Perricone MD No Makeup Makeup Review

Last year I had the opportunity to try out Dr. Perricone’s “OVM” facial cream (read review here), and I was really psyched to get his product because I’d always wondered if they worked or not but never wanted to spend the money on them. The same was true for Dr. P’s line of makeup, so when I was offered the chance to try Perricone MD No Makeup Makeup, I gladly accepted! To my surprise, they very generously sent the entire line!!

I don’t know if you can tell by the product names, but the idea of this line is that it provides a very natural or “no makeup” look so you still look like the real you… only better! So if you’re a full coverage foundation girl who never lets her skin out in public, then this line is NOT for you. But, if you’re into the natural look, then this could be worth a look.

Each product in the line contains at least one anti-aging ingredient like Vitamin C Ester, DMAE, or Neuropeptides to help enhance skin over time. The packaging is a cross between clinical and high-end. All the bottles are frosted glass and all the tubes are metallic with simple graphics.

I’ll give you my thoughts on each product individually, and as always, there’s a before & after at the end.

No Foundation Foundation ~ $55 for 1 oz., SPF 30, 2 shades
Contains: Neuropeptides, Vitamin C ester, Alpha Lipoic Acid

The foundation is in a pump bottle and comes in only 2 colors. Shade #1 is quite light and shade #2 is a solid medium. Perricone recommends creating a custom color by buying both ($110) and mixing your color in your hand each time. For darker skin, they recommend mixing in the bronzer to create the shade you need. For me, that’s too much work, and I think there are similar foundations that come in a wide range of colors to get a perfect match. Fortunately, I’m a solid medium so shade #2 worked well for me right out of the bottle.

It’s a runny, but highly pigmented formula that glides over skin and applies seamlessly. The wear was really good and it seemed more like a stain than makeup sitting on the surface. The finish is a little shiny for me so I used powder over it. It didn’t do fantastic things for my pores, but it did blend some of my redness and discolorations so they were slightly less visible. A big plus is that it does not settle into wrinkles or accentuate wrinkles. It is buildable, but it would be hard to get full coverage out of it.

No Foundation Foundation Serum: $55 for 1 oz. SPF 30, 1 shade
Contains: Neuropeptides, Vitamin C ester, Alpha Lipoic Acid

I preferred the Serum to the Foundation even though it provides less coverage. But I feel like this product is in a category all it’s own… it’s not a foundation and it’s not a BB or CC cream. It’s something that I’d use on those days when I normally wouldn’t wear any makeup at all. It has a dropper dispenser instead of a pump and is a thinner formula that only comes in one shade, but because it’s so sheer, the one shade can work for more than one skin tone.

Like the foundation, it’s a little too “dewey” for my taste so I normally powder over it, but for the before & after picture I left it unpowdered so you can see the finish on me. The reason I like this is that while it doesn’t offer any coverage, it does soften my spots and redness, and it does leave a very youthful finish that never collects in wrinkles or accentuates them.

 

No Bronzer Bronzer: $35 for .3 oz, SPF 30, 1 shade
Contains Vitamin C Ester

The bronzer is a liquid and comes with a dropper dispenser. Sometimes I feel like powder bronzer doesn’t blend well into foundation and can look streaky, but because this is a liquid, it blends right into the foundation for a seamless look. It comes in only one color which is too terra cotta for my taste, but it’s so sheer that it didn’t look bad on.

No Blush Blush: $35 for .3 oz, SPF 30, 1 shade
Contains DMAE

The blush has a doe-foot applicator that’s used to dot the blush onto the cheeks and then blend with fingers. Again it only comes in one color, but it’s a blue based pink that when blended gives a youthful glow to the cheeks.

No Concealer Concealer: $30 for .3 oz. 1 shade
Contains Vitamin C ester, phospholipids, microcirculatory agents

Again, only one color here, and it’s very light, so I’d say this is more of a brightening concealer than one that camouflages darkness. It’s much more opaque than the other products in the line, but when rubbed in it’s still quite sheer. It comes in a metal tube with a doe foot applicator.

No Mascara Mascara: $30 for .28 oz, SPF 35, 1 shade
Contains Neuropeptides and Biotin

This has a 2 sided wand with a white strip to indicate the thicker bristles and the part you’re supposed to use first, then you turn the wand and use the thinner bristles for the 2nd coat. The problem is you can’t see the white strip through the mascara. That aside, the mascara is a wet formula that does build longer, darker lashes. Unfortunately, they’re only good for about half an hour before it starts to break down. It flakes, it transfers, and the flakes in my eyes were irritating, so I don’t recommend this for contact lens wearers. It was also really hard to remove.

No Lipstick Lipstick: $30 for .15 oz, SPF 15, 1 shade
Contains: Neuropeptieds

Love the grey metal packaging that twists shut so it doesn’t open up in the purse. The color is a berry pink that’s more of a tinted balm than a lipstick. It’s easy to apply and feels nice and creamy, not sticky. It gives a nice flush of color in a soft gloss finish, but it doesn’t last… you need to reapply after every meal and drink. It felt a little drying as well.

Overall, it’s a mixed bag of products with some performing well and others not so much.

Click here to go to the Perricone MD website for more information