If ever a liquid foundation got a ton of flack, Revlon PhotoReady foundation would be it. Every single review (and every comment I received when I previewed this here) mentioned how sparkly it was and how utterly vampiric it was… if you subscribe to the Twilight sort of vampires.
Truly, when I tested the PhotoReady foundation on the back of my hand, it was sparkles galore! I was quite stunned. How on earth is that supposed to be good for photographs? Is it meant to blind the camera? Which is why, with all these prejudices in my head, I was surprised to find that I like the PhotoReady foundation!
The biggest complaint is that of the shimmer so I’ll address it first. I must be an odd one, because I don’t get this shimmer thing when I apply it on my face. Am I applying it wrong? I apply this like all liquid foundation – 1 pump in the palm of my hand, spread and apply on my face. (If you are new here you can read a more detailed explanation of this method here 🙂 )
My colour is 004 Nude (photo mistakenly labeled – Thanks Aretha!) which is a smidge darker than what I should wear. I’m thinking 003 Shell or 002 Vanilla might suit me better. However, here in Malaysia 004 Nude is the lightest shade which I can pull off in a pinch. A large pinch though – it makes me look a touch darker like I’ve had a touch of sun.
After application, I do set it with some loose powder and use my regulation Guerlain Meteorites over it. Still, I don’t get the sparkly vampiric look people claim to see. Perhaps it might be because I use such a thin layer that it doesn’t show up that sparkly.
The coverage is light-medium which suits me fine. I reckon you might be able to layer it on for more coverage but that might increase the sparkle factor.
You can see from the before and after picture that the coverage isn’t wonderful, but its more natural without giving you a mask like look. Applying a thin layer allows me to use 004 Nude which I don’t think I could pull off otherwise. The colour difference doesn’t show up in my photos either. In real life, 1 person said it looked like I had foundation on under artificial lighting (due to the colour difference) but in natural lighting, another said it looked alright… sort of. So I’m not sure what to believe 😛
The pump bottle is great. One pump dispenses just the right amount of liquid foundation for me for my whole face and the tiny nozzle and mechanism makes it easy to control the amount of liquid that comes out. I also did not notice any caking of the foundation around the nozzle unlike some high end foundations I have.
There is SPF20 with active ingredients of Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide – 2 ingredients I found odd in a liquid foundation meant to be photo ready because these 2 uv blockers tend to reflect light. Odd indeed.
I don’t get oily wearing this, and it lasts well enough on me. It didn’t oxidise (thank goodness!) and on an overall basis, worked pretty well all things considered.
Pros: Light-medium coverage, Affordable, Pump bottle is good
Cons: Some might find it too sparkly
For those who are interested, here’s the ingredient list for the Revlon PhotoReady foundation:-
At RM65 a bottle, I can’t say its “cheap” but I can’t quite complain about the price either since they do go on sale off and on. I like the slight dewy effect it gives, possibly due to the shimmer in the product but since its not giving me crazy sparkles, I’m happy. At least its not making my skin look flat. Oh and I don’t take photos with flash a lot since this is pretty much an everyday foundation for me.
Have you tried this one? Were you put off by the sparkles or do you like it?
Paris B
Revlon PhotoReady liquid foundation comes in 5 shades in Malaysia with 004Nude being the lightest and retails at RM65/30ml at all Revlon counters.
OOO… I was wanting to try this one, but I was little hesitant, due to the reviews it has, and it seems to be unsuitable for oily skin. >.< But I didn't see any shimmer at all when I swatched it and stuff… HAIH. Anyways, I still have a full bottle of Revlon Colorstay left ^.^
I personally feel it might be to do with the application and how much foundation one uses. Since I don’t use a lot, the shimmer is spread pretty thin so it doesn’t sparkle away. PhotoReady is not limited edition so there’s lots of time to consider 🙂
I don’t see the sparkles either.
Was really excited after trying it for about a week thinking it will be HG but the coverage isn’t good enough so still prefer ColorStay. Just wish they would bring in more color range for ColorStay as the shade for PhotoReady suits me better.
I just wish they’d bring in 002 😛 Its not HG material for me due to colour, but I’d likely use it more if it was a touch lighter. I guess I prefer light-medium coverage so its fine for me. I find Colorstay a little too thick for my liking 🙂
I swatched this in-store and immediately noticed the shimmer. And was utterly suprised! That’s the only reason why I didn’t purchase it to try it out.
Guess I’d just stick with my NARS Sheer Glow then. =D
Yup on the back of the hand and swatched thickly, the shimmer definitely shows up quite scarily 😛
Though everyone’s been complaining about the “sparkle” i don’t mind at all and I love how nice it looks on phtoos! 🙂 thanks for your review, I actually like the medium coverage it gives 🙂
LOL You and me both then Nikki! I thought there was something wrong with my application or my eyes when I didn’t see the “sparlkly vampires” everyone was going on about
Actually if you look carefully on the bottle, Nude is 004 and not 003 like you mentioned. Therefore the next color down will be 003 Shell and not 002 Vanilla. I believe Vanilla will be too light for you because its slightly too light for me. I use 003 Shell and its perfect match for me. I have tried 004 Nude on the back of my hand and it looked abit too pink for me. I hope they will bring in lighter shades in the future!
Haha!! you’re absolutely right! Thanks for pointing out the mistake – not sure where I was looking 😉 I do hope they bring in at least Shell though. I might like to get that one. Nude had yellow tones for me.
You’re welcome! 🙂 And if you can you definitely should get hold of 003 Shell. Its the perfect match for me and from your other foundation shades it looks as if we have similar skintone so i am assuming it will work for you too! 🙂
Goody! I’ll bear this in mind if I manage to see Shell anywhere 😀
I tried this in Melbourne and didn’t like it. Very shimmery stuff. It felt a little heavy too.
It troubles me that I don’t get the shimmer thing LOL I’m serious, it does! But I remember you saying on your blog that you weren’t keen on it and that you preferred Bourjois? I might check the latter out 😉
I’d like to think that the sparkle they refer to is something like Skin 79 Diamond BB Cream?
I tested the Diamond BB in store, and I really like the way it looks on my hand. haha, kind of tempted to get that instead of foundation.
Not getting Revlon Photoready, as I don’t like foundation at all. :p But good review! First time seeing someone not raving about it like crazy.
Hmm… I’m not familiar with the Skin79 BB Cream but if you can imagine fine shimmer spread all over the back of your hand? That’s what you get when you swatch this foundation 🙂
Hmmm funny eh, I quite like this foundation..
No shimmer or sparkles.. easy to spread and i get a nice finish. 🙂
Yep I feel the same as you do – only wish I could find a colour match!
Initially i like this foundation very much. i think their concept of photo ready is that the sparkles will reflect lights so that your pore is not visible and your skin appears smoother on the photo. i like how the foundation give some light on the face and the face looked bright n lively under the light. One thumb up is doesn’t oxidized (i’m a combi to oily skin). However, after a week long ?i put on makeup almost everyday) I’ve used this foundation, to my horror i got big bumps under my skin!! i don’t get these with my others foundation (i used Dior nude, Clinique super fit, and EL mineral). I guess the foundation do block pores and it doesn’t really make you sparkle like vampires~ haha
Gosh! So sorry to hear that it caused you to break out. I didn’t experience any breakouts and I was using this for about 2 weeks straight. I’ll be sure to alternate this now… just in case 😉
ooo, Paris is back to your beautiful skin again! guess ur kiehls midnight concentrate worked!
oh, i do love ur foundie posts, but they always mena nothing to me as i only use foudnation on my nose only, so it doesnt matter what i use. lol.
anyway. my skin is looking great again, and my go-to skin saving routine is
1 cleanse with ZA cleanse off oil(RM15 @metro warehouse sale, yet MFD is 2010), 2 wash with Bio-essence thanaka white facewash (rm19.90 only!) 3. Lancome Primordiale serum (day)/Dior white reveal essence(night) Dior white reveal emulsion, 4. dior sublissme UV sunblock/dior sublissme uv make up base mauve.
p.s. can u tell i love dior? hahaha.
Yes I can tell you get along with Dior 😉 Glad you solved the problem! And yes the Midnight Recovery Concentrate did help my skin er… recover 😛
I have this in 004 n 005 as i wrongly bought the 006 which I thought would be suitable for me but I was totally wrong wrong wrong… 006 Medium Beige is way too dark and olive for my skintone. 004 Nude is doing fine, just a bit pinkish for me but I can bear with it. I supposed 005 Natural Beige is the right color for me but we don’t have it here. Why are they skipping the colors and strange enough 006 is actually darker than 008. As for the shimmers, yes I do find them if I put the foundation on my hand but not on face. I find 006 Medium Beige has more shimmers comparing to 004 Nude. No idea why but I prefer the coverage of 006 Medium Beige as it gives me dewy and moist looking skin. As for 004 Nude, it somehow patchy and hard to spread evenly during application, which I don’t encounter with 006 Medium Beige. Weird, huh ?
Wow, after your review, I am really tempted to try it out! 😀
I’ve been quite hesitant about trying this! Mine’s still sealed :p But at least now I know what to expect. And it is very odd for a photo ready foundation to have so many light reflecting ingredients that would be so inappropriate for flash photography. I’ll take pics with flash when I do wear this!
Was a little discouraged by the shimmer…I might give it a go once it’s on special!
I rather buy my foundation from the department store counter because I’m a noob because I can’t really tell whether the shade of foundation suits me or not.
I have oily skin and have already spent loads of money finding the right foundation for me. I’ve tried Mac Studio Fix and Studio Tech, Paul and Joe, mineral foundation, even SK II and my problem always is that it oxidizes so i always look tanner after a few minutes. I tried the Revlon Photoready Powder on a whim and I was surprised that for the first time a powder did not oxidize on my face. I am yet to try the liquid foundation though im scared that it might give me breakouts. Any other foundations you might suggest that doesnt oxidize? Thanks so much! 🙂
Try using a primer before applying foundation. Usually oxidisation can depend on skintype too. This post might help you. https://www.mywomenstuff.com/2009/01/13/help-my-foundation-oxidises-on-me/
I have this in 002 Vanilla and don’t see the sparkles either. Either we have bad eyesight or people are seeing things.
ROFLOL!! yeah I think we have bad eyesight 😉
I absolutely love this foundation, I even raved about it on my FB page!! Nude suits me perfectly, offers the perfect coverage, and lasts all day! I’ve taken quite a bit of photos (with or without flash) since I’ve started using this one, and it always turned out natural & I always look “photo ready” (pun intended)….
It does give a bit of sparkles (you will see these on your hands after application), and if you look closely, a bit on the face too. i reckon they are great to reflect lights & imperfections. I always look flawless when i have them on.
btw, stumbled upon your blog by chance. love what you are doing 🙂
Bought mine in London, didnt know abt the shimmer until i tried it on my face(of course after i bought it). Left it somewhere in my makeup stash..dont think i will use it anytime in the future *shrug*
Hey, just so you know, Revlon Photoready is now available in Shell (003) in Malaysia. I find both Shell and Nude to be rather similar in shade, shell being just a little lighter, not that much of a difference imho…