/Make-up/ Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation

this was purchased by me.
When I first started playing with make-up for real, to wear everyday and not just for dance performances, I went straight to the drugstore brands. It was cheap and available basically everywhere. Back then my skin was much more oily and it easily broke out (not so much these days), so I wanted to find a foundation with good coverage and a matte finish. This Rimmel Stay Matte foundation was the first foundation I ever used. I'm quite sure the product has been reformulated a bit and the packaging has changed, but I'm still excited this was brought bad after being discontinued. I've been using this foundation on and off for the past few months, and now I'm ready to share my review.

This costs $4.99 for 1 fl oz./30 ml. On the Rimmmel London website, this is described as

"A feather light, oil free formula with an airy mousse texture that won’t feel heavy or greasy. Delivers all day shine control and blends flawlessly for a natural looking matte finish. Minimizes the appearance of pores. The weight is over – finally, shine has met its matte."

It comes in a squeezable tube, much like the original, except the packaging is longer and thinner. It looks lie something that would be easy to travel with.
I don't have the older foundation to compare it with, but I remember the texture being different. This foundation is more like a whipped mousse and the older one was more like a liquid, I remember that. Here's the ingredient list:

This is a swatch of the foundations. I originally bought the soft beige (200), but it seemed too dark at on my skin so I bought true ivory (103) later. I thought it a little strange because I used to use the beige shade.

true ivory, true ivory + soft beige, soft beige
In real life, the foundations run much more pink that the pictures will lead you to believe. I don't really mix the foundations to get a color to match my skin, I'm kind of too lazy for that, but I've done it before and it was ok. As seen from the swatch above, mixing the ivory and the beige yields an even pinker result that doesn't go to well with my skin tone. The foundation has a slightly floral scent, it's not very strong and doesn't last very long, so it's not very bothersome.
Let's see if this foundation lives up to Rimmel's claims and how it looks on the face. I'll start out with the true ivory. This shade is a light peachy shade with pink and a little yellow undertones. It isn't as yellow as the above swatch. Here's a side by side comparison of my face before putting foundation and what it looks like when it's on.

natural light
After application, my face is evened out and you can see that the shininess from my T-zone area is diminished. This foundation has good coverage and can conceal pores quite well without pooling into them. Despite Rimmel's description of the Stay Matte foundation as being lightweight, I found it a little heavy on my face. It has a thicker consistency and had a tendency to stick to my dry patches. You only need a small amount to cover your entire face and neck. This is my complete look after concealer, eye make-up, blush, highlighter, and setting powder.

The finish is really nice and the foundation wears well throughout the day. My face looked pretty decent five hours later.

My face is getting a little shiny, but not super greasy or anything like that.

Soft beige is a little darker and pinker than true ivory. Here's what I look like before and after I put on this foundation.

natural light
It applies the same as the ivory shade and it looks like a closer match for my skin tone at the moment. This is my complete look wearing this foundation. I think the only difference you can see is that this shade is little darker, but it's a little difficult to see, it's such a tiny difference. This is my complete look wearing the soft beige:

This keeps my complexion looking nice as the day goes by. Here is my face five hours later:

I think that the soft beige looks better after hours of wear, maybe because it blends better with my skin now.
This foundation has a tendency to cake and settle into fine lines. It's much better for someone who has oily skin. It can feel quite heavy despite Rimmel saying it doesn't, so I would suggest using thin layer when applying on the face and building up coverage if you need it. This is a good foundation. It's not quite right for my skin, but for those with oily skin who want matte skin this could be a great solution.

Overview
likes
.affordable
.easily available
.good coverage
.conceals pores
.nice, convenient packaging

dislikes
.limited, pink-based shades
.cakes
.feels heavy
.clings to dry skin

bright young person loves it

this much.