Foundation Friday Over 50 | #14 | Estee Lauder Double Wear Light

In today’s Foundation Friday for Over 50 I’ll be putting Estee Lauder Double Wear Light Foundation* to the test to see how it performs on less-than-perfect mature skin. Double Wear Light was the winner in one of my early rounds of foundation testing back in 2013! Back then I only wore each foundation for one day to test it so since starting Foundation Friday, I’ve wanted to put some of my old faves to the new more rigorous trials.

From the Estee Lauder website:

Double Wear Light retails for $38.00 for 1 oz. and comes in 10 Shades.

I bought it in Intensity 2.0 which is an ok match for me but it’s a shade too light and a little on the pink side even though it looks too warm in the swatch… Packaging is a compact squeeze tube.

It’s a water and silicone based formula that and doesn’t contain any anti-aging or moisturizing ingredients. It’s alcohol, fragrance and paraben free. The texture is creamy and a little stiff so it doesn’t glide over the skin as easily as some other foundations. It has a slightly thick tacky feel when applying which allows time to blend and build it. It applies easily with fingers, sponge or brush but offers differing amounts of coverage with the different application tools.

 

Day 1: The baseline test: I applied a pea sized dollop over my usual morning moisturizers and sunscreen using my fingers.

It goes on easily with the fingers and blends nicely though not completely even and fairly sheer. Tone correction is good but blemishes & freckles still need concealer. It didn’t settle into pores or most wrinkles, but did settle into forehead ripples slightly.

This has a nice semi-matte finish that helps pores look slightly less noticeable, and because it’s not shiny, it doesn’t need setting powder. Skin looks perfected from a conversational distance, although still a little ripply up close.

5 Hour Checkin: I’m surprised to see it’s starting to wear off already around my nose. Otherwise it looks good, the rest of my face looks the same, no settling into pores or wrinkles and not becoming shiny.

10 Hour Checkin: Looks good from a distance, up close not so much. . .  It’s worn off unevenly, and looks dry and flaky in patches.

 

Day 2: Applied with Beauty Blender

Today I used 2 pea sized squeezes to build up more coverage and applied with a blending sponge. This gave improved opacity and more even coverage than applying with fingers. Blemishes and freckles were covered better, it settled into forehead ripples less and again, didn’t settle into pores. Building up to medium coverage made it look more matte and a little flatter than when applied more sheer.

5 Hour Checkin: Wear is much improved with medium coverage and sponge application.

10 Hour Checkin: Still in place, only slightly worn off on nose. No forehead shine, but looks dry and flakey around my mouth and chin.

 

Days 3: I used Smashbox Photofinish Light Primer and applied with the Real Techniques blending sponge.

I’m hoping for longer wear and less drying, and applying a lighter coat for a more natural look. I also added a little IT Cosmetics Hello Light Cream Highlighter to my cheekbones and IT Cosmetics CC+ Ombre Radiance Bronzer to liven up the look.

5 Hr. Checkin: Wear is improved a little more with the addition of the primer.

10 Hr. Checkin: I was at the movies at the 10 Hr checkin, but at 11 hours the foundation still looks good with very little wear. Up close, there’s some sliding around on my forehead caused by the primer, and still some dry flakes around my chin but the primer seemed to make it less drying.

 

Overall Performance

Coverage: It provides sheer to medium coverage that’s easy to apply with fingers, sponge or brush. Fingers gives the sheerest coverage, and brush the fullest, but sponge is the most uniform. It dries slowly so building it up is no problem. It covers tonal issues well, but blemishes and darker spots need concealer when applied more sheer and are mostly covered at medium coverage.

Finish: It has a solid looking mostly matte finish that’s powdery looking and doesn’t change much throughout the day. It controls oil well and I didn’t have any shine later on. It looks good from a conversational distance, but the powdery finish makes it look slightly dry up close.

Pores: It does NOT settle into pores and diminishes them slightly due to the non-dewey finish!

Wrinkles: It doesn’t settle into most wrinkles (under eyes, crows feet, nasolabial folds) but did settle slightly into small horizontal forehead wrinkles but it’s not noticeable except in a 15X mirror.

Wear: Applied with fingers the wear was shorter with wear showing at 5 hours. Applied with a blending sponge it wore well for 10 hours, with primer it wore for 12+ hours.

Feel: Face feel is lighter than expected. I wasn’t aware of it and it didn’t feel like it was drying my skin. The hand feel is dry and powdery/velvety once it’s set.

Phone Test: Very little transfer to phone glass!

Flash Photo: Good with flash photography, the semi-matte finish doesn’t cause flashback.

The Verdict: Estee Lauder Double Wear Light is good, but not Holy Grail. This is a solid foundation that looks very nice on mature skin because it doesn’t settle into pores or wrinkles. It could be good for those with sensitive skin because it’s fragrance and alcohol free. It’s probably best for those with combination to oily skin who like fuller coverage because it controls oil well and doesn’t get shiny. Probably not great for those with dry skin (although I’m gonna cut it some slack for being slightly drying just because of the weather… it’s 20 degrees, cold, & windy this week).

Pros:

• Easy to apply with fingers, sponge, or brush
• Buildable
• No Settling into Pores or Wrinkles
• Long-Wearing
• Light-weight
• Semi-matte finish

Cons:

• Slightly drying
• Can look dry & cakey when applied too heavily

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