First Impression Review : L'Oreal Magic Nude Liquid Powder Foundation

Hello lovelies!

So, I've been rather curious about this "magic" little baby. It's been out for quite some time at this point and is by no means a new product. I didn't feel the need to run out and buy it when it first hit the shelves, but last time I was in CVS perusing the makeup department all L'Oreal products were on sale. Leave it to me to use a sale as an excuse to buy makeup anything. Anyways, enough with the blabbing, on to the review:


At first, I was a little thrown off. The product is the definition of liquid. It has the consistency of heavy cream: extremely runny. The packaging is rather lux. It comes in a sturdy glass bottle containing .91 fl oz. I really wish it had a pump to help properly dispense the product. It claims you only need a few drops, and when I poured it onto my fingertips, I could easily have spilled plenty more.
The directions (in bold) tell you not to use a brush or sponge, but simply your fingers. Personally, I prefer using makeup tools, both because of the end finish and sanitary reasons. After applying the product, however, I understand L'Oreal's' reasoning for recommending your hands. A sponge would definitely eat up a substantial amount of product. I feel like using a duo-firbre brush could cut back on product waste, though I never tried applying it this way.

Application was simple enough. The product blended seamlessly onto my previously moisturized skin, and did in fact magically set to a powder-like finish. Now, I personally am not a huge fan of matte finish face products. I am definitely a fan of the dewy look, and generally steer clear of matte finish or "powder" products. I figured that since this foundation started out life as a liquid, the finish would be more natural. From far away, my face looked amazing. It was evenly toned, but still looked like my skin. All of my beauty marks shown through and I didn't look cake-y. Up Close, however, was a different story. My face had a true powder finish. It almost looked like my skin was made of velvet; not in the good way, but as in actual fabric fibres. Not my cup of tea. If your skin is oilier than mine (I have dry/combo skin leaning heavily on the dry side) then you may have more luck.

Flash photo test for L'Oreal Liquid/Powder

The formula does have SPF 15. This is nice for an everyday foundation, but not a necessity as I could simply wear a moisturizer with SPF. I did take a photo with flash to check for any of the dreaded "flash back". There was little to no whitecast. I believe that the color variation between my face and neck is simply the foundation being a tad too light for me (that and my face is always whiter than the rest of me). I was using the color 322 Sand Beige.

Staying power was quite impressive. I wore this for well over twelve hours with just my typical wear and tear. By the end of the evening, my bronzer was still on but my t-zone had worn off. This is to be expected. My nose area was almost totally worn off, though I'd been sniffling and rubbing away at it all day. No surprise there. My chin, which tends to get a bit oily had also faded quite a bit.

In the end, I'm not a huge fan of this foundation. I didn't like the powdery finish. I think that if I'd tried it out in the summer when my skin is more balanced, I would have had more success. This foundation did do everything it claimed, as far as I'm concerned. It really did magically become a powder after application. It had a sheer-medium coverage that looked fairly natural, and it lasted all day. The only real reason that it didn't work out for me was personal preference.


Have any of you tried this "Magic" foundation out? What were your thoughts? Let me know.

Love always,