Foundation Friday for Over 50 #7 | Cover FX vs. Jane Iredale Pressed Mineral Foundation

Foundation Friday for Over 50s

This is the 7th post in my series “Foundation Friday for Over 50s” in which I’ll be testing a different foundation every friday for over 50 year old skin! In the past I’ve tried around 70 Foundations and of those I’ve liked about 5-7 which just shows how hard it is to find a foundation that looks good on more mature skin (or it shows how picky I am. . . )

Older skin comes with it’s own set of problems like uneven tone, age spots, enlarged pores, surface roughness and wrinkles, and I’m sad to say I’ve got them all. So the ideal foundation would help to disguise those things and hopefully make my skin look better than it really is! So check back every friday to see if I’ve found the elusive “holy grail” foundation yet. . .

In a new twist on Foundation Friday reviews I’m putting Cover FX Pressed Mineral Foundation* into a head-to-head competition with Jane Iredale PurePressed Base Foundation* to see which one comes out on top.

Cover FX Pressed Mineral Foundation* ~ $36 for .42 oz., comes in 24 shades divided into pink, neutral, or golden undertones. I got it in shade N30.

From Cover FX website: “An oil-absorbing mineral powder plus foundation in one which imparts an instant natural matte finish and provides sheer to full buildable coverage.

• This matte-made healthy formula features Amazonian Kaolin Clay and Oil Absorbing Microspheres to minimize shine and absorb excess oil as well as Green Tea Leaf Extract to alleviate skin discomfort and visibly reduce redness
• clinically tested product does not contain the Inflammatory Five: gluten, mineral oil, fragrance, parabens or talc.” or bismuth oxychloride

Jane Iredale PurePressed Base Foundation* ~ $52 for .35 oz., comes in 22 shades divided into warm, neutral, or cool undertones + 3 more shades as refill at $40. I got “Golden Glow”.

From the Jane Iredale website: “It’s broad spectrum spf 20 using Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide, and Water resistant to 40 minutes. Contains antioxidants such as Pine Bark Extract and Pomegranate Extract
Oil and synthetic chemical free, certified cruelty free, and bismuth oxychloride free. Wheat and gluten free. “The look sheer and semi-matte, the feel weightless – Trust our mineral foundation to look like your skin, only better. ”

I tried each of these mineral powder foundations on it’s own first to get a baseline feel for how well they performed, and unfortunately I wasn’t terribly impressed with either one. 

Day 1 Cover FX:

On it’s own, the Cover FX was time consuming to apply and didn’t blend well. Try as I may I couldn’t get much beyond sheer coverage. The coverage I did get was mottled in places, settled into my pores, and wasn’t very long wearing:

Cover FX Pressed Mineral Foundation without primer, tinted moisturizer, or setting spray

Cover FX went on spotty and didn’t blend well

Cover FX without Primer Settles into Pores causing Spots

Cover FX All But Worn Off After 6 Hours

Day 1 Jane Iredale:

On it’s own the Jane Iredale PurePressed Base was WAY better than Cover FX. It was quick and made it easy to achieve a medium level of coverage with a few swirls of the brush. It looked natural leaving a lovely satin finish that didn’t settle into pores or wrinkles. It looked great to start and I though this was going to be “THE ONE”!! Sadly, after 4 hours I was so shiny my forehead looked like a grease slick, and by the end of the day my skin was parched:

Jane Iredale when 1st applied looks natural with just the right amount of soft skin-like radiance.

Shock & Glee! No Settling into Pores or Wrinkles!

My very shiny forehead after 4 Hours with Jane Iredale PurePressed Base

Day Two:

For Day Two I decided that they could both benefit from a mattefying primer and I could benefit from a side-by-side comparison. I applied (Cover FX Mattifying Primer with Anti-Acne Treatment*) to my whole face and let it set. Then I applied Cover FX to the left side of my face and Jane Iredale to the right.

Cover FX Side: The addition of the primer made a world of difference for the Cover FX foundation. I pretty much hated it on day 1, but with the primer I really liked the look and performance. The foundation went on better, it didn’t settle into pores, and it lasted longer!

With Primer the Cover FX powder didn’t settle into pores or have any blending problems

Jane Iredale Side: The addition of the primer didn’t do much for the Jane Iredale side. It still went on nicely, and was smoothing to pores but still got shiny in the same amount of time. The primer improved the wear by an hour or two.

Applied over primer, the Cover FX and Jane Iredale powder foundations look very similar

After 5 hours, both foundations are starting to get shiny making pores more noticeable

After 10 Hours the Cover FX side is more worn off

Coverage

Cover FX: Sheer not really buildable coverage – best with primer and/or tinted moisturizer

Jane Iredale: Medium to Full coverage

Finish

Cover FX: Matte to start then increasingly shiny

Jane Iredale: Semi matte to start, then very shiny

Pores

Cover FX: Settles into pores on it’s own, using a primer it’s good on pores, gets shiny and accentuates them after 4 hours

Jane Iredale: A little smoothing, doesn’t settle, gets shiny and accentuates them after 4 hours

Wrinkles

Cover FX: settled into under eye wrinkles without primer, very little settling with primer

Jane Iredale: didn’t settle into wrinkles, but the heavy coverage makes face look older as the day goes on

Wear

Cover FX: Wore well for 6 hours, then wore off nose and chin by 10 hrs. Gets shiny after 4 hours, needs lots of touch-ups.

Jane Iredale: Wore well for 6 hours, wore off nose and chin by 10 hrs. Gets shiny after 4 hours, needs lots of touch-ups.

Feel

Cover FX: Lighter and not drying on the skin (creamier in the compact)

Jane Iredale: A little heavy and more dry feeling (more powdery in the compact). My skin felt dry by the end of the day and my skin was flaking in places. The dryness accentuates wrinkles.

The Verdict:

These are both good products with a lot going for them, but neither are close to being “holy grail”. Between the two, Cover FX was the winner this week, but not by much, and neither of them would replace the mineral powder foundations that I already own and love (IT Cosmetics Celebration Foundation, and Becca Perfect Skin Foundation).

The Cover FX is very nice once you add primer, tinted moisturizer and setting powder, but if you don’t want to use all those products it’s not for you.

The Jane Iredale is very nice on it’s own but it also requires mattifying powder unless you like a lot of  shine. It could be fine for more oily skin since it is drying, but it’s too drying for those with normal to dry skin.

And so the search continues. . .

Click Here for My Picks for the Best Foundations for Mature Skin

Shopping Links: 

Cover FX Pressed Mineral Powder Foundation:

Sephora*                             

Jane Iredale PurePressed Base:

Amazon*

Becca Perfect Skin Foundation

Amazon*                 Sephora*                     Ulta*

IT Cosmetics Celebration Foundation

QVC*                         Ulta*

Cover FX Mattifying Primer with Anti-Acne Treatment

Sephora*                       Amazon*

* Marked links are affiliate links. If you click the link and buy something, I receive a commission for the sale, but it doesn’t cost you anything extra. You are free to use the link or not as you choose.

This is not a sponsored post.