I was excited to finally get the chance to try out my new L’oreal Paris True Match Roll On / Roller Foundation. £12.99 you know! Not cheap for high street, it better not piss me off too much…
Packaging is quite nice, fairly sturdy, sleek(ish) and nice and compact.
On the left is the pan of cream foundation and over on the right is the sponge roller we’re going to be using for application.
You can better judge the size of the roller now, it’s actually easy to hold despite it’s small size thanks to some well-designed dips and ridges on the plastic handle.
You (and I) have to admit… this is all pretty cute so far! Little compacts, Dinky rollers… Look! I’m gonna paint my face! *squeal*
Uh oh, I’m noticing a problem… the product is building up unevenly on the roller. The far edge has a real good coating whilst the rest of the roller remains void of product.
After a bit of swiping, direction changing and weight shifting the roller is more evenly covered… but there is still a bias towards that far edge. Will this affect application?
Primed and ready for action!
Introducing you to my makeup-less face, not even a smudge of brow powder!
Here we go…
Look! I have a go faster stripe!
Right, as suspected… not a colour match. Far too warm and a couple of shades too dark aswell. I’ve been tangoed.
That’s terrible. This is the lightest shade that L’oreal are offering (in this country at least) for their True Match Roll On Foundation.
Ironic isn’t it… “True Match”… *mutters something unrepeatable*
With all the money and technology that’s gone into this product – why on earth did L’oreal make the shade range so limited? I *know* I’m pale… but I’m not Nicola Roberts pale, I see many people walking about even more see-thru than I am. That’s a big chunk of the population not being catered for, and I’m willing to bet the story is the same for those on the other end of the spectrum aswell.
Anyway, let’s roller on… *hah! geddit*
One half done (your right).
The actual coverage is pretty heavyweight. Don’t be getting this if you’re looking for sheer -> medium coverage ‘cos this is full on.
You wanna know about the application with that little roller don’t you?
It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Sure, it’s not gonna get anywhere near the inside corners of your eyes… but I didn’t have a problem around my nose. The actual “roller” is slim enough to offer even coverage down the edge of the nose.
I also found it a speedy (if a little uncomfortable) process. I blended with my fingers closer to my eyes and I even attempted closing my eyes and rollering in an up/down motion over my eyelids. No, it didn’t work very well and yes, I looked really silly.
The finish is matte and looks a little deathmask-like to me (perhaps I’m not used to the heavier coverage). I didn’t have any problems with streakiness or patchiness but when I touched my face 5 minutes later, my skin still felt tacky to the touch… it took nearly 20 minutes to dry fully.
Your final half n’ half (again, your right has the coverage).
What do you think? The formula isn’t *so* bad… I did actually prefer it later in the day after it had had time to “fit” to my skin.
I’m torn… it’s not completely terrible, but it’s definitely a case of style over content and that poor shade selection…
I guess the easiest way to sum it up is thus…
Would I buy this again?
…Not even with your money.
“Innovation! One cannot be forever innovating. I want to create classics.” – Coco Chanel
I was really tempted to get this, I love a good gimmick! Kinda glad I didn’t now as I have the same colouring as you so it would have been too dark.
It doesn’t look so bad but it seems a bit cakey.. Eh… I’d just stick w/ the liquid foundation. Why make a new one while the other still works.
Tee hee – You make me giggle lady “not even with your money”. Yep, as I thought form over function, damn them and their gimmicky ways making us all curious. Thanks for trying this out, it’s a shame it wasn’t great especially at that price.
http://eliza-mclellan.blogspot.com/
Ex
Gah! When I first saw the ad for this I was hoping and hoping that it would soon become available in the US. Now? Not so much. What is it about L’Oreal and their untrue matches? I can’t even find a good match for my skin and I’m *always* the second-to lightest shade in any foundation spectrum. Their shades are always way too pink or yellow for me. Bah! I can cross this off my can’t-wait-till-it-hits-America list. Thanks for such a fantastic review. xo
You are a legend! Indepth and real. Pity about the colour. and transparent people….you are far from it so these dudes need to make a plan yes?!
This amused me – it is as bad as I thought it would be! I can’t bear L’Oreal… their animal testing policies are reason enough to leave them the hell alone, but their products are so gimmicky too. The whole roller thing is just laughable. Thanks for the blow-by-blow account, and ace pics as usual.
That shade looks really orangey in the “tin”. I’m meant to be helping my mum but I’m sneaking around looking at blogs, oh well!
I was put off by the tester in the shop, it was really really sticky so I left it..
I saw the Max Factor second skin foundation which is really lightweight but unfortunately their shade range is limited..
x
I love how you write.
I won’t be trying this in a hurry because i’m mega pale too
xx
That’s nowhere near light enough or the right neutral tone for you. So disappointing that they don’t cater for fair skin.
Great review though 🙂 Would love to see how the SKII looks on you – any chance of a post/review on that?
I think we found the color all Bobbi Brown assistants use… ORANGE!
Thank you for the review!! I was debating trying it!!!
thanks for posting this – the pictures are really clear and helpful. I’m tempted by this product though I don’t use foundation at all…. You have a really great blog here – thanks ! Have a great weekend
I think your skin is so beautiful that you don’t even need foundation.
I tried this foundation in W3 (I’m an MAC NC25 right now, quite tan for me). It was…ok.
You have such beautiful porcelain skin that I think that all the shades on offer from L’Oreal would be too dark.
Back to the SK-II!
WOW..if i had skin like yours, i would never need foundation
I’m normally tempted by (some) gimmicky packaging but find that it is usually used to mask a mediocre product. In this case that looks to be true.
You do have gorgeous, flawless skin already and this does nothing for you. Icky colour and weird paste-like texture from the looks of it. Thank you for this review!
The roller thing is just way too cute. Reminds of painting – hey I like to paint my face! I don’t know if I’d want to with that, though =/
We finally got this here in the US! But it’s funny because they changed the name from “Roll’on” to “Roller” for us, which I think makes no sense at all. Anyway, I posted about it if you want to compare. 🙂
Last week I went to Walgreens (USA) and saw this roller foundation. I was standing still in the store, looking at it and try to understand what it is gonna turn out on my face. It look fun though. And after reading your review, I’m surprised how smooth it is. Will wait for BOGO and try. ^__^ thanks for your review.
I love this makeup. I am approaching 59 and have mild blotchiness. If the girl in the picture is finding her face to feel tacky to the touch and she feels and looks like she is wearing a mask, then she is using way too much. I find that a little on the roller goes a long way. My makeup looked flawless and felt fabulous all day. Several ladies at work commented on how beautiful my skin looked. I am already recommending it to others. Thank you very much Loreal.
I think this foundation is REALLY good actually 🙂 i use it everyday and it looks light on me not cakey, it covers me Very well ,its smooth and its NOT orange.. and im Very pale skin, so i think its well worth the money 🙂
I used this make up and found it to be great. I tdidnt dry out my skin and left it feeling soft , even after taking it off. I also found that it had a great variety of shades to try from (as im very pale myself) and fitted into every little space on my face (even over eyelids. You dont have to use barely anyway make up on the roller and you get a perfect coverage! I lovee this product!!!
worst makeup ever, i bought this makeup and i absoulutly hate it, it goes on really cakey and it looks like you are wearing alot of makeup, i would not recomend this product!!!!!! worst foundation EVER!!!!!
I just tried this tonight on my daughter for her recital pictures. The roller does not work at all! It only picked up the product at the ends so it made skinny little stripes all over her face. Luckily I had bought a pack of makeup sponges. I had to use one to blend it in. What little there was of it, because there wasn’t much of it on her face. I also bought the matching powder which for some reason comes with neither brush nor puff. Had to buy a puff for it. I used that over the makeup. The end result looked okay but the product leaves much to be desired.
Agreed, if they had a school report, it would read “could do better (much better)”!
I paid $20 for this product… I am also super pale and this looks horrible. You know when you’re painting a wall with a roller and it leaves those lines where the edge of the roller has been, well I had this on my face. Yes, cute idea… but a horrible product. Makes me never want to buy L’Oreal again. I’m so mad.
¿What is shade? W1-2?? W3-4??
I am 57 years old. Combination skin. Large pores, olive skin tone and have some a few dark patches on my cheeks. I was happy with the results. I apply this foundation after I use a primer. I have found using a brush to apply gives you more control over the amount you want to use. Less is more with the product. I liked the coverage and the natural look that I was able to achieve.
there are lighter shades its called c1-c2 natural ivory that would match your skin better and you have to take a brush and blend it so it doesn’t look so thick…thats what i do and it comes out looking amazing