This review is definitely coming really late especially given how excited I was for the Fenty Hydrating Foundation to launch but I wanted to thoroughly test this foundation before the review and admittedly I got a little bit distracted with the Pat McGrath Skin Fetish.
For reference, I have dry skin and my best colour match is Smashbox Studio Skin in 0.1. The shade I decided to pick up in the Fenty foundation is 100 which is said to have a neutral undertone. 110 was definitely pinker but personally I think I could get away with it as well since I don’t mind a pinker foundation. 120 was definitely too dark though. Overall I would classify this as a neutral tone and it’s amongst one of my closest matches.
I never picked up the original Fenty foundation because its fast drying aspects didn’t really appeal to me. I would say this is pleasant formula to work with in a sense that it’s fairly thin and doesn’t dry quickly so you don’t have to worry about blending it in straight away. Now the claim of the foundation is that it’s hydrating and longwearing but not dewy providing you with medium to full coverage. Smashbox Studio Skin Foundation is still my favourite foundation because of the fantastic coverage it gives while not looking heavy on the skin and this appeared to have similar claims. Now the Smashbox foundation has a thicker consistency which means it blends into the skin quicker but I also find it gives more coverage. Fenty is also a lot thinner so I find it can be quite streaky when applying with a brush and it takes longer to work it into the skin. I also didn’t find much improvement in speed when using the Fenty Kabuki Buff Foundation Brush which launched alongside this foundation as opposed to my usual Bobbi Brown Full Coverage Brush if anything I find the Kabuki to bit too large to get a good blend under my eyes and around my nose. I also tried it with the Fenty sponge which worked well but personally I prefer to apply this thinner formulas with brushes so will probably stick to Bobbi Brown.
Application aside, let’s discuss the other claims of the foundation. I would call this a medium coverage and not a buildable one. While it doesn’t cake when you layer it, it doesn’t really improve the coverage significantly and I find this didn’t knock back a lot of the redness in my skin when I had a few spots on my forehead. Personally I don’t mind this level of coverage and found it to look quite seamless on the skin but I wouldn’t rely on this for full coverage. As far as the finish goes when initially applied this does have a satin finish and I need to set it with a powder to feel comfortable but I found this stuck to the dry patches on my cheeks. I’ll say I do get more glow coming through on my forehead than with other foundations but I do set it with an illuminating powder because I enjoy the glow. If you used a mattifying powder, I don’t think you’d get that effect. Still I don’t find this to be exceptionally longwearing and found it could look quite unflattering around my pores towards the end of the day but I think you had a more combination skin type and used a pore-filling primer or a standard setting powder, it could wear much better.
All in all, who I think this foundation is formulated for is someone with combination to oily skin who doesn’t like matte foundations and while I think it can work on dry skin, it wouldn’t be fullproof at all times. Admittedly, I am drawn to Fenty because of their wide shade range and shade wise this is definitely one of my favourite colours. I do find this to be a solid medium coverage foundation with a skin like finish but one that won’t do very well of the extreme sides of the skin type spectrum (either very dry or very oily). This also reminds me a lot of the Too Faced Born This Way Foundation in terms of texture, coverage and longevity so unless Fenty is your perfect match, if you’ve already tried Too Faced, this one isn’t bringing anything revolutionary to the table.
Have you tested this foundation? What are your thoughts?
Style On Film 
I’ve heard a lot about this foundation, both good and bad, but haven’t tried it. I can’t decide if I want to or not. I am a bit on the dry side and a lot of people with drier skin has said they won’t use Fenty foundation…
I definitely find this a lot easier to work with compared to the first foundation they came out with but don’t think it’s the best foundation out there for dry skin.
That’s very good to know 🙂 I didn’t like the first foundation, but can’t really say why… it just felt wrong.