MUA Matte Perfect Shine Control Foundation | Review & Swatches

Well, it has happened. I always wondered when I would end up becoming a Jeremy Kyle level of tramp and it appears to be the month of November.

Claire and I decided to do some online shopping at work (er, big surprise there) and ‘invested’ in some bits and bobs makeup-wise from MUA. Read about what we bought here and for a more detailed review of the Pro-Brow Eyebrow Kit, have a clicky here. Out of sheer curiosity, I bought MUA’s Matte Perfect Shine Control Foundation. Which you can buy for £2. That’s right. You can buy foundation for as much as two steak bakes from Greggs.

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I’ll be honest with you, I wasn’t expecting much. I do like MUA products, but I have found that some of them have a few drawbacks – which obviously you’d expect when things are cheaper than Katie Price’s face (ooo-er, I’m such a bitch). So, when our parcel of excitement arrived, I thought it would be a fun experiment to give this foundation a whirl rather than it become a permanent fixture in my makeup bag.

And guess what chums… it was actually really good.

In a slightly weird move on MUA’s part, the foundation only comes in two shades: fair and almond. I really love how MUA include swatches in their product information, which is super useful when choosing shades. The almond colour looked really orange (even for me), so I opted for ‘fair’ thinking I could always bronze up if the dreaded pale-face-orange-body issue occured.

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As you can see, it is quite a light shade but it works well on days that I haven’t tanned and I’m using my Bourjois Bronzing Primer underneath on days that I have oranged up to darken things a bit.

I thought that the consistency would be quite watery and a bit pathetic – with no promises of full coverage, I thought it would be more of a BB Cream sort of product. How wrong I was. It’s really thick and I’d say it’s most likely oil based, which is something I prefer with a foundation. The coverage is amazing – I’d say on a par with Estee Lauder’s Double Wear and Rimmel’s Lasting Finish 25 Hour Foundation, both of which are my go-to base products. It goes on very nicely and you don’t think for a minute that it only cost £2 when applying. For those who prefer a dewy look, it has a lovely finish and only needs a light dusting of powder on the t-zone. I prefer a more matte look, so I tend to go for all over powder, but it still looks grand.

The staying power is also surprisingly good. I wore this to work, to the gym and still came home with makeup on my face (PARDON ME?!). It’s very impressive.

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As always, I do have some issues with it (I am an old woman now and enjoy complaining as well as tense games of Scrabble. Deal with it). The product promises to “keep the shine at bay all day”, but unfortunately it doesn’t quite do that. I always wear a primer and find I need to powder by midday when wearing MUA’s Matte Perfect Shine Control regardless. SAYING THAT. The only time I don’t need to powder is if I wear Double Wear, so I feel I can overlook MUA’s false promises. I have a discoball face that loves to pester me with it’s shiny nose, so it’s not unusual for me to have to touch up during the day. Rather than shine control and mattifying, I’d say this foundation is better for full coverage and lasting – still really good but

Face snaps

And this is what it looks like on my face – NOT BAD, JA? JA.

What do you think? Have any of you used MUA’s Matte Perfect Shine Control Foundation? 

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3 Responses

  1. Jessica edmunds November 19, 2013 / 3:17 pm

    Mmmm steak bakes I’m hungry! This makes you look flawless (not that you weren’t anyway) but it looks great! And I loved their products already xxx

    • Lauren November 23, 2013 / 5:09 pm

      Pahah I am sorry 🙁 You can’t go wrong with a steak bake though 😉

      Thanks lovely! It really is a good foundation 🙂 xxxxx

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