The palest drugstore foundations!

Up until a few months ago, the only liquid foundation I owned that matched my skin was Bobbi Brown's Skin Foundation in the lightest shade, Alabaster.  It's a great foundation, but with my skin having more dry patches than this time last year, it wasn't working as well for me as it used to.  I decided to give something new a go, but as I didn't want to be experimenting with high end products (which at about £30 a pop were a bit out of my price range) I had a look round Boots to see what I could find...

The first product I found was the Loreal True-Match Foundation in the shade 'N1'.  This is a little yellower in tone than the Bobbi Brown but once blended in with my Real Techniques sponge matches my skin really well.  I love how this gives really natural coverage, and the lightweight, runny texture of the product makes it really easy to apply.  The lasting power is pretty good for this - about 8 to 10 hours with primer and then it starts to separate on the oilier areas of the face.  It also, like the Bobbi Brown, has no discernible scent which is great.  Definitely one to give a go if you're on the hunt for a good light-to-medium coverage foundation.

A few weeks ago though, I saw that Rimmel had released a new shade in their foundation ranges called 'Light Porcelain' which is almost exactly the same as the Bobbi Brown shade - maybe even lighter!  I decided to try out their Lasting Finish Nude foundation, as I was still looking for something with longer lasting-power, and fuller coverage that would still look natural (okay, a little optimistic but hey!)  This does actually live up to my expectations though - a couple of days ago I left the house at 6 in the morning and it was still looking nice at 9 at night!  I haven't tried it out (or the Loreal one) sans primer yet though, as I know my skin will eat up the product by lunchtime - but it'd be interesting to see and compare lasting power without primer at some point... It does apply really nicely though, without emphasising drier areas of skin, and also has buildable coverage so you can layer on a little more where needed without any issues!  The only thing that lets this one down is that the product has a quite strong fruity-floral scent - luckily it doesn't affect me but I can see this being a bit of a letdown for people with sensitive noses or skin which reacts to added fragrance.  Otherwise, I'd definitely recommend it (especially since it's one of the cheapest foundations you can find in the drugstore!)

L-R: Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation 'Alabaster', Rimmel Lasting Finish Nude
 Foundation 'Light Porcelain', Loreal True-Match Foundation 'N1'

xxx