New in the foundation department by Maybelline is their Dream Velvet formula and it promises:

• Hydrated skin. Matte finish. Flawless face.
• Turning heads, bringing your A-game, the #nofilter selfie.
• Putting your best face forward.

The Maybelline Dream Velvet foundation comes in 12 shades ranging from 05 Warm Porcelain to 95 Coconut – although the shades definitely skew more to the paler side of things. You get the usual fluid ounce of product in a squeeze tube that comes with a nozzle tip (and there’s even a little foil seal on it when you first purchase it so you know it’s not been tampered with). The packaging is slim, compact and sleek. The tube is easy to squeeze and it’s easy to get product out of this tube since the plastic is soft and pliable (something I highly appreciate). The product itself is like a thick, whipped mousse but it spreads and blends easily on the face.

The one thing that really set me back in trying this foundation though was the colours. If you take a look at the swatches above, you’ll notice that 15 Ivory is really quite dark and is more attuned to my skin tone in the summer. However, even the shade 10 Porcelain Ivory is still quite dark and VERY warm compared to my skin tone. In fact, it looks downright peachy. I put off trying this foundation for a week because I was scared it would not match my face and I’d be left looking like a fool at work.

I was TOTALLY wrong:

That’s how 10 Porcelain Ivory looks on my skin! It’s a FLAWLESS match in my book *and* it even matches my neck! I have no idea what the heck is in this foundation to cause it to colour match like that, but the shade is bang on and I couldn’t be happier. Given how odd the original swatch looked on the underside of my arm… I’m kind of astounded. I don’t know how you did it Maybelline – but you did, and it’s awesome!

Final Thoughts

I’m in LOVE with this new Dream Velvet foundation! Aside from my initial scare with the colour matching, this product has seriously zero faults. (For reference, my skin is fairly dry right now.) I get a full day’s wear out of it (around 10 hours). I have no creasing or sinking into fine lines (usually an issue on my forehead because I raise my eyebrows a lot). It feels soft and velvety to the touch. It doesn’t make my face itchy. It doesn’t go patchy or peel anywhere. The coverage is truly flawless and it was a breeze applying it to my face since it requires very little blending to get it to sink in (I use a Real Techniques sponge). I love the squeeze tube and the compact size. In short, I cannot believe how amazing this foundation is! I really don’t have any faults for how this foundation wore on my skin or looked. /bows down before Maybelline

The Maybelline Dream Velvet foundation can be purchased for ~$16.99 CAD in stores, or at Ulta.com for $10.99 USD.

Bonus Giveaway!

I received an extra tube of Maybelline‘s Dream Velvet foundation in the shade 15 Ivory, and was told to go ahead and host a giveaway! Please note that there is only the one shade available and I cannot exchange the colour I received for a colour that would better suit your skin tone. So please keep that in mind when submitting giveaway entries.

Giveaway Rules

• This giveaway is open internationally!
• This giveaway starts on March 2, 2016 and runs for one week.
• Please be aware that all entries will be double checked to ensure fairness.
• One winner will win the Maybelline Dream Velvet foundation in the shade 15 Ivory (the tube is sealed, so you don’t have to worry about tampering!).
• The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my e-mail. If they fail to respond within that time frame, I will pick another prize winner. (And so on.)
• “Giveaway accounts” will not be considered for this prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This post features a product that sent to me for consideration.

Doesn’t the packaging and colours of the new Maybelline Vivid Matte Liquids take your breath away? I kind of see this launch as an extension of the Vivid lipstick launch (what was that… four years ago? Eek!) and I LOVED that launch so, so much.

So the new Vivid Matte Liquids are essentially a lipstick with a “creamy liquid base that creates a soft, cushiony feel that glides on smooth to a matte finish”. But… they’re not actually matte. And they don’t dry matte. The only way to get them to turn matte is to actually blot them down with a tissue.

This isn’t going to be a terribly positive review, so please let me start out with what I DO love about the Vivid Mattes before I get into all of my negatives. Number one is the applicator. This thing is pure gold for applying lip colour. It’s long and slanted and because of its length, it does a phenomenal job of creating straight lines as you apply colour (drag the edges across your lips in one smooth motion). I’m fairly terrible at applying lip colour without causing skipping and this completely stopped that from happening. Love!

The other aspect I’m in love with is the colour range. They have some neutrals, but I was drawn to the bold, vibrant shades. The colours above are just BEAUTIFUL!.

Rebel Red is a lot of fun and this one applied the most consistently.

Berry Boost was the best shade to blot down to create a matte texture.

Vivid Violet was fairly patchy, but there’s no denying that colour impact.

However… like I said… this isn’t going to be a positive review. So let’s dissect why:

• The formula actually creates a numbing sensation on my lips. And we’re not talking “plumping” either. It’s like I applied Orajel on my lips – they feel NUMB! The sensation does disappear after about an hour, but it’s not a comfortable feeling. (And I’m definitely not the only person that’s noticed this.)
• The scent on these is very unpleasant to me. I like the scent of the Maybelline Vivid lipsticks (although I don’t really know how to describe it… slightly sweet?), but these smell nothing like those. This has a wickedly strong floral/old lady/potpourri scent that lingered the entire time I wore these. DO NOT WANT.
• These aren’t matte, and so, matte should not appear in the name. You can blot them down so that they become matte, but you lose a lot of the pigmentation that way.
• The formula moves around on my lips. Even with lip primer and invisible lip liner, these still bled outside my lip lines and (worse) started to smear on the outside corners of my mouth. (Think fruit punch mouth.) This required constant maintenance and I was eternally worried that I looked like I had no idea how to apply lipstick.
• There’s inconsistencies in the formula: Rebel Red was the smoothest to wear, Vivid Violet was fairly patchy, and Berry Boost wore best when blotted with a tissue.

Thoughts on how you can possibly make these work:

• I only wore the bright shades, maybe the lighter ones are less obvious to smear/move around?
• I didn’t try this, but I imagine a lip liner in the same colour as the Vivid Matte would help control the product.
• …and that’s all I’ve got.

Final Thoughts

I’m so sorry to say that I really can’t with this product. It smells bad, it numbs my lips (like what??? No Maybelline product has ever done that to me!) and it  won’t stay put without leaking out the sides of my lips. I know this is a very strong “NO” review, but it’s not like it’s fun to come down so harshly on products – and I really, REALLY wanted to love these. I love Maybelline as a brand, and I still love and use many of their products (like seriously, go look at the epic-ness of their new eye primer) but this was just a total miss for me. 🙁

The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration.