I found myself one day at Watsons holding this Maybelline product and secretly scrutinizing it. I ran out of my favorite oil-controlling powder and unfortunately, my shade was out of stock when I went to Beauty Bar Shangri-La Mall. So, I ran to Maybelline. Since my plan is to use this temporarily, I settled for refill only.
The Product
MAYBELLINE Clear Smooth All In One
Shine Free Foundation (Refill) in Natural
The packaging.
There's a puff included. No mirror.
There's also a transparent plastic over the powder.
This product claims.
Shine Control. Blend of water & sebum repellent powders, keep skin matte and wonderfully fresh throughout the wear.
High UV Protection. SPF 25, among the highest in sun protection, shields from skin darkening, with PA++ for added protection.
Instant Fairness. Infused with pro Vitamin C, it instantly makes skin look fairer and more natural.
Dark Spots Blend Away. Ultra-fine powders and coated pigments effortlessly cover spots for fair and even skin.
Long Lasting. Breathable and lightweight, make-up stays true and even throughout the wear.
Visibly Smooth Complexion. Silky soft texture glides to visibly even out skin's surface for a smooth complexion.
Conceal Blemishes and Pores. Blemishes and pores are instantly concealed trace less. Skin looks flawless.
Tone Perfecting. Developed for South East Asian skin tone, each shade blends effortlessly all over for a natural non-cakey finish.
Product Swatches
Very fine texture.
Left: with flash; Right: without flash.
When you blend it...
Totally blended and it set so with my skin tone.
I like:
... It has SPF 25.
... Silky soft texture.
... Cute and sturdy packaging.
... It is hygienic because of the transparent plastic over the powder.
... The size is travel friendly.
... Light weight.
... Nice coverage.
... Non-cakey.
I Don't Like:
... The puff included smells rubber.
... Oil control power is not maximum but least.
Jenniya Say:
To start with, I have oily skin. So, anything that controls shine really attracts me. I don't know if it's just me but every time I buy oil-control products, I spent long minutes reading what it claims and I'd read it again and again. Sometimes, the more the product benefits are well-described and sounds convincing, the possibility is I'd certainly buy it. Like this Maybelline Clear Smooth All In One Shine Free Foundation, I admit the product benefits written really gets me to buy it. I was torn between the shade of Warm Beige and Natural but I took the latter instead. I do not see any tester because the items were displayed on the display rack together with the other brands. I know they have testers at the Maybelline counter but laziness got me and I wasn't in the mood to hear any magic spiel recited by any sales assistant that time. Good thing I took the Natural shade because it perfectly match my skin tone. Great.
The photo above clearly explains how this product worked on me. When I applied Maybelline Clear Smooth Foundation onto my bare face (I just applied moisturizer and no primer at all), I didn't use the puff. It is not because of the strong smell of rubber (because I washed it already with a baby shampoo) but I really prefer using my large powder brush in applying my powder. The powder sits on the pores that way and will give you in the initial hours a semi-pore-less face.
I love the coverage of this foundation because even I didn't apply the powder generously, my face still achieved the matte, instant smooth and natural looking finish. My pores were less visible, too. The blemishes on my forehead were concealed and the redness on my face was gone. I am impressed. This is perfect to those who doesn't want their face looking so made-up.
Note that I stayed in a non-aircon room with just a fan on when I tested this foundation and took these pictures at around 3:00 P.M. Under a humid weather, my oil started to come out and I started melting after 2 hours. It's my time to shine again. Lol. That's how oily my skin is. As you see, it started to give me a dewy-like finish. I wish it will stay as dewy like that but my oil is fond of embarrassing me and I can't control it. I have to blot my T-zone area and re-apply the powder again before I totally melt. Though the shine control lasted for every 2 hours only for my uber oily skin, I get back its deficit by leaving me a smooth complexion and natural looking skin every time I retouched. If you apply a face primer, then you will surely enjoy a maximum staying power of shine free face. I haven't tried this in an aircon room though. This product will perfectly work to those who are blessed with normal and not so oily skin like me.
I love that it has SPF 25. With the weather we have now, the sun is very unforgiving. Make sure your skin products are armed with SPF. You don't like to get burn and deal with wrinkles at early stage, do you? This baby have found a space in my beauty bag. Meant that I like this product and I've been using this for many times already whenever I attend mass, going to supermarkets and when I have urgent appointments and have no choice but to do my make-up in a moving car; I can always rely on a compact like this.
Jenniya rate this product:
4 out of 5. Good.
Maybelline Clear Smooth (refill) is retail at Php159 while the compact is at P249. Available in 4 shades. You can buy this product in all Watsons, SM Dept. Store and all other leading stores.
Have you tried this product?
XX,
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