GracexKate: LA Girl Pro Matte Foundation Review

I am a huge LA Girl fan, I find that I get along with majority of their makeup products, at least the ones I've tried, and one of my all time favourite products from them is the LA Girl Pro Coverage Foundation so when I found out that they had released a new foundation, I was so excited to try it. It is definitely on opposite ends of the spectrum to the Pro Coverage foundation so it will be really interesting to see what I think of this foundation.

In case you didn't know, you can get LA Girl products from Beauty Bay and they are super affordable as a brand. This foundation retails for £10 which I think is pretty reasonable for a drugstore foundation, especially because of the luxurious packaging and the amount you get. Beauty Bay sells 14 shades of this foundation and I'm not sure if that's it but from looking at the selection, they have definitely improved their range of shades for more pale, fair-skinned people but I do still think that they could have widened their shades for more deeper skintones as there only seems to be two from what I have seen. The Pro Coverage foundation definitely had more of a dodgy colour range as their palest shade was too dark for me and I'm not even that pale so they have definitely taken that feedback on board but I still think that there is more room for improvement.

As for a brief description of the product itself, Beauty Bay describes the product as "Lightweight and long lasting, Pro. Matte HD Long Wear Matte Foundation features a creamy formula that glides onto the skin for a smooth, suede-like finish. Effortlessly blendable, this mattifying foundation minimises the appearance of pores and fine lines to deliver a flawless, soft focus effect."

After looking at all of the shades I chose the shade Beige which is described as "fair to medium skin with warm undertones". I definitely agree with this description except, I think it is definitely suited to more fair skin than medium skin. As for how well it matches me, it is almost perfect as the undertone it quite yellow and once this is on the skin, it matches my chest perfectly. I do love that LA Girl really cater to people with a more olive/ yellow undertone as I find that not a lot of drugstore brands do that.

I think that the packaging of this product is super luxurious. It comes in a frosted glass bottle with black branding and a black lid. As much as I love the glass bottle as I think it just makes the foundation look so much more expensive, it does make it that little bit harder to travel with. This foundation also comes with a pump which I think is great as I find that a pump is the best way to distribute the product.

As for the formula of this foundation, it is definitely a little thick but it is definitely not the worst I have came across. I find that when I apply this to the skin, it does blend but you definitely need to be quick as it set fairly quickly. You also don't need a lot of this which is the mistake I made, so defintiely start with a light layer and build it up as when you apply too much, it does start to go cakey. I would call this foundation medium coverage but it could quite easily become full with a second layer. As you can tell by the title of this product, the finish is matte but I would also say that it is not 'flat looking', I would actually describe it more as a satin finish as with the right primer underneath, some luminosity can shine through. One thing I must point out is that if you have dry skin or dry patches then this foundation does cling to it slightly so this is definitely for people with more oily skin. I do think you could avoid this my using a more hydrating primer and moisturizer but it is something to keep in mind.

My favourite way to apply this is with a buffing brush and then to go over it with a sponge to absorb the excess. For me, the buffing brush blends the foundation much quicker but the sponge allows the finish to look a lot more natural and smooth-looking.

As for how long it lasts, it definitely lasts longer than other foundations I own. As you probably know, the UK is having a slight heatwave at the moment and I wore this foundation on one of the hottests days and it still lasted multiple hours. Even though it lasted, it definitely caused some of my oil to seep through the longer I wore it but it was nothing a little powder couldn't fix.

Overall, I would recommend this foundation to someone with oily skin as it definitely does wear really well throughout the day, even with the heat. If you do have dry skin though, I still think that you could get away it but by using a more hydrating base to avoid the foundation clinging to your dry patches. I also think that this is great for day or night. At the moment I have been wearing this foundation a lot but mixed with some moisturizer for something a bit lighter and daytime appropriate and it is amazing for that. On its own it definitely is more of a heavy, intense foundation but now that I know it works well mixed in with a moisturizer, I would also recommend that too.