I have been using Estee Lauder's highly reviewed liquid foundation, the Double Wear Stay-In-Place makeup, for quite some time already before I decided to give up on it. It wasn't because the foundation was a bad product or that it broke me out; I stopped because my exact shade match was not available at local counters (a huge boo, really, for a foundation so fantastic as this).
Main Impression
This top-rating liquid foundation is neither runny nor too thick. Makeup fans love how well it glides on the skin while infrequent makeup users like me may have a bit of a hard time blending this foundation perfectly. Also, the fact that it dries out real quick on the skin may be a huge factor why it's not easy for me to even it out on the face. To lessen my application problems using this foundie, I find that using the fingertips is the best way to put this on.
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| Estee Lauder Double Wear Liquid Foundation, SPF 10, 30mL P1,900 (~$43) - local counters, $35 - website |
Estee Lauder's Double Wear foundation provides a non-greasy, lightweight feel on my face that stays put for a good 9 hours (coupled with a good face primer). I only had to blot twice during that day and was still able to sport a clean, fresh look that my friends gush about. Its matte finish unfortunately obviates the dry areas on my cheeks, sides of the nose and some parts of my chin area, but it's nothing that ample moisturizing can't correct.
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| Estee Lauder Double Wear in Sand on my NC25 skin |
The makeup blends well with the skin and provides ample coverage for my skin imperfections. It was able to decently conceal all the reddish areas of my face and most acne marks while blurring the visible pores on my cheeks, nose and forehead. My undereye area gets instantly brighter too even without the use of a concealer. It was effectively able to give me a flawless look . I heard that it can also provide full coverage but I've yet to try it since I'm already satisfied with its natural, healthy finish.
Shade Match Fail
[Checkout Sand, Tawny and Ivory Cream swatches side-by-side on NC25] I first used Estee Lauder Double Wear in Sand (warm undertone), then jumped to Ivory Cream (neutral), and lastly to Tawny (warm). Chart-wise, my selection of shades ranged from lightest to darkest (with Ivory Cream being under a different undertone group). It was truly wasted money on these three because none of them were a perfect match on my NC25 skin (Yup, I'm now NC25, thanks to my derma's wonderful topicals). Sand and Ivory were too light, Tawny a tiny bit dark.
My last hope was for Sand or Ivory Cream to turn dark on my acidic face. But since this super foundation never significantly darkened my skin as most liquid foundations do, I can firmly conclude that I have not been given my perfect match yet. I'm eyeing Fresco (neutral) or Ivory Beige (warm), but SAs claim that these shades will never reach our counters.
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| Estee Lauder+ In2it: tweaking the too light Double Wear shade (Sand) with In2it 2-way Powder Foundation (Golden Harvest) |
It might be too vengeful of me to rate the foundation really low plainly because I have not seen my shade match just yet (shade match is super points for me). If I wanted to keep each Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation bottle, I will have to make do on figuring out tweaks and tricks to make the currently available shades work for me. But I don't have the luxury of time to perform these tweaks every time I do my makeup because I'm such a slowpoke. I need a PERFECT SHADE MATCH. (N.B. I will do a separate post on the shade swatches)
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| Notice how my face is too white in comparison to my neck (2nd photo) I set the liquid foundation with a powder foundie that finishes dark on me (In2it) |
Helpful Hints
1. This product is packed in a twist-cap bottle. If you have a MAC SFF foundation pump, you can use it to allow a more hygienic and controlled method of getting the product out of the bottle.
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| Photo Source |
2. I address my issues with its consistency (explained above) by mixing the foundation with my moisturizer.
3. Be sure to use a makeup primer if you have oily skin so that this makeup stays put well.
Recommendation
If you have oily skin and you want to achieve a flawless face canvas for a good number of hours without the heavy, greasy feel, save up for a bottle of this superb foundation. I never broke out from this foundation. It's a bit pricey but a 30mL bottle will be difficult to finish even if you use it on a daily basis. It may be a grueling task to find the perfect shade match since not all shades are available in our local Estee Lauder booths but once you get a good match, the Double Wear liquid foundation may just top your list of HG face bases.
This foundation looks really good on you, no doubt about that :) I'm glad you found something you love. I love Estee Lauder's products, and I'm sure this will be no different.
Oh no. So sad naman that eve after buying 3 shades, you still haven't found a perfect shade match. :(
But I like how it evened out your skin tone and made you look flawless on the pic. :)
Thanks sweets! It would've been ultimate love if I had a good shade match tho
@Pammy OO nga eh.. if it weren't for that darker powder, i would've walked around like a geisha :D
I've heard good things about this foundation but I've never really tried anything from Estee Lauder except their skincare and lipsticks. :)
Will check this out next time when I visit Rustan's. =)
The coverage looks really great and it looks like a perfect match to me.
Thanks for posting such a thorough review, I found it very helpful to see your pics of b4 & after. I like the way it covers and it just looks good on you. I will buy some if I can find my color match.
you cant clearly say yellow tone for yellow tones and pink is for pink undertones. There are MANY exceptions. People dont pick it out that way. There are even people who get into arguments at makeup counters because they are a cool and someone insisted they were a warm.
Alot of times darker toned women like African American/carribean women have to mix more than one foundation ,everyone on earth is different
After years of being a makeup artist. The rule stands true. There are no rules to makeup, only rules of thumb. Nothing called "too anything".I disagree with telling anyone how to wear their foundation/blush/powder/eyeliner/eyeshadow. Makeup is subjective. Everyone has their own makeup style. Many light people tend to go light/lighter or mix it with a luminzer to make themselves brighter/radiant/porcelin like. A great example of this would be dita von teese, who even stays out the sun to maintain her light skintone and wears light foundation. Others prefer to be dark/darker and darken in the sun or use bronzer all over their skintone. Different people have different preferences. If I spelled "Horse" "Howrse" than there is no "ifs" "and" or "buts" because grammar isnt subjective. What is wrong is wrong!However. Makeup is subjective. I hate nude lips. Does that mean its right to say "dont wear nude lips" ? No.
I might not like it but someone else might. There is no rule to makeup. Thats the beauty of being a makeup artist. There are soo many different styles.
I hate bronzer. But maybe there is someone who loves that deep bronzed look. I cant go to them and say "dont go soo deep in the bronzer" and say its "constructive". There are soo many different styles.who is anyone to tell someone theyre wearing a too light or too dark foundation, because there is no such thing. Nicole and Sam from pixiwoo(huge makeupartists in Britain) sometimes wear paler or darker foundation and it looks gorgeous! as long as people blend it to the neck its fine....some people prefer to look bright and radiant.
I totally agree with you because i really love this foundation. It is true to its name stay in place. Even after 9 hours or so i still look fresh wearing this but unfortunately i sold it. I'm also nc25 and i used to have sand but i found it light on my skin while tawny is dark. I'm really sad that i don't have an exact match shade for this.
I am also eyeing on this foundation and did a research online and read some reviews that an NC30 skin would match Sand / Tawny. Also saw in Temptalia Foundation Matrix that it is a match. Now, when I read your post, I am not thinking if I should still get this because you're already an NC25 and Sand is still too light for you. What more for me, an NC30? hmmm....Maybe I'll get Tawny if it is also dark for an NC25?What do you think?
I'm doing some research on Estee Lauder double wear and I come across this post. I'm NC20-NC25 as well and I think Desert Beige is quite a good match. Maybe you may want to give it a shot?
What is the perfect shade for an NC30 skintone? I was matched Sand and Ivory Beige by another SA. Sand is really light for me, however Ivory Beige made me looked like i'm tanned, more on a bit dark beige color.
Hi, I have just seen this website and wanted to add that I have been struggling to find the right foundation colour (in any brand!). I tried Double Wear in the past few days (am somewhere between NC25-NC35) and I found desert beige too pink. Colours that worked for me were Shell Beige (intensity 4 warm) (fairly dark with yellow/golden undertone), and Tawny. Tawny was a lighter shade (intensity 3 warm)but I found it reflected very slightly too 'pink' on my skin. The assistant at the counter was very helpful and agreed I would look best in a colour slightly lighter than the Shell Beige, which Tawny was supposed to be, but was too pink even though a 'warm' colour. She gave me a sample of the 'neutral' colour called Canvas which I am going to experiment with by mixing a small amount of it with some of the Shell Beige to lighten it. In other words, a warm and neutral together. At home I tried the Canvas on its own and it is not at all bad on its own, as a neutral shade - Sorry for the long post, but thought I would try to help as I have struggled so much myself! I have tried Chanel Perfection in shade 30, Lancome Teinte Idole Ultra shade 3.5, Double Wear Light in no.2, but they all look a bit powdery and not the best coverage compared to the Double Wear. The brand Sensai also has good colours, and also Bourjois as they are more yellow based, but the textures were either too greasy or too powdery for me. I hope this helps! You should try Canvas because if it suits me with my light olive skin, it may be good for you too.
I was sooo impressed with the Estee Lauder Double Wear! Seriously it's been amazing for me. I've got oily skin, but it just stayed put all day, but it didn't look unnatural or 'caked on'.
See my review here: http://newwithhashtags.co.uk/estee-lauder-double-wear/
I'll be reviewing the Estee Lauder Double Wear Light soon too!
Hey, if you have two colours which are too dark and too light for your skin, why don't you try mixing those two, like on a palette or something till you get the ratios right. It may take some trial and error, but there's a great chance you'll end up with the right shade :S ?
Hi, I was just passing and thought I'd recommend a shade as I too am NC30. I use Desert Beige and it is perfect! May work for you too :)