeup-free image for comparison. Also, if you’re wondering why I look a little different, I’ve foregone the eye makeup in light of the little bump I had on my inner rim that’s almost gone – not to worry anyone, they’re harmless and I’m prone to them. And I’ve applied the foundation with the Real Techniques Buffing Brush, going for a light good medium coverage layer all over and building it up on the lower cheek that’s quite scarred and on my red chin. I haven’t applied any concealer anywhere other than underneath my eyes and no powder either.

And finally the flash photo:

Have you tried this foundation? What did you think of it?

Maggie, x.