Elizabeth Arden Flawless Finish Sponge-on Cream Makeup Review

I was really excited to trial this foundation as my skin has changed dramatically over the past year while being pregnant, I develop pigmentation spots on my cheeks and forehead and then after giving birth my skin lacks radiance and appears rather dull. I normally use Dermacol make up cover in shade 208 but I have been looking for something with a more natural finish and is quicker to apply.

I choose the shade Vanilla Shell which is probably a tad too dark for my porcelain skin but as the shade selection in NZ is limited it looked to be the best match by going off swatches on the Elizabeth Arden website.

The foundation is very creamy and light in texture which makes application easy especially on my skin which is currently dry. It can be applied in two ways depending on the type of coverage you wanted. I mainly applied it dry rather then damping the sponge as I need fuller coverage. The packaging of the foundation is very stylish. It comes in a gold and silver compact with the Elizabeth Arden logo on the front. The compact has two compartments one houses the foundation and mirror and the second contains a sponge. The things I like about the packaging are firstly the mirror, it makes applying make up on the go easy and secondly the air vents at the bottom of the compact keep the sponge fresh. The thing I think could be improved on is the feel of the packaging which is rather plasticky considering the price and the fact it does scratch easily.

The foundation states it contains " Micronized Diamond Power" or real diamonds which are suppose to help blur fine lines and other imperfections. I found that this foundation helped conceal redness on my cheeks and it did blur some fine lines around my eyes which gave a lovely radiant glow to my skin however it didn't cover much of the pigmentation I have on my forehead which is the one thing I was hoping this foundation would do. In my opinion I would not consider this foundation to be "flawless finish" as the name suggests.

It is a nice foundation and I like the concept of the compact with a mirror and sponge but it didn't quite live up to its name especially considering the higher end price. For me personally I wouldn't repurchase this as it didn't cover my pigmentation spots which my usual foundation does and it costs half the price.

If you are after a compact foundation with a natural looking finish and lasts a good eight hours and are not worried about full coverage then this could be for you. I would advise to get colour matched in store though.

The product is an absolutely beautiful mirror finish box with a red door on it and gold trim. Upon opening you will find the foundation cream and under this a thin application sponge. I was pleased with that the shade matched my skin when after applying as I wasn't sure before. It looked a little darker than it really was. Application with the sponge provided was not great. It was too thin and small to be of any use yet I thought I would give it a go. The issue I had was that the cream was clinging to my dry patches on my face and the finish was anything but flawless. I tried a second time with my beauty blender with that same results. To give it another chance I tried again to get a great finish and used my fingers with the same results. I wasn't thrilled. I try to give a product the benefit of the doubt and make it work but it wouldn't. I will probably try a few more times to apply this product in a way that it will work for my skin but so far no luck and I wasn't happy with the results, which is a really pity.

When I received an invite for this trial I was super excited. I had never tried an Elizabeth Arden foundation before so was interested to see how well it would work for me. The packaging is gorgeous! It comes in a metallic silver and gold box and inside is a matching compact. It has 2 compartments, the top one has a mirror and the foundation, then underneath is where the sponge lives.

I selected the shade Vanilla Shell which matches my pale skin perfectly. My skin is dry and sensitive so I have issues with foundation looking cakey or causing irritation. This is super creamy and on me the coverage is light to medium. I use after cleansing and moisturising, it feels quite lightweight on my skin.

I don't love or hate the sponge that comes with it, it's nothing special but gets the job done. However, I get a weird looking finish with this foundation, it doesn't look very natural on me and seems to sit on my cheeks and makes my fine lines on my forehead really noticeable. You need to be careful as I find it can cake up if you use too much. More than 1 layer on me and it starts caking really bad.  I also dislike that it doesn't feel completely dry. I got no irritation at all though which was a positive.

For me the best way to use it is over my BB cream, it gives me a nice looking complexion and lovely glow that way, however on its own it just doesn't work for me.

So while it is a lovely foundation I suggest if you have dry skin to make sure you prep your face well to stop it accentuating any dry areas and caking. I don't see this as a life changing foundation for me and I would not repurchase this unfortunately.

I was excited to be given the opportunity to trial this Elizabeth Arden foundation.I'm in my 40's, with normal to dry skin. I selected the shade Vanilla Shell which was a good match as I'm usually about an Ivory or one shade darker.

The foundation compact is very glamourous looking. It's a mirrored compact & inside is the cream foundation and a little sponge. It's a bit 'plasticky' when you feel it & on my compact the clasp didn't work, so the lid pops open again when you close it. I use a hair tie now to keep it closed.

The foundation itself can be applied 2 ways. With a dry sponge for a full coverage finish, or a wet sponge for a lighter finish.

Dry sponge application. This foundation goes on fairly heavy and is buildable so very quickly my makeup looked very heavy. Yes, my skin tone was even, and it covered imperfections but what stood out for me above the fact that it’s heavy is that I looked super shiny, oily looking. I gave it a few minutes to settle, & then realised the foundation was settling into some of my more prominent wrinkles. I then applied a finishing powder to settle the shine down a little, which worked. The finished look was okay, but the foundation did seem to absorb the powder, and through the morning I became super shiny again. Dry sponge application was also a little heavy a finish for my liking. Overall it was okay, and it felt nice on my skin, but I don't think I achieved the youthful radiance it promised, it did the opposite

I tried the wet sponge application & the coverage was much more to my liking. It was a medium coverage and still buildable in places I needed a bit more. It still finished super shiny and still settled into wrinkles. I looked like I had really oily skin. I also noticed on a couple of humid days my skin was sweating a little under the foundation. The application was better with a wet sponge, and with less coverage the wrinkles weren't filled as bad, but oily skin look just didn't look right. Yes, the really fine lines seemed less noticeable, but I think the light creamy formula particularly on my forehead crease really settled into the crease and became super noticeable! It lasted a good 6 hours, but I felt my makeup looked a little worn by mid afternoon.

The foundation itself felt lovely and light on my skin if you ignored the finish. It didn't cause my skin to breakout despite the oily shine it gave off. Removing the makeup was easy and my skin wasn't dried out after wear.

It's a pricey foundation which is why I probably had higher hopes from it. Had I paid the money I would have been upset by its performance so if you have an opportunity to try it in store first you should. While I don't tend to fret about my wrinkles there are other foundations out there that do a better job minimising wrinkles and fine lines instead of highlighting them. I wouldn't purchase this particular foundation for myself - but I'm sure others, perhaps younger than me would like it.