Estee Lauder Double Wear Maximum Cover – Glam Radar

by Maria · June 3, 2014

About a month ago I decided to bite the bullet and get colour matched at my local Estee Lauder counter at the Boots store in town, so I could pick up a box of this: Here is my review of Estee Lauder Double Wear Maximum Cover ! I’ve been putting it off for a while, partially as I was trying to convince myself I didn’t really need a new foundation (thinking of those £’s), but mainly because I’m not very good in public places and definitely not good at talking to people (oh, hello there anxiety disorder!). Like a fair few of you make-up counter staff give me the heebie-jeebies, they stand there defending their realm of cosmetics, with an immaculate face and aren’t afraid to indulge in guerilla tactics to get you to buy something. Trust me, I ran a Benefit counter. Actually, please don’t hold that against me… Anyway, I psyched myself up for what I presumed would be a terrifying experience, I could see how it might unfold: Me sat terrified on a stool whilst fellow shopers gawked at my face being liberally coated in a robust shade of creosote, whilst the SA nagged me about my skincare routine and forced me to buy ‘Creme de Bloody Expensive’. I have a lively imagination. Clearly none of those things happened. What did happen however was that I had the nicest SA imaginable, I think she could tell I was a bit nervous and put me at my ease chatting about my skin concerns, what I needed out of my foundation, what I currently use etc. Next came the colour match, my SA was ok with me wanting DW Max (I’ve heard a lot of SA’s are reluctant to sell it unless you have bad skin) after I explained that I suffer from a bit of Rosacea (which oddly she’d never heard of…) after I described the symptoms she looked quite startled and proclaimed she would go and she her GP as she blushes sometimes… way to go Claire, freak out the sales staff why don’t ya? After that little episode she rooted through the testers but could only come up with shades way too dark for me and after exclaiming ‘you’re very pale aren’t you, have you ever thought of fake tan?’ she tried to convince me to try the regular Double Wear foundation, trouble was that each shade she slapped on my jaw line was a bit orange-y and I could tell she was losing patience quickly… then she spied this:

After telling me ‘It’s the lightest one I have’ she squeezed me some into a tube and sent me on my way. To be honest I think the experience was far more traumatic for her than it was for me. At least I got a sample out of it. So I tried it for a week or so and then went back an bought a whole tube – well, I went to Debenhams as they had 10% off (gotta think of those pennies) Double Wear Maximum Cover Camouflage Makeup for Face and Body comes in quite a limited shade range, consisting of 6 colours ranging from very light to deep:

It also has an SPF of 15, personally I would have liked either a higher one (say 30SPF) or none at all, 15SPF just always seems a bit pointless to me – especially for very light skins.

The product comes in a navy blue squeezy tube with gold print and a gold lid, it definitely looks classy and expensive. As the foundation itself is quite thick the packaging does pick up smudges but it wipes clean easily. I ended up with the lightest shade in the range, which wasn’t really a surprise for me and generally when I go foundation shopping I start at the bottom and attempt to work my way up. Here’s a swatch of DW Max: As you can see from the swatch this is a pretty thick foundation, you need a teeny tiny bit to cover our face (maybe the size of a petit pois pea) to give a natural look, any more than that and you’ll end up looking a bit doll like – although that is the aim for many of the people who buy this, and it can look quite pretty in a super air-brushed way. I’ve tried applying this in a variety of ways: with an old school foundation brush, a kabuki brush, a sponge etc but really the best way I’ve found is with my (clean!) fingers, I think it helps warm the foundation up a bit and makes blending it easier – buffing it out afterwards with a brush does help too. So, how does it really look on my skin? With a product like this I couldn’t really just leave a swatch up, I wanted to show you the results. WARNING: You are about to see my skin with no make-up (eek)

After:

I also have on a light dusting of  L’Oreal Colour Match Pressed Powder on and ELF Mineral Blush in Pink.

Pretty big difference, eh? Estee Lauder describe this foundation as: ‘Soothing, natural-looking, liquid-creme makeup for concealing all skin imperfections, including surgical and acne scars, birthmarks, sun spots and varicose veins.’ Yup, pretty much lives up to its claims, they also claim it was 12 hours wear and I agree it lasts a long time, I get around 10 hours out of it with a dust of powder over it. It does give me the security of know I don’t have to look in the mirror to check my face isn’t sliding off, I can also use this dabbed on my skin as a concealer so it’s a winner for me. I am however not so sure about the non-transferable claim, this stuff ended up smudged on the shoulder of my boyfriends sweater when he went in for an over-enthusiastic hug. The only thing I can really compare this to is Revlon Color Stay as it has a similar coverage, but that’s pretty much where the comparison ends, DW Max is easier to blend and doesn’t feel anywhere near as ‘mask’ like on my skin (it’s noticeable but not heavy). As I’ve only tried this in the winter I’ll be interested to see how the formula holds up when I get a bit, erm, glowy in the heat – I may also need to go up a shade as this one does border on ‘Caspar the Friendly Ghost’. The formula really is a winner for me, the product squeezes out at the same consistency as many ‘regular’ foundations – you’d be hard pushed to guess it was a camouflage product, the smell is clean and non-offensive and a little goes a very long way. As you can imagine this is now a HG product of mine, I will definitely definitely be repurchasing and I am singing it’s praises to anyone who will listen! Double Wear Maximum Cover Camouflage Makeup for Face and Body costs £26.50 and is available from all the normal places. Have you tried Double Wear Max?

Tags: Benefit counterEstee Lauder counterEstee Lauder Double Wear Maximum CoverL’Oreal Colour Match Pressed PowderSPF of 15

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