Catrice Velvet Finish foundation

When Catrice released this new foundation last October, I was curious for two reasons. The first reason is that it came in a seemingly very light shade. The second reason was the fact that I love their All Matt Plus foundation and was curious to try more. And I really thought it was time I tried another drugstore foundation in my hunt for ‘the perfect foundation’.

Catrice Velvet Finish foundation with Hyaluron in 010 Light Velvet

This foundation retails for €7.99, which makes it the most expensive foundation Catrice does. For that price you get the standard 30 ml that most foundations come in. I bought the lightest shade available (as usual): 010 Light Velvet. It seemed light enough in the store and I liked the feel of the texture which was another deal breaker when I decided to buy this. The name, velvet finish, makes me think of a medium to high coverage foundation with a matte finish. Since most of the foundations I’ve tried so far have a dewy finish, I was curious to try something more mattifying.

The bottle of this foundation is actually what sucked me in too. For a drugstore foundation, this packaging looks quite luxurious. The bottle is made of heavy glass and has a matte finish, which ties in nicely with my expectations for this foundation. The foundation comes with a pump which is always a handy way to dispense the product. The lid closes quite easily and is sturdy enough. I like the overall look and feel of the product. Always a plus.

Catrice says:

This velvety-matt foundation unites know-how and care to offer an instantly fresh effect: moisturizing hyaluron with a repair complex comprising vitamin E and B5, pampering allantoin as well as an SPF of 30. The optical lifting effect ensures flawless skin and fine lines are visibly minimized.

Those are some promises right there! Vitamins, hydration and an overall good for your skin foundation is what promised. It also contains SPF 30: great for extra protection against the sun, but not so good if you want to take flash pictures of course. Lastly, Catrice boasts about radiating elements which should your skin looking as smooth as a baby’s bottom.

Ingredient list:

AQUA (WATER), CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, ETHYLHEXYL METHOXYCINNAMATE, ISOHEXADECANE, LAURYL PEG-8 DIMETHICONE, ZINC OXIDE, TALC, CAPRYLIC / CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE, TITANIUM DIOXIDE, DISTEARDIMONIUM HECTORITE, HDI / TRIMETHYLOL CROSSPOLYMER, POLYMETHYL METHACRYLATE, PEG / PPG-18 / 18 DIMETHICONE, GLYCERIN, SODIUM CHLORIDE, SODIUM HYALURONATE, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, PANTHENOL, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, POLYHYDROXYSTEARIC ACID, ALLANTOIN, STEARIC ACID, DISODIUM EDTA, ALUMINA, MAGNESIUM STEARATE, HEXYLENE GLYCOL, METHICONE, HYDROGEN DIMETHICONE, SILICA, ALUMINUM HYDROXIDE, POTASSIUM SORBATE, SODIUM DEHYDROACETATE, PHENOXYETHANOL, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 (IRON OXIDES), CI 77891 (TITANIUM DIOXIDE).

Foundation ingredients are always a lot of abracadabra to me. What I did notice is that the hyaluron is present, be it only halfway through the list. Other than that, this is an ingredient list not unlike other foundation. Right, time to swatch!

straight from the bottle – blending out – fully blended

The swatch looks fairly promising. This foundation feels very thick and creamy and a little definitely goes a long way with this. However I have found that that also really depends on which brush you decide to use this with. I’ve used this foundation both with the Sigma Kabuki F82 and the Real Techniques buffing brush. With the first I need less product than with the second.

The color seems a bit dark for me in the swatch, and I got a little bit scared when I saw how much this foundation seems to accentuate the little lines in my hand (see bottom right hand side of the last swatch picture). What would that do to the pores on my face? But other than that I was very pleased once I had this blended into my skin.

On the back of my hand, this foundation seems to smooth out most of the skin, and leaves a soft focus matte finish with a hint of, well not shine, let’s call it a subtle healthy glow. But that’s the back of my hand, here it is on my face:

Just did my brows – applied to left half of face – full face

In the pictures above you can see the full effect. And I really like it! The best way I can describe the effect of this foundation is as if someone used the blur tool in Photoshop on your face. It has great coverage first of all: medium at least, and buildable to high. It does a pretty good job of covering up the red blotch above my right eyebrow in any case.

The color seems a little light at first, but once applied I really like  how it blends with my neck. Because the middle of my face is darker than the sides, foundations never look right on me unless I apply a full face. I love how this foundation still has the slightest bit of glow to it, which keeps it from looking too flat.

Neck – close up

But I wouldn’t be testing foundation without showing you some close ups. As you can see this foundation is right on the money colorwise. When I blend this out into my neck it blends right in with my natural skintone. Since I was afraid this foundation might accentuate pores, I added the close up of my cheek. And yes, that is WITH foundation. You can barely tell there’s anything on there, which is another great plus.

All make up applied

The foundation serves as a good base for applying blush and bronzer and with a powder I found this lasts quite some time. I do powder this foundation as I know I’ll be wearing it all day and I always get a little oily on my T-zone. But I dare say that this foundation needs little to no powder. The final effect is as if you’ve applied powder anyway, so you don’t need it for a mattifying effect, but rather for staying power.

I wore this foundation several times since I bought it and since I knew I wanted to review this, I wore it every day for a week leading up to this post. This means I put this through a full week of teaching, meaning long days, including work outs (before which I always forget to take off my make up) and social events. And this is where I found the only downside to this foundation and that is how it wears throughout the day.

As much as I love the final look after I first applied this, this foundation doesn’t wear well if you have a long, tough day. Sure, it lasts a good few hours but no more than that. If you are up and about and apply this around 7 in the morning, have to hurry to catch a train, then put yourself through 6 hours of teaching and try to squeeze in a spinning class by the end of the day, I found this doesn’t last past lunch time. What happens is that the foundation latches on to dry patches/ hairs/ pores after a few hours and that is nothing you can fix with a bit of powder unfortunately.

On less strenuous days the effect wasn’t as bad I have to admit. I also had quieter days where I taught fewer classes, had more breaks and didn’t have to stress out about train troubles. On those days the foundation stayed put a lot better. Do bare in mind that I have dry to normal skin. Perhaps, if you have normal to oily skin, this foundation may do the same for you as it does for me on one of my super busy days.

In conclusion, I can say that I really really do love the Catrice Velvet Finish foundation.  It gives a beautiful finish, has a great color match, feels great on the skin and you only need a tiny drop for a full application. The fact that it is a medium to full coverage foundation also helps to settle the deal. At €7.99, I think this foundation is well worth the money, despite the fact that the lasting power isn’t the greatest. I will definitely keep on using this on days when I know I will be less busy.

What are your thoughts about this foundation?