Here’s the lowdown from the Clinique website:
“New Even Better Foundation SPF15 oil free formula, a powerful foundation developed to help combat hyper-pigmentation and deliver brighter skin, both immediately and over time. Includes treatment benefits to help even skin tone and SPF protection to help prevent future hyper-pigmentation. Provides moderate to full coverage, leaving skin instantly perfected with a unique mineral blend”.
(Pic courtesy of Clinique website) - apologies...my camera has gone on the blink again!
The first thing I would say about this foundation is that I feel that it is more a light to medium/medium coverage. Coverage is important to me because I have redness on my cheeks that MUST be camouflaged! I would say that my coverage preference goes a little bit like this…light to medium coverage for days when my skin is behaving itself or I'm more tanned and medium coverage for the days when it’s not, or when it’s very cold outside and I get the dreaded Rudolph nose effect. I don’t agree that it’s full coverage as to me, that means something like Estee Lauder Full Coverage Maximum Cover or MakeUp Forever’s Matt +. It’s totally a personal preference but I don’t like to build up layers of foundation on my face. I always find that the more you layer on, the less of your skin’s texture shows through so it ends up looking too heavy or cakey.
This foundation has a nice consistency that makes it easy to blend, it’s not too thick and not too thin but I personally think it applies best when you use your fingers. It evened out my skin tone and imparted a nice glow/ subtle luminosity to my skin that made it look really healthy and brightened. It’s the kind of foundation that is light enough to wear every day without feeling like you’re suffocating your skin. It looks natural and I didn’t notice an orange tinge developing like some people have reported in their reviews. This could be because I used the Neutral shade.
I tried this foundation when I had a couple of scars from spots on my chin, granted it didn’t cover these effectively but as I have said in previous posts, foundation is not designed to cover spots, it’s just designed to even out skin tone. So when you look at it like that, this foundation definitely does it’s job. I’d say it’s in the same family as Korres Wild Rose foundation and Diorskin Nude in that it gives the skin a slight sheen (not oily or greasy though). I still prefer Diorskin Nude to this foundation but I like the Clinique one for every day use. It had good staying power and still looks good at the end of a working day, I did have to powder my face midday to eliminate any shine though on my T Zone. I don’t think I would use this foundation if I was going out for the night as I don’t think it would withstand being in a hot club enduring copious amounts of dancing! But I always need something with more coverage for that kind of thing so that’s nothing out of the ordinary.
Some people have reported clogged pores/breakouts (possibly due to the SPF) from this foundation however I didn’t experience any of that. It didn’t irritate my skin in any way but I would highly recommend a patch test on an area where you would normally break out, just in case. All foundations will react differently from person to person so it's important to bear that in mind.
So overall, I like this product, it’s good for days when you just want a natural healthy look and time will tell whether it improves my overall skin tone with long term use…
