The Make Up For Ever Water Blend is for lovers of invisible, weightless coverage

Foundation

Sep 16

Make Up For Ever is one of the best cosmetics brands today, in my humble opinion. I love how the brand utilizes the latest technology in their makeup while balancing all that technical stuff with a trendy, luxurious flair. Their formulas and color selections never fail to wow; their Aqua line is something I swear by whenever I NEED my makeup to stay all day with barely any retouch.

One other thing that MUFE does particularly well is upgrading their formulas. Last year, the brand improved its Ultra HD Foundation. I have tried a sample of the original formula and I liked it, but I love how the new one is lighter and adheres to the skin better, resulting in a more skin-like finish even while offering great coverage. You can check out my review here to see if you'd love it too.

Now this year MUFE upgraded another one of its cult bases. The Face & Body Foundation is now called the Water Blend Face & Body Foundation (P2,700 for 50ml), and it promises to be lighter and more skin-like than ever! I don't have the original to compare, but here's my experience with the Water Blend so far.

What I love about the product:

It has is made of 80% water which gives it a runny, weightless consistency that dries quickly. If you hate the heavy feel of the typical liquid foundation, you'll definitely love how this feels like nothing on skin once it sets. There are a few caveats to this though with regards to application but I will touch more on that later.
The coverage is sheer and almost undetectable, but it makes my face look instantly even and bright. It has a satin finish that sort of gives the face a light filter that softens the look of pores, lines, and minor blemishes. It's amazing! You have to watch the video below (start at 1:30) to see what I mean.
I found a good match with YR325 although it initially looks a bit light and beige on me. But once it's dry and set, it matches. The coverage is sheer anyway.
Once it sets, it adheres well on skin. It doesn't control oil but it fades minimally and not so obviously during the day. I'd say it lasts 7-8 hours on my combi skin when set and retouched properly with powder.
It transfers minimally. The pigment is very fine and does not move around surface to surface in a goopy web. Of course, if you rub it, it will come off. But pressing should show only minimal transfer.
Love the frosted glass body and new cap! The bottle has a weighty, luxurious feel to it and I enjoy seeing it on my dressing table. But yup, it's def not travel friendly.

Here's a comparison swatch: the YR325 and YR345 in the two formulas are vastly different. The Water Blend, even though it's in the yellow red (YR) shade range, looks beige-ish. Make sure to swatch the foundation on your whole face to get an accurate shade match - you can't reference your Ultra HD shade here.

Here's the Water Blend with concealer + translucent powder on top!

The caveat:

Application is a bit tricky primarily because the formula dries so fast. The pigment also needs to be "activated"; it's suspended in a water base, and if you don't apply it the right way it will look streaky. Always shake the bottle! Now using just your fingers won't do since the liquid will be dry in parts before you get to it. A beauty sponge will just absorb the runny liquid and that's a waste of product. A stippling brush is great to work with since it distributes and buffs the formula quickly (demonstrated it in the video below), but the best applicator so far is a dense synthetic flat top brush.

Remember to work in sections instead of trying to cover everything at the same time. Also try not to pump too much product out lest it dries before you get to it.

I have to mention that this foundation has a mild floral (I think) scent. It doesn't bother me at all but if you're sensitive, this will be interesting to note.

The verdict

I love the Make Up For Ever Water Blend Face & Body Foundation. This is one of my go-tos whenever I want my skin to look exactly like skin. It's great for a #wokeuplikethis mug since it's fairly undetectable! It's fantastic on my combination skin, although I think it will also be suitable for both dry skin (it has hydrating ingredients like glycerin, mango butter, tocopherol) and oily skin (it doesn't slip and slide around).

I confess that I don't use it as often as I want to simply because I am currently testing so many cushion foundations! But I just realized what to put in my empty cushion compact - it's this one. I think it would be perfect and much more convenient to use in that type of packaging.