Product Review: Essence Clear & Matt Oil-free Foundation

As some of you know, a month ago, I attended the launching of 5 European brands to be locally available here in the Philippine and Color Society Philippines brought them here. I've blogged about it and if you want to read my post and read about those new European brands, please click here.

One of the 5 brands is Essence which originated from Germany. Essence arrived here in the Philippines just few months ago and people are already digging their stuff because of its good quality yet affordable prices. I am actually already a fan of Essence and I was really happy and thankful for the box of goodies that Color Society Philippines had given the beauty bloggers who attended the launching. The box that I received was full of Essence cosmetics and a lip gloss from GOSH cosmetics plus a blow dryer from American Heritage! Haha! Because of that awesome box, you'll be reading a lot of Essence product reviews here in my blog. I have already reviewed their Get Big! Lashes Volume Curl Mascara and their Eyebrow Stylist Set which I both love and so far, I've also been loving most, if not all, of the Essence cosmetics from the box that I received. First up, Essence Clear & Matt Make-Up!

I received two foundations from Color Society and this is the first one that I picked up to try because it says "matt" and "oil-free"! I always look for this kind of foundations because my skin is oily-combination and so I wanted to see if this would really work on me.

Product description:

Oil-free foundation, mattifying, moisturizing, with vitamin E. Dermatologically tested.

Essence Clear & Matt Make-Up is contained in a hard plastic squeeze-tube bottle with a tiny nozzle so you have an easier control to dispense the foundation. The bottle is light and very travel-friendly.

It is available in three shades only; 01 Porcelain, 02 Honey, and 03 Sand. I got the shade 01 Porcelain and I think it's a little pinkish and lighter than my skin color but I can make it work so it's still okay and also, it oxidizes after about 2 hours or less.

Photo source: http://www.luuux.com/health-beauty/essence-clear-and-matte-foundation

The consistency is not too liquidy/runny but it's light so it's not capable in covering major imperfections on the face but it can conceal the redness of my skin. It gives light to medium coverage. One thing that I like about it is that it feels so light on my face like I don't have a foundation on. With its coverage though, I can say that this foundation is just great for everyday / casual looks.

From the product description that you've read above, it claims to abate oiliness and mattify your skin. The finish is not totally matte, just semi-matte but the fact that it has a smooth finish and it can last for long hours just effin' amazes me! For its light texture, I didn't think that it would last on my face for more than 3 hours. Look at this photo below. Almost 9 hours had passed and my face still looks smooth and the coverage is still good although you can clearly see that my face already got oily. But that's about 9 hours already and it may not look as matte as the first photo and my lip color may had already faded but my foundation stayed intact.

*FIRST TEST*

Here's a photo of my bare face:

Here's me with 2 layers of the Essence Clear & Matt Make-up. It was able to cover my dark under eye circles, redness of my skin and some light pimple scarring but as you can see, it is lighter than my skin color. When I look at the foundation, it looks like it has a yellow undertone but when I apply it on my skin, it would turn a little pinkish.

Here's what the foundation looks like after setting it with translucent powder. Who wouldn't be impressed with that flawless and smooth coverage? I just hope it matches my original skin color.

Here's a photo of me with complete make-up on:

After a total of 9.5 hours:

*SECOND TEST*

I thought maybe it's just the translucent powder that I used from Glory of New York that made the foundation last for almost 10 hours so I decided to do another test without using a translucent powder to seal it in. I just used a pressed powder this time to set the foundation.

Before: (freshly applied makeup)

After 3 hours:

After 8 hours:

What more can I say? A picture is worth a thousand words, right? Hehe! Although I can say that the Glory of New York Translucent Powder that I used on the first test made the foundation last longer but still, the foundation is pretty great!The foundation was able to control the oiliness of my skin and it didn't completely fade out even after hours and hours without retouching. Whenever I take photos chronologically for product reviews, I make it a point that I don't retouch nor even blot my face to get rid of oiliness which is not really difficult and a big problem for me since I'm the type of girl who doesn't care about her face anymore once she walks out the door. Haha! I don't really retouch not unless my face looks super oily and unpleasant and I'm in a special occasion but for regular days especially when I'm in school, I don't really care about retouching anymore.

Going back to the product review, yup - I love the Essence Clear & Matt Make-Up because it does reduce the oiliness of my face, it has a good coverage, longevity is commendable and it's not going to hurt your pocket! I'm not sure how much is the exact price of this foundation but I think it's just around Php 250.00. I also want to add up that even though it can mattify your skin, it will not make your face look and feel dry. It's quite moisturizing, in fact.

I will surely repurchase this but in a shade that will match my skin color na para mas okay na talaga! :) It's definitely a product that I would recommend for people with oily skin and for those who are looking for a budget-friendly foundation.

Stay awesome and accomplish your mission! :)

-ivsc-