Review: L’Oreal True Match Foundation (Before & After)
L’Oreal True Match Foundation, £9.99
Where to buy: Boots | Superdrug | Feelunique | Asda | Fragrance Direct | Chemist Direct
This winter has not been kind to my skin; my natural tan has completely faded, which has left me with what my husband calls the ‘sick grey’ skin colour. Isn’t that lovely? (#NOT) So, as I expected, none of my foundations suit my skin tone perfectly anymore; even my holy grail Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk (GALS, for the intimate) is starting to look a little bit dark on me. But instead of splashing out on a lighter shade of GALS, I took Amelia Liana’s advice and bought the L’Oreal True Match Foundation, which is supposed to be a dupe for Luminous Silk. Sounds promising, doesn’t it? Let’s put it to the test!
Summary
- SPF 17
- True to skin shades
- Warm, cool & neutral undertones
- Natural matte & luminous finish
- Light / medium coverage
- Silky texture
- Creamy liquid formulation
- Lightweight
- 20 shades (I’m shade N4, for reference)
About
The L’Oreal True Match Foundation is marketed as a ‘super blendable’ foundation with a creamy liquid texture, flawless finish and true-to-skin shades that ‘matches the colour and texture of your skin’. It contains SPF 17 and it comes in a 30ml glass bottle with a pump – hooray!
[youtube=http://youtu.be/jOpNh0c8ms4&w=714]
If you’re reading this on your mobile, tablet or email, click here to watch the video
Video
Since you guys seemed to find my previous First Impressions review video useful, I decided to do another one for this foundation. So before you continue reading the review, watch the video above to see this foundation in action and to see how both shades look on camera.
Texture & Finish
This foundation has a silky texture and matte & luminous finish. It’s pretty much identical to Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk in this aspect, and it feels very pleasant on the skin. True Match claims to give your skin a flawless finish, which I slightly disagree. It’s definitely not a natural finish, but it’s not flawless either, so I’d put it somewhere in between natural and flawless.
Coverage
True Match has a great light to medium coverage, perfect as an everyday foundation if you’re used to wearing foundation on a daily basis. It covered my redness and hyper-pigmentation with 1 layer and without clinging to any dry patches. But that’s as far as I will go with this foundation; 2 layers or more can be problematic on dry patches. If you definitely need more than one layer, I recommend avoiding any extra dry areas on your face. In comparison to GALS, True Match will give you much less coverage.
Formulation
This is where True Match mainly differs from Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk; The L’Oreal foundation is a creamy liquid and the Armani foundation is more like a creamy paste. GALS is thicker, and therefore it gives you a higher coverage and it’s more long-wearing than True Match. I found conflicting information online regarding the presence of oils in this foundation; the L’Oreal website says it’s oil-free, but on the Boots website it says it contains ‘3 light, non-greasy oils’. If the presence of oils is a problem for you, it’s worth confirming with an official L’Oreal representative.
Shades
The main premise of the L’Oreal True Match foundation is having shades that are true to skin tones, instead of generic shades that don’t suit anyone in particular. There are 20 shades in warm, cool and neutral undertones, with a very good range of light, medium & dark shades. I couldn’t choose one, so I took home N4 and N5, but as you will be able to see on the video above, N4 ended up being a better colour match for me, as it’s more of a true beige than N5. Even though N5 may look lighter on my skin, it’s not actually any lighter in real life, it’s just less beige and more grey on my skin.
Here’s a list of all the shades available:
- Warm: W1 (Golden Ivory), W2 (Golden Vanilla), W3 (Golden Beige), W4 (Golden Natural), W5 (Golden Sand), W7 (Golden Amber), W8 (Golden Cappuccino)
- Neutral: N1 (Ivory), N2 (Vanilla), N3 (Creamy Beige), N4 (Beige), N5 (Sand), N6 (Honey), N6.5 (Caramel), N7 (Amber), N8 (Cappuccino), N9 (Cacao)
- Cool: C1 (Rose Ivory), C2 (Rose Vanilla), C3 (Rose Beige), C5 (Rose Sand), C7 (Rose Amber)
Lasting Power on Dry Skin
This foundation lasted very well for about 7 hours, when the first signs of fading (around my nose) and shine started to appear. As such, it is ideal for a normal 8-hour day at work, but if you’re planning on going out for drinks afterwards, you might need to touch it up a little. Comparing True Match to Luminous Silk in this category is a bit unfair, as the latter is extremely long-wearing and it stays looking flawless for a good 12 hours – trust me, my Wedding day was the biggest test for GALS, and it passed with flying colours! A moisturiser is recommended before applying True Match, but not totally indispensable.
Flash Photography
True Match has SPF 17 in its formula, which may give you some flashback. However, in my experience, I was pleasantly surprised with the low amount of flashback I got whilst wearing this foundation. As you can see from the photo above, there is definitely a bit of a white cast over my face, but it’s nothing too noticeable or worrying. If you want a safe choice for flash photography, Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk is your guy!
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’m pleasantly surprised by the L’Oreal True Match foundation and I believe it is very similar to the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation. Granted, it’s not an 100% dupe because True Match is less long-wearing, less flawless and less creamy, but it’s the most similar foundation to GALS I’ve tried so far, and it doesn’t cost a small fortune! It’s fantastic for everyday use and the wide shade range with different undertones is commendable. If you’re thinking of buying Luminous Silk but you can’t quite afford it yet, give L’Oreal True Match a go and see how you get on with it first.
Have you tried the L’Oreal True Match foundation? What do you think of its similarities to Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk?
- Product: L’Oreal True Match Foundation
- Price: £9.99
- Where: Boots | Superdrug | Feelunique | Asda | Fragrance Direct | Chemist Direct
NOTE: The photos have only been edited to correct colour and light; they have not been retouched.
37 Comments
Sonia
Nice post and useful information! Looks quite nice actually and really light ! :) and If last soooo long, I guess it will be worth it to try !!! x
Le Beauty Girl
Thank you, Sonia! I’d glad you liked it :) It’s definitely worth trying it. I really liked how it looked on my skin! x
Almu
I really want to try this foundation! thank you for the fantastic review and all the useful information! :)
FeelBella
Le Beauty Girl
Thank you! I’m glad you liked it :) x
Neelam
Hands down you give the best reviews. I’ve always heard good things about this foundation but you’ve pretty much answered all my questions! I hope I can find a shade that will match me because I really want to try this foundation out! Neelam xx
Newgirl49.blogspot.co.uk
Le Beauty Girl
Aw thanks, Neelam! That’s such great feedback :) I hope you find the perfect shade for your skin! x
rozia
Hello- my perfect match foundation is ysl touch eclat BD50 – is that foundation shade a match for your tan or you lighter skin?
Le Beauty Girl
Hi, this is a match for my lighter skin, so it would be too light a YSL touche eclat BD50 skintone.
Georgina Fox
What a fantastically detailed review, thank you for putting so much effort into it!!
Your skin is absolutely beaut, you literally don’t need foundation.
Georgina at itotallypaused.com
Le Beauty Girl
Thank you so much, Georgina! I’m glad you liked it :) x
Carolina Pelzer
I luv your blog so much and always enjoy your product reviews!!! Tks for your gr8 posts!!! ;) x
http://prettyandmessy.wordpress.com/
Le Beauty Girl
Thank you, Carolina! :) x
Cosmochics
Very nice and detailed review! Lovely pics and FOTDS! :)
Le Beauty Girl
Thank you so much :) x
Le Beauty Girl
Yeah, it’s kind of not ideal for night outs, but it’s really great to keep your face protected from sun damage during the day :) x
Dagmara
What a great review! I’ve been thinking of trying this foundation and your post helped a lot to make my mind up!
http://mummysbeautycorner.blogspot.co.uk/
Le Beauty Girl
Thank you! I’m glad I could help :) x
www.ayluff.blogspot.com
god!! you’re so pretty :)
Le Beauty Girl
Aw, you’re making me blush! :)
Le Beauty Girl
Thank you so much :) x
Nia
I Bought Sand a week back just because it was on offer and I have not used it yet so was searching for reviews and nobody reviewed it aswell as you, trust me, every other review that I read nobody thought it would be useful for readers to know about the cool/warm/neutral thing as I just randomly picked up sand without knowing about the cool/warm/neutral thing going on (but I am glad I did because I am fairly neutral ) :) btw what camera do you use? The pictures are just mindblowing! and your so pretty!
Le Beauty Girl
That’s lovely to hear, Nia! I really like it when people find my reviews useful – that’s why I do them :)
For those pictures I used a Canon 600D, but now I’m using a Canon 70D :) xx
sasha
I have just stumbled across your review whilst looking for one about this product, I usually never feel so pleased with a review like i do with yours! It was so concise and honestly perfect for everything you would need to know about buying foundation. I am so pleased i found you! Definitely recommend to anyone that needs a review – fantastic :)
Kate
What a wonderful review!! So in depth – a joy to read :)
Kate x
katiecharlotteblogs.co.uk
jessica
I love your review! What colour blush and lipstick are you wearing there?
Leah Clarke
This review was so helpful so thankyou :)
http://leahclarkie.blogspot.co.uk/
Leah xx
Milica Rozic
Great review, so helpful. Thank you :)
beautypusinka
Really good review! thank you very much! BEAUTYPUSINKA
Bika Snow
Very detailed review. Unfortunately for me, this foundation don’t last long at all :(
http://krisrein.com/
maraki
try it with a primer underneath and a kabouki brush. It sticks on my face lik eno tomorrow :)
Nathalia
Thank you for your review! It inspired me to try this foundation which turned out to be the first beauty review on my blog! http://www.allthingspersonal.com
Annie
This was very useful. Thank You!
AnnieRosesDiary
Hildegerd Haugen
Did you try out the True Match Lumi Magique Foundation as well?
Jarin Tan
great review! love reading your articles ;)
eqiny
Great review ! Can u tell me which shade of Lumi Magique foundation matches N4 Beige of true match foundation ?
Alicia Ajish
Hi, I saw your photo today when I was reading one article, and I was trying to remember where I saw this pic? And then I remeber that I read your review 7-8 month ago on loreal foundation. Well, I wanted to tell you some people are using your photos on their advertisement .. ..
i am sharing that link below
http://fitmomdaily.com-bmk7wtzmrqski.top/mob_m/mob_wh/index.html?city=Thane&voluumdata=BASE64dmlkLi4wMDAwMDAwMy1iOTZmLTQ5NjMtODAwMC0wMDAwMDAwMDAwMDBfX3ZwaWQuLmY4OWY1MDAwLTM3ZDktMTFlNi04ODAxLTc2Y2E1NmIwYjM4OF9fY2FpZC4uMDZlNWU0NGUtZTgyOS00ZDE3LTlmYjQtZDEyZjE3MzkzYWY5X19ydC4uUl9fbGlkLi45ODY4M2EzYy0xMTZkLTRjNDktOWY0NS1hYWYzY2EyOTY5YTNfX29pZDEuLjQ4NDRhYjNkLWZmNDktNGQxMi1hZGZkLTViNzFkYjYxNDUwZF9fdmFyMS4uWjNfX3ZhcjIuLjc2MDEyNV9fdmFyMy4uODgwMDFfX3ZhcjQuLmhlYWx0aCBhbmQgZml0bmVzc19fdmFyNS4uNzQyNV9fcmQuLnBzeWNoY2VudHJhbFwuXGNvbV9fYWlkLi5fX2FiLi5fX3NpZC4u&adid=Z3&utm_content_id=760125&utm_boost_id=88001&utm_targeting=health%20and%20fitness&utm_widget_id=7425
And check how they used your photo
Review andSwatches
Great im depth review! I too agree that N4 is a better match and looks quite natural on your face. However, it does look like “makeup” even in photos and on camera. Thanks.
http://www.reviewandswatches.com