Review: Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation

I have to be honest, I had no interest in this foundation until I saw it on clearance at CVS.  I never took much stock in these magic color matching foundations.  They just seemed a bit gimmicky to me.  I tried Almay's Smart Shade foundation when it first came out but I wasn't impressed and pretty much formed my opinion of all color match foundations on that which, admittedly, isn't fair.  However, I have to say this creation from Rimmel has changed everything!  Find out why after the jump!

The first thing that I found different about this compared to products like Almay's Smart Shade foundation is that it already has a color to it.  Other foundations I've seen like this start off white/gray and then morph into a color.  Rimmel's come in a bunch of different shades just like normal foundations (I've heard there a total of 16 shades).  The shade I picked was 340 Nude.  For reference, I'm about an NC37/40.  Texture-wise, it is on the runnier side of the spectrum, but is very smooth.  It gives a light-medium coverage and a dewy finish.

Rimmel Match Perfection in 340 Nude

This product claims to have what Rimmel calls Smart Tone Technology that is meant to mimic the skin's texture and tone.  I can confirm, astonishingly, that these claims are true.  I have two problems with every foundation that I try:  I can never find a shade to match my skin tone exactly and no matter how great the foundation claims to be, it always looks a little fake on me because of my dry, rough skin.  Match Perfection was the first foundation to ever match my skin color exactly AND look completely natural on me.  It really doesn't look like I'm wearing any makeup on my face and I've never experienced that before.  Add to that, it left a beautiful glowing finish on my face.  So needless to say, when I first applied it I was in love and I thought it was the best foundation ever in the history of makeup lol.  How lucky was I to score a drugstore foundation, 75% off I might add, that was this awesome?  But of course, as I snapped out of my euphoria, I realized everything wasn't so peachy keen.


When I went to feel the product on my face, I noticed that it had not yet set.  So I went on to do the rest of my makeup.  Once I was done, about 20 minutes later, I touched it again.  This stuff does not set on it's own at all.  I had to put a lot more powder on top than I'm used to just so that it didn't still feel like I just applied it.  This wasn't a good thing for my desert dry skin.  The glow still shined through the powder but it wasn't as brilliant as it was.  And I must suggest that my oily-skin ladies approach this with caution.  The dewiness looked great on me, but I realize this was probably an effect of the foundation not setting.  I've never had oily skin, so I'd never truly know what it's like, but I would imagine that this foundation would create an oil slick on oil-prone skin.  Although it looked fine, it did make my skin feel a little too moist to the touch, like it might melt off if I get too hot.


Despite this one con, I still really like this product.  Even though it didn't set properly, it never looked wrong or bad to the naked eye.  Matter of fact, it looked gorgeous on.  And I'm uber-impressed that it lived up to its claims.  Here are some pictures of me wearing it.

With flash

No Flash

As you can see with the first picture, because of the SPF 15 in this formula, it does give you a slightly white cast with flash photography so that's a little annoying but not too big a deal.  The second picture is of no flash and with a finished makeup look that you can view here.  


Bottom Line:  Amber really really really really REEEEEEALLY LIKES!! 


Just a tip, I found this applied best with my Real Techniques Stippling brush, which I reviewed here.  If you don't have this particular brush, I would suggest a buffing brush like E.L.F.'s Powder Brush.  I tried using a normal 'paint brush' type foundation brush and it looked okay, but a bit streaky.


So, do you put much stock in this magic color changing foundations, or are you a skeptic like me?