A couple weeks ago I received another VoxBox from Influenster containing more Max Factor goodies to try out and share my opinion.
The box contained:
Max Factor Face Finity All Day Flawless 3 in 1 Foundation
Max Factor Miracle Contouring Palette
Max Factor Miracle Glow Duo Pro Illuminator
Max Factor Facefinity Compact Foundation
The base done before the rest of the makeup is crucial to how it all turns out in the end and thereforΒ I wanted to give these products a proper go before giving my thoughts on them.
Max Factor Face Finity All Day Flawless 3 in 1 Foundation – soft honey
Firstly I must mention that the color I received was way too light for me. That made it a little harder to give it a proper test and also a full review, more so on the hold of the formula. They don’t have the biggest range of shades, but they definitely have darker shades than this.
I still wanted to test the formula through it’s initial application.
It being a 3 in 1 flawless foundation I was expecting it to be a full coverage foundation. With the first layer I could still see my skin color peeking through, but gave a solid medium coverage. Had I been any lighter I could have almost gotten away with the first layer.
However, the foundation is definitely buildable. I went in with 2 more layers for the purpose of testing the coverage and how cakey the formula might me. On my dry skin I must say I was impressed, it did not start to look cakey. But I did start to look more and more beige, the coverage for sure started to add up.
(Noteworthy: I always use a beautyblender with any foundation/cream products. And due to my dry skin I always use a hydrating primer/moisturizer underneath).
The foundation has an SPF of 20. To me personally that does not make much of a difference as I always wear SPF underneath anyways. And I recommend you do too, please take care of your skin! However, more SPF is always an added bonus in my books.
Many people do not like SPF in their foundations due to flashback in photography. If you do take flash photography a lot that might be something to keep in mind. Personally SPF in my foundation does not impact my pictures, atleast it hasn’t up to date.
Due to this being the wrong shade I could unfortunately not test the foundation on it’s own much more than this. Therefor I can’t say how much it lives up to the name “All day”.
But one thing I was keen to test out was how well this would blend with my Nars Sheer Glow Foundation. I love this foundation, but the shade I have (Macao) is now very dark for me. But it is so good (and also expensive) so I did not want to chuck it away.
Now that I had a foundation that was on the opposite end and very light for me I really wanted to see if I could get use out of both.
I must say – This has now become my new favorite combo. Both formulas blend well and together I can get my perfect shade. Since both the Max Factor Face Finity Foundation and Nars Sheer Glow foundation are solid medium to full coverage foundations, the combo definitely gave me wedding ready coverage, but yet natural looking finish. One layer of this combo was plenty enough for me, but if you want full on flawless coverage you could go in with another layer.
Now I would not recommend you going out and getting these two in your wrong shade. Don’t waste your money, get whichever one in the right shade. I did want to mention this as not always all formulas blend well together. And if you happen to have a bit contrasting shades in your vanity try mixing up the formulas and maybe you might end up having “your own” foundation.
Max Factor Miracle Contouring Palette
This palette impressed me more than I expected. I know many people tend to be scared of cream contouring, personally I am a big fan. My all time favorite cream contour is the MAC richly honed pro sculpting cream. Having this as my go to I was a bit sceptical to how this would compare. I would not say this replaces my MAC cream contour, but it sure is a close alternative and a cheaper option too.
This palette is divided into 3: Contour, lift and highlight
For contouring and my skin tone I use the two darkest shades. One is cool toned contour and the other a more warm bronze. Depending on the look I am going for I will either mix the two or use the dark cool toned contour. The darker shade when swatched is just the same as my MAC cream contour. However the Max Factor blends a lot easier and quicker into the skin. This is good if you are new to contouring or scared of the harshness a cream contour could give, as you can build up the darkness of your contour. Β I like a contoured cheek so I build this one up a bit.
There are a lot of shades, depending on your skin tone and how highlighted you want your face to be you have a flexibility to choose and mix which to contour, lift and highlight.
And this palette is refillable, which if I am not mistaken means you should be able to buy singles of the ones you might run out of.
Max Factor Miracle Glow Duo Pro Illuminator
I was most excited to try out this product when I received the parcel.
For the longest time I was not that into highlight – still not into the very glittery/bang on highlight, but anything to add to that natural glow I am all about it. From the looks of it this seems just like that.
When I finally started to test out the product I was neither impressed nor put off, just stuck a little in between. The lightest shade definitely adds that natural lift to the cheekbones. Does not contain any shimmer, so if I want a little bit more to the cheekbones I add another shimmer on top. But for day-to-day lift this is a decent one.
The bronze shade is what made it a “meh” product for me. I could neither use this as a shimmer on top of the other shade as it was just a little too dark. But at the same time it was a little too pale to use for a glowy bronzed look. If you are paler than me it might work out perfectly for a glowy bronzed look, and if you are darker than me this might work as a beautiful cream highlighter. Unfortunately for my skintone it does not do too much for the face. Keep in mind I got the shade “deep” in this glow duo. The one in “medium” might have been a better match as a highlighter duo. Since I have it tough I do use it on my eyelids every so often. When in rush out the door this is easy to slap on for super quick eye look.
Max Factor Facefinity Compact Foundation
Are you a no-makeup-makeup gal?
This one might be just what you want. With a big powder brush this will give you a very subtle coverage and with a kabuki brush a little bit more coverage. Light to medium-light coverage. You could build it up for more coverage, but personally I felt that to be very heavy on my face. I could feel the product sitting on my skin and that is not a very comfortable feeling.
If you know me personally you will know that if I am to go for a ‘no-makeup-look’ I will literally not wear makeup. But I also know that not everyone is that comfortable with that. If you do prefer putting on some makeup rather than no makeup, then this might be what you want.
How I for the most part end up using this product is either:
1. To set my liquid foundation and add that slightly bit more coverage. Due to this being a foundation and not a translucent powder, I don’t use this to set a medium to full coverage foundation. But rather something along the lines of The Ordinary Serum foundation.
2. Or I will just use it to set my contour.
Here I am wearing a mix of the Max Factor Face Finity Foundation and the Nars Sheer Glow Foundation. I have set my contour with the powder foundation and used both the lightest shade in the pro glow duo + one of the lightest shades in the contour palette to highlight my cheekbone, t-zone and upper lip.
Other products also used on the face:
UD naked heat palette, Max Factor brow contour, UD 24/7 glide on pencil in perversion, Max Factor brow Shaper, L’oreal double extend mascara, Max Factor blush in gorgeous berries, Becca shimmering skin perfector in Opal and MAC lustre lipstick in Capricious.
Thank you to Influenster Middle East for sending me this #VoxBox with products from Max Factor Arabia.
What are you favorite products from Max Factor?