Review: e.l.f. Flawless Finish Foundation in Porcelain ($6.00)

Oh boy did e.l.f. cause a stir when they released this foundation. I feel like everyone was talking about the chic glass bottle, pump, and matte black lid and the name reminding them of HD foundations. I too was excited for the foundation. I have been using this foundation on and off since the middle of December and I'm finally ready to give my thoughts on the product!

First up, the packaging....

Although unnecessary, I love the thick frosted glass. I like pretty packaging, what can I say!? The pump however, is completely necessary. I have a really hard time with foundations that don't have a pump and I don't understand why ever foundation doesn't come with one. I have seen other reviews that people have had issues with their pump sticking or not dispensing product properly but I have not experienced this at all.

Consistency...

Super creamy! I love the consistency of this foundation. But before you get a chance to obsess over the texture you will notice the smell...

Oh e.l.f. why do you do this to yourselves and us

It has the overwhelming strong scent of soap and/or febreeze. Luckily the smell fades quickly but it makes me wonder why they thought this was necessary. Like, what would this smell without their stinky soap...? Something to wonder about I guess. I don't have a hard time dealing with the smell because it goes away but I know that right there will be a deal breaker for some.

Coverage...

I have a hard time capturing foundation once it has been blended so I enlisted the help of a pen in my purse.

The foundation is only about half way blended here

And then blended out completely

Now obviously there isn't anything so contrasting on your face like bright blue ink but I'd say this is medium to full coverage, at least for the blemishes I'm concealing it does the job. Please also notice how dewy the finish of this foundation is. I always find it funny when I'm doing my makeup that I put this on and then completely matify it with my powder foundation and then highlight my face to bring back the dewy look...seems silly. Even though it's not completely full coverage, I find if I use too much product I don't get any more coverage just a rather heavy feeling to my skin all day. If you can't stand to feel like you're wearing makeup then this is not for you.

Then I put a little over the veins on the inside of my wrist just to show the coverage a bit more.

As you can see in the picture to the right, the foundation is a little cakey. I did not moisturize my skin before swatching the foundation and this can cake up if you haven't moisturized.

I can't speak for the other shades of this foundation but I got the lightest of the 6 shades they offer and this is super yellow....

Please see below

Bare skin on Left and foundation on Right

It turns out the best to find out how well a product is working for you is to take pictures for a review. Before I started swatching and taking pictures and really thinking a lot about how this product is working for me I actually really liked it. I was reaching for this foundation almost every single day. I love the creamy consistency and I was able to get decent coverage very quickly (which is a must for me because I am always running late for work!) with just a small amount of product. I think the reason I didn't realize how yellow this foundation is would be because I layered concealer, powder foundation, blush and bronzer on top... but I'm wondering if it's not a very good match for my face. I do have really red skin though... maybe that's why I was so drawn to this foundation every morning because it neutralizes the red in my skin! Ah hah! I'm not completely crazy!

Overall: I really felt like going into this review I would be raving... but I didn't have a whole lot of great things to say about this foundation. I think this is one of those things where it is going to be great for 1 person and horrible for the next. There are so many variables from person and shade to the next that it's hard to know if it will be grail or fail.

I think...

it's a bit on the heavy side,

potential to get cakey although it doesn't always,

medium coverage, 

temporary stinky soap smell, 

small shade selection,

blends easily,

beautiful dewy finish.

I do plan on finishing this bottle because I'm able to work out the cons with other products but I don't think I will be re-purchasing. Especially since summer is coming up and this foundation would be way too heavy in the warm summer temperatures. I've got two words for you: oil slick!

Hope you enjoyed. Please let me know in the comments what your thoughts are on this product. I'd love to hear your opinions!

xoxo