BEAUTY // Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation (1C0 Shell)

Hello there!

I feel like the last person jumping onto this bandwagon but yes - I finally bought Estee Lauder's Double Wear foundation. My skin has changed dramatically in the past few years and, whilst it was the worst foundation possible for me 4 years ago, I have found now that it is exactly what I need. It's strange how that happens right? Way back when (ahem, a month ago) I got the trial size of both the original and light formulas and decided that they both had to be mine. Of course, I'm a poor student who doesn't start any graduate work for a few months so I just bought the original (#priorities). Don't worry, there's a comparison post to come!

My skin nowadays has a few blemishes and red patches, is sensitive as you can make it, dry and pretty darn pale. Because of all of these points, I was sure that Double Wear wasn't for me. I heard that it's favourite thing was to cling to dry patches and that's the last thing I wanted. However, with my bae (Liz Earle's Cleanse and Polish that is....) my dry patches are pretty much non-existent. Fortunately, even with the few I have left this doesn't cling too bad. It's wonderful!

If you have been under a rock for the past few years, Double Wear is a high coverage foundation that claims 15 hours of wear. It also has SPF 10 which is fabulous in the summer when we don't know if it'll rain or the sun will shine. I was attracted to the product due to the sheer range of shades they offer. My current foundation was doing that weird oxidising/turning orange thing and it was annoying me to no end. I went to my local Estee Lauder counter, got match tested using a fancy computer thing and they said that 1C0 Shell was the shade for me and MY GOD IT IS. I have never had a foundation that I feel matches my skin so much. It was exactly what I have been looking for (over the past 5 years or so).

I have applied it with both a brush and RT beauty blender. I prefer the more airbrushed look I get with the sponge but the advisor at EL said not to use one because the foundation dries so quickly that it just gets stuck in the sponge and it's wasteful. I'm using a brush to apply it with and, whilst it's so goddamn time consuming, it's worth it for the coverage I get. I can either apply it really lightly or add lots of thin layers if I need more. In all honesty, I don't think I have ever done more than one layer.

I only have two problems with this foundation (which is rare - I never have just two problems). The first is that there is no pump. I waste SO much foundation and I am worried this bottle won't last me 1 month, let alone the 4 I usually get out of a high-street bottle. Does anyone know of any specific pump I can buy from elsewhere that will help me out? My second problem is purely the price. I paid £27 for the bottle and, whilst it's a very good foundation, the thought of forking out £30 every other month for foundation makes my eyes water. I also want to treat myself to the illuminating primer but then we're at £60 every two months and come on, this girl has got to eat!

To sum this up, I really love this foundation. It's everything I need and more. I have used my fair share of high street foundations and they just do not compare. I can put this on at 9am before work and it will still be there after an 8.5 hour shift. I'm so happy it's in my life but I think I'm going to have to start putting money aside every week if I'm going to let my addiction continue.

Have you got Estee Lauder's Double Wear foundation? What are your thoughts? Let me know!