Review: Revlon Photoready Compact Makeup Ivory

I've always had a problem with what are called cream foundations. Most are very drying on me and they tend to cake. While many have full coverage, that coverage usually involves layers; multiple skin swipes + dry skin makes for an unsightly mess on my face. Fine when my skin is looking good but horrible when I actually need the coverage. I bet you can already sense how I feel about this Revlon foundation.

Revlon Photoready Compact Makeup (10 grams/.35oz) claims "complete coverage" and "superior blendability" with a "lightweight powder finish". The first thing I want to mention is the color of the cream in the compact is a bit different to how it appears on the face. I don't know how, but the Ivory, while scary in the pan, is a pretty good match for my skin tone, similar to the regular Photoready makeup.

See what I mean regarding the color (especially the sliver of the used sponge on the left)? It looks way too dark, but I will agree with Revlon that this is very light and very easy to apply. A slightly pressured swirling motion will release the cream from behind the screen. Personally, I don't really like this as you are basically required to use a sponge and with cream/liquids you are going to need to replace said sponge with every use. You can't really use a wet sponge as the water might seep under the screen and cause bacteria to grow.

When applied, this foundation is very light. You can hardly feel it being applied to your skin. So if you dislike heavy makeup, this may be for you. It also blends in very easily which is nice. My only qualm is seconds after I applied this, it looked dry and patchy. And to add another layer for more coverage? Even more dry and more patchy. After awhile, my skin starts feeling slightly tight, especially around my cheeks.

Photoready Compact Makeup applied - nice color, eh? This is 1 application all over and a second on my bad spots (the chin).

But this is how it looks close up! It doesn't even look like skin! It looks like I have textured spackle on my face and it's already collected around my blemishes.

Basically it makes my face look dry and crusty.

This is going back. Unfortunately, it looks like this doesn't really work on super oily skin either as Ms. Nouveau Cheap also had a problem with this. I think the only people that this will suite are those with normal to slightly oily (or shall I say healthy looking?) skin that don't really need heavy coverage. A light layer of this might look better than trying to build it up like I did to coverage spots and redness. But then again, I'd imagine a tinted moisturizer would be more pleasant if you don't need heavy coverage or maybe just some concealer.

The only pluses are the SPF 20 and the cool screen that manages to be more of an annoyance. At least with the regular liquid Photoready you can apply it with a damp sponge or brush.

Review: Revlon PhotoReady Makeup #001

I've been test driving Revlon PhotoReady for about a week now. After picking up, testing and returning #002, I finally found shade #001 and picked it up a few weeks ago. And even though I told myself that I wouldn't open up another foundation till I finished one, I cracked this one open anyway since I was dying to try it! And I'm glad I did. I actually really like this foundation.

I've already sang my praises of the packaging when I "tested" shade #002. The bottle is sturdy and the pump is a great addition! It does make a little noise when you actually pump it but I don't mind.

Shade #001 Ivory is a fairly good match for my skin. Here it is on my hand in natural overcast light. On the left of the swatch, it's rubbed in. I also didn't find that this shade (or bottle) had any shimmer particles in it like others have noted with the darker shades.

What I like about this foundation is that I can get medium to full coverage with just using my hands to apply. It also doesn't go on streaky. When you first apply it, it feels light and creamy. It does eventually set and after putting this on at 6am it was still there to take off around 9pm. That's pretty excellent wear time.

Now, for me, I really need to overdo it on the moisturizer in the morning. I can't say it looks great by 9pm. It tends to settle into dry areas if I don't moisturize well. Initially after application, if I don't moisturize, it quickly goes very dry and feels tight (like right now since I swatched on my face on unmoisturized skin - oops!).

I can't say whether this will or will not work on oily skin, but my guess is that it would perform fairly well on normal skin. On dry skin, the key is to moisturize very well and make sure you exfoliate any dry patches before application.

Does this cause breakouts? To be quite honest, I pretty much always have spots on my face, not of acne, but my dermatitis. The only thing that has actually worked in the past to clear that up has been going on a course of antibiotics for months. Well, since I'm not on antibiotics, I get things that resemble acne. But, after a week of testing this, I can safely say that I have not experienced any acne (though my face is still a mess).

Here it is on my skin. For reference, my skin is red and angry all around my mouth and on my cheeks too and this is just the foundation, no extra concealer! This is also swatched on unmoisturized skin, so I'm sure you can see that my skin looks a little dry (it is!). This is just to show the fairly good color match (also I think I forgot to put some near my nose so please disregard the crappy application job).

So, for $13.99 (and please don't pay full price - sale rotations mean you can probably get this for much less) I'd say I'm fairly pleased with this foundation. I can see this being a great summer foundation since it sticks around during the day. Since most (US) drugstores have excellent return policies, I'd recommend picking it up just to try.

Review: Revlon PhotoReady Makeup #002

Even though I'd been holding out for the #001 Ivory shade which Relvon hasn't distributed a lot of bottles of (and excluded it from the cardboard display), CVS is having a sale this week. Photoready is on sale for $9.99 a bottle and you get $5 Extrabucks back. I also used a $1 off manufacturers coupon, bringing the final cost down to $3.99. Well for that price, I was going to take my chances with #002 Vanilla.

Before I get really into it, this is not what I would consider a thorough review. I haven't done a full application of the product on my face because I know it won't look all that great. Hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on #001 so I can really test this stuff out. For now you get some thoughts on the bottle and swatches.

 

I am super pumped (hahaha) that they put a pump on this bottle. Not only is it a lot more sanitary, but it keeps you from spilling the product. Let's just say at 5am I am not what you would call coordinated and without my glasses I might as well be blind. Pumps are a good thing!

I had suspected that this shade would pull a bit too yellow for me, but you really can't tell until you squeeze a little out and check. It kind of actually looks neutral in the bottle, but on the hand is a different story.

 

The foundation itself is a little runny, you can kind of see the larger swatch starting to slide down my hand. It's not runny enough that it causes an issue during application (it's not like shampoo in the shower) but it is something to note.

 

swatch pictures were taken in natural light

This picture shows the original larger swatch on the left (you can see it's starting to drip down my hand) and the rubbed in dot on the right. I wouldn't say this is an awful match, but it is too yellow for me. Slightly warmer girls might have better luck.

I hope this helps someone and if you have seen any #001 shades please let me know where you discovered it! I really want to try this stuff.