Cover FX Power Play Foundation Review
It's been a long time coming, but it's finally here, Cover FX's new foundation! The Cover FX Power Play Foundation, which boasts an impressive 40 shades, has options ranging from pink, golden, neutral, and even some olive undertones. The foundation is a buildable medium to full coverage with a modern matte finish, perfect for combo to oily skin types. It provides environmental protection, while remaining sweatproof, waterproof, transproof, and all day wear. The foundation has been formulated without parabens, sulfates, phthalates, fragrance, gluten, mineral oil, and talc. You are receiving 35 mL/ 1.18 fl oz of product for $44. Cover FX is a cruelty free and vegan company.
As you all may remember from my review of the Cover FX Total Cover Cream Foundation, I've decided that from now on, that the format of my wear tests will divided up by wearing the foundation on it's own (if possible) for day, with setting powder on day 2, primer day 3, setting spray day 4, and a combo of the last three items for day 5, all for 8 hours each day. Noting that the first ingredient in this foundation is water, despite having silicone ingredients, I decided to use my Wet N Wild Flat Top Brush to apply the foundation during my wear test because a sponge would more than likely absorb the product, causing it to become sheer and requiring me to use more product. Lastly, I would like to state that during my wear test, I've been sick, and while I did give the foundation an honest review based on my experience, it is possible that this foundation would have worn differently, if I was feeling better and my skin wasn't so dry. I tried the shades N40 and G40 because I couldn't decide which one looked better XD
Review:
As you all may remember from my review of the Cover FX Total Cover Cream Foundation, I've decided that from now on, that the format of my wear tests will divided up by wearing the foundation on it's own (if possible) for day, with setting powder on day 2, primer day 3, setting spray day 4, and a combo of the last three items for day 5, all for 8 hours each day. Noting that the first ingredient in this foundation is water, despite having silicone ingredients, I decided to use my Wet N Wild Flat Top Brush to apply the foundation during my wear test because a sponge would more than likely absorb the product, causing it to become sheer and requiring me to use more product. Lastly, I would like to state that during my wear test, I've been sick, and while I did give the foundation an honest review based on my experience, it is possible that this foundation would have worn differently, if I was feeling better and my skin wasn't so dry. I tried the shades N40 and G40 because I couldn't decide which one looked better XD
On day 1 I was able to wear the foundation on its own, it took about a minute to dry down, but you could probably get away wearing this foundation without powder. Right away, I noticed that the foundation settled into my fine lines, it wasn't immediately obvious, but it was visible if I puffed out my cheeks. The frown lines that I have on my brow bone is where the foundation held up the worst. Not only did the foundation settle into my fine lines, but it creased significantly! I ended up having to blend away these creases several times throughout the day. My nose started getting oily about 2 hours into my wear test, but considering how other foundations have performed at the 2 hour mark, this foundation was holding up quiet decently. My forehead took a little longer to start getting oily, about 4 hours, but my forehead never looked terrible, by the end of the day, my forehead was more on the dewy side. Cover FX claims that their foundation is transfer proof, but I only feel as though this claim holds true when it's initially applied because the oil from our faces causes it to lift. When I blotted my nose, the tissue looked slightly tinted, but there wasn't an obvious signs of transfer, other days during the wear test are what made me question this claim.
Day 2 proved to be quite interesting, I was absolutely sure, that setting the foundation would provide the results I desired, but sadly, I was wrong. To set the foundation, I used Cover FX Perfect Setting Powder in Light using the E.L.F. Selfie Ready Foundation Brush to work the powder into my skin. Initially, the foundation looked decent, but not great after I set it; the foundation was quite matte and somewhat heavy looking, this could've been from my skin being a tad bit dry from the cold I had. I'd say about 30 minutes in, the foundation, had not only set into my fine lines, but it had noticeably creased, which was quite frustrating. Until I had the opportunity to add more powder, I was blending out the creases with my finger, which took off quite a bit of product. About an hour and a half later, I was able to use my same kabuki brush to buff away some of the patchiness that occurred from blending with my finger. Before I was ready to go back out again, I decided that my best chances of making this product work with only setting powder would be baking everywhere, where creasing is prevalent on my face (baking is when you leave powder on your face to help insulate your body heat. The heat that normally radiates from our bodies will be trapped under the powder which will assist in drying out foundations or concealers). Baking certainly helped, but it was far from perfect, I still had to blend away creases with my finger throughout the day. If anything, baking only bought me an extra half hour, and resulted in the foundation looking heavier than before and looking concentrated in my pores.
Using only my Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray on day 3, the results proved to be the same as other foundations I've tried using a setting spray with. The foundation creases slightly in my smile lines and the oils on my nose eat through the foundation.
On day 4, I once again ran to my Cover FX Mattifying Primer for the primer portion of the wear test. It may not be my most favorite, but I know it's water based foundation friendly and I'm sure Cover FX formulates all their products to perform well with each other. Unfortunately, the primer did nothing to suppress my oils, by the end of the day, there was no denying I was oily. The foundation settled in my fine lines, creased, and worst of all, before the foundation started disappearing from my nose, you could see every pore on my nose because it darkened the pores trying to push the oil though. Needless to say I was not pleased and will not try wearing the foundation with only their primer again.
I was very excited for day 5, even though I had no perfect day, I saw a lot of potential in the foundation and thought my combo of products would work. Day 4 certainly didn't disappoint, the foundation looked a bit heavy and extra matte after it was set, but it took 3 hours to see any kind of oil on my nose. By the end of the day, I looked satiny, but not at all oily, this foundation actually managed to keep my nose relatively matte for 8 hours. It did crease and settle some in my smile lines, but almost every foundation I've tried has this effect on me so I can't judge them too harshly on this basis.
Just to give it a shot, I went ahead and applied the foundation with Beauty Blender on one of my off days to see how it performed and just as I expected, the sponge soaked up a lot of foundation requiring me to use a lot of product to achieve the look of fuller coverage, granted the final product was less cakey looking.
Day 2 proved to be quite interesting, I was absolutely sure, that setting the foundation would provide the results I desired, but sadly, I was wrong. To set the foundation, I used Cover FX Perfect Setting Powder in Light using the E.L.F. Selfie Ready Foundation Brush to work the powder into my skin. Initially, the foundation looked decent, but not great after I set it; the foundation was quite matte and somewhat heavy looking, this could've been from my skin being a tad bit dry from the cold I had. I'd say about 30 minutes in, the foundation, had not only set into my fine lines, but it had noticeably creased, which was quite frustrating. Until I had the opportunity to add more powder, I was blending out the creases with my finger, which took off quite a bit of product. About an hour and a half later, I was able to use my same kabuki brush to buff away some of the patchiness that occurred from blending with my finger. Before I was ready to go back out again, I decided that my best chances of making this product work with only setting powder would be baking everywhere, where creasing is prevalent on my face (baking is when you leave powder on your face to help insulate your body heat. The heat that normally radiates from our bodies will be trapped under the powder which will assist in drying out foundations or concealers). Baking certainly helped, but it was far from perfect, I still had to blend away creases with my finger throughout the day. If anything, baking only bought me an extra half hour, and resulted in the foundation looking heavier than before and looking concentrated in my pores.
Using only my Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray on day 3, the results proved to be the same as other foundations I've tried using a setting spray with. The foundation creases slightly in my smile lines and the oils on my nose eat through the foundation.
On day 4, I once again ran to my Cover FX Mattifying Primer for the primer portion of the wear test. It may not be my most favorite, but I know it's water based foundation friendly and I'm sure Cover FX formulates all their products to perform well with each other. Unfortunately, the primer did nothing to suppress my oils, by the end of the day, there was no denying I was oily. The foundation settled in my fine lines, creased, and worst of all, before the foundation started disappearing from my nose, you could see every pore on my nose because it darkened the pores trying to push the oil though. Needless to say I was not pleased and will not try wearing the foundation with only their primer again.
I was very excited for day 5, even though I had no perfect day, I saw a lot of potential in the foundation and thought my combo of products would work. Day 4 certainly didn't disappoint, the foundation looked a bit heavy and extra matte after it was set, but it took 3 hours to see any kind of oil on my nose. By the end of the day, I looked satiny, but not at all oily, this foundation actually managed to keep my nose relatively matte for 8 hours. It did crease and settle some in my smile lines, but almost every foundation I've tried has this effect on me so I can't judge them too harshly on this basis.
Just to give it a shot, I went ahead and applied the foundation with Beauty Blender on one of my off days to see how it performed and just as I expected, the sponge soaked up a lot of foundation requiring me to use a lot of product to achieve the look of fuller coverage, granted the final product was less cakey looking.
Final Thoughts:
I'm really glad to see that Cover FX labels the foundation as buildable on their website, because I was going to have to harshly criticize the coverage. It does take quite a bit of building to get it to full coverage and even then the foundation feels like more of a high medium coverage. I do feel as though building up the product, is a quick way to eat through your foundation, so I probably won't build it.
At first, I sincerely thought people were exaggerating when they said the foundation bottle is hard to squeeze, but actually handling it in person, I've realized how wrong I was. In order to get product out of the bottle, I had to tip it over and shake it so the foundation would reach the nozzle. If the foundation isn't built up at the nozzle, you won't be able to squeeze product out, the bottle is made from a hard plastic.
Overall I'm honestly shocked by how well this foundation looked on my nose. Between the oil control and beautiful modern matte finish, I have to say I really enjoyed this foundation. I only wish it wouldn't settle and crease in my smile lines, but perhaps using different products with this product will produce the results I desire.
At first, I sincerely thought people were exaggerating when they said the foundation bottle is hard to squeeze, but actually handling it in person, I've realized how wrong I was. In order to get product out of the bottle, I had to tip it over and shake it so the foundation would reach the nozzle. If the foundation isn't built up at the nozzle, you won't be able to squeeze product out, the bottle is made from a hard plastic.
Overall I'm honestly shocked by how well this foundation looked on my nose. Between the oil control and beautiful modern matte finish, I have to say I really enjoyed this foundation. I only wish it wouldn't settle and crease in my smile lines, but perhaps using different products with this product will produce the results I desire.
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