Wet N Wild Photofocus foundation

The Wet N Wild Photofocus foundation is a cult favorite by now and I was lucky enough to snatch one up from the US drugstore when I visited last year. Since they only had a few shades left, I picked one up that was a tad light for me during the summer, which is why I am only getting round to reviewing this now. Is this as good as everyone says it is?

Wet N Wild Photofocus Foundation Rose Ivory Light Cool

One of the biggest selling points of this foundation is the shade range. In total there are 20 shades, which is great for a drugstore foundation. Currently not all webshops that sell this offer the full range though and prices differ depending on where you get this. It retails for around $5 in the US. In Dutch online webshops, it retails for €6.99, which is almost twice the price if you take into account that $5 is roughly €4.

The Packaging

Now the first thing about this foundation that seems to split opinions is the packaging. The foundation comes in a heavy feeling glass bottle, but the plastic cap feels a bit cheap and flimsy. In the cap you find a paddle that is used to apply the foundation. Some people think it is gross as it makes for easy spreading of bacteria to the product in the bottle. That said, I don’t think this is any less sanitary as using a brush or sponge, especially if you’re the sole user of the product.

The other aspect that divides opinions is the smell. This smells like paint thinner. I kid you not. I have found that the smell wears off after a while. I have had this in a drawer for months and I find it is not so strong anymore. It also wears off very quickly and so it’s not a scent that lingers around all day. Still, if you appreciate nice smelling products or if you’re particularly sensitive to smells, then you may want to skip this.

The Swatch

To show you the texture of this foundation, I have applied a bit to the back of my hand. The shade was a bit light for me here. Where some foundations oxidize and become more orange on your skin, I feel like this does the opposite. When blended onto the skin, I feel this lightens up quite a bit. The texture is pretty lightweight and not heavy at all and it is easy to blend with a brush, which is my preferred method with this foundation. However, I have noticed that this foundation can get streaky quite easily so I like to smooth this out with my fingers or a sponge afterwards.

The Coverage

On the left, my bare face. On the right, with foundation applied to half of my face. As you can see the coverage of this is medium, but buildable to full. Because of the thin texture, I find this layers quite nicely on areas where you need a bit more. It definitely covers my redness for the most part and also helps with starting to cover up those dark circles.

The Shade Match

As you might be able to tell from the pictures above, this foundation was a tad too light for me when I took these pictures. It makes me look quite ghostly, so for the summer time, this isn’t my favorite. But I am loving it now. It matches well with my neck, even in the summer time, and you can easily warm this up with a bit of bronzer, which is what I always like to do any way.

Wear time on this is quite decent. I have been wearing this for the past few weeks to give it a good test run and I find this wears well, but not for a very long time. I find this fades on the tip of my nose and chin throughout the day, leaving no product behind after 4 – 5 hours of wear. This doesn’t separate on me, since I am quite dry, but I do experience caking on the dry patches on the sides of my nose.

The Conclusion

Overall, the Wet N Wild Photofocus foundation is a great middle of the road foundation. It has medium coverage, wears decently and the shade match is great for pale skin. It is not my favorite foundation out there, but you can’t beat that price point. If you can get over the smell and packaging, I think this is definitely worth a shot.

What is the last affordable foundation you tried?