Maybelline Fit Me Foundation in 220 - Review

Maybelline Fit Me Matte & Poreless in 220 review HERE

Is there actually any point in me doing this review now? This came out such a long time ago I'm sure everyone and their grandma has tried it! Well...I suppose you can hear what I have to say about it too...

Description from website:

Our first Gel Foundation with no waxes and fillers
Coverage that looks and feels 100% you.
Why You'll Love It
The secret of Fit Me Foundation? Some waxes and fillers can mask your skin colour, Fit Me Foundation has none. Its transluscent gel based formula merges seamlessly with your skin.
Fit Me Foundation, Concealer and Powder are made to fit together by shade numbers, so finding your shade couldn't be easier. Looks natural, feels so light. SPF 18. £7.99

Maybelline Fit Me Foundation came out back in 2009/2010 I think, I remember I first purchased it in 2010 off eBay in the shade 310 Sun Beige, which is the US equivalent to the UK shade 250 also Sun Beige. I was confused at first then I figured since they were both Sun Beige they were probably identical. I checked both US and UK websites to confirm this and I was correct. I really adored how luminous and hydrating the formula was on my skin, but it was way too orange so I ran some searches and realised I should've picked 220 as it came up as the most commonly matched shade for me.

The differences between US and UK versions
The US Fit Me Foundation bottle doesn't come with a pump, the UK one does, so if you've picked it up from somewhere online like eBay or Amazon and it doesn't have a pump then you most likely have the US version. When it comes to shades available in the UK, as usual there are limited shades available compared to the US, The USA have a total of 19 shades and on the Boots website there are 11 (some shades seem to be out of stock perhaps even discontinued), not only that depending on the store, most UK drugstores don't even stock all shades, some providing only 4! Exactly, do not get me started on my frustration with UK shade offerings and stocks...grrrr....

The shades ending in '0' are supposedly warm tones and the ones ending in '5' cool tones. I've listed below the shades available in both the US and UK so you can see the differences yourselves and  to further fuel any similar frustrations you may have.

US shades:
Light
Porcelain 110
Ivory 115
Classic Ivory 120
Nude Beige 125
Buff Beige 130

Medium
Sandy Beige 210
Natural Beige 220
Medium Buff 225
Natural Buff 230
Pure Beige 235
Golden Beige 240
Medium Beige 245

Deep
Sun Beige 310
Soft Honey 315
Honey Beige 320
Cream Beige 325
Toffee 330
Coconut 355
Mocha 360

UK Shades
Light
Ivory 115
Classic Ivory 120
Nude Beige 125
Buff Beige 130
Creamy Natural 135

Medium
Sandy Beige 210
Natural Beige 220
Sun Beige 250

Deep
Soft Honey 315
Caramel 350
Coconut 355

If you are interested in any of the US shades, you might be lucky enough to find them quite easily on the internet, places such as eBay or Amazon or other websites. Pricing and shipping may differ so make sure you look around and decide if it's actually worth it! There are also loads of blogposts and videos on YouTube with swatches and demo's so check those out if you want to colour match.

The US also have a new version of Fit Me called the Matte & Poreless (lord knows when that'll hit our shores), they've also renamed and rebottled the original Fit Me and now call it Dewy & Smooth but the formula is still the same, this was probably due to the fact that the original Fit Me was more suitable for normal to dry skin types, so now they've made one available for oily skin types too, which I'm just as curious about as many have said it's a stellar foundation. I'm also hearing from Leanne over at Lpagebeauty.com that they're taking the Fit Me Foundation off the shelves in Superdrugs, apparently it's being discontinued, we're wondering if the "Dewy and Smooth" rebranded bottle is replacing it or whether they're bringing "Matte and Poreless" over too. Exciting times! *Update below*

So back to my review, I later went on to purchase 220 but in a small tester size off eBay. Cor blimey! The amount of times I've been 'inquisitively' asked on Instagram how I managed to get hold of this tube. No people! I did not steal a tester tube from Superdrugs or Boots, though it may seem :D haha !!! Ebay sells these 10ml sizes (that you find as testers in stores) for under £3, which I think is especially handy if you want to try the foundation out without having to commit to a full size or pay the full price, it makes sense doesn't it?

Any way I've had a love/hate relationship with this foundation so I've hardly reached out for it, I liked the formula but felt it looked off on me after a while but ever since I chose this for my foundation of the week last week, I've analysed it, learnt a lot about it and have realised my issues and figured out how to use it on myself and I actually really really like it.

These 3 shades are the only available medium shades in the UK range. You can clearly see the olive tones in 220.

The shade 220 Natural Beige is by far the closest drugstore match for my skin tone to date (unless you guys know of a similarly great olive/yellow shade, write them down below ;) ). For a UK drugstore option it's a brilliant shade because it has a definite olive tone to it but I'm interested as to how much warmer the other medium shades will be in the American range like shades 230 Natural Buff and 240 Golden Beige, because I do like a little more of a yellow/golden tinge to my face which 220 seems to lack but it's a decent match considering my luck with drugstore. I actually only realised how good a match this was for me just last week whilst I was trialling it and had figured out the issues I was having with it, which I'll mention now...

Oxidisation would usually be one of the last factors I mention in a review but it's a big one when it comes to this foundation because it was a proper game changer for me. This foundation oxidises on me A LOT, it doesn't exactly oxidise on 'me' per say but with the moisturiser I use underneath, (I'll include pictures of swatches below), it looks horrendous and ashy on me after it oxidises, like the weirdest shade of light peach, I literally look ill, I wouldn't mind looking a little more bronzed but the peachy oxidisation translates ashy on my skin weirdly enough. This surprises me because MAC Studio Fix used to oxidise but nowhere near as quickly or as much as this, I almost see the transitioning happen before my eyes.

I'm currently using the 'Good Things Manuka Honey Daily Moisturiser' -which is ok btw- but I can't be sure and tell you which ingredient it is specifically in this that is reacting and oxidising with the Fit Me and whether it's a common ingredient used in other moisturisers, I've also tried other moisturisers/oils and it does change so I do have to be wary of what products I use underneath. It could also just be my skin, I've heard PH levels of the skin, natural oils and just basic oxygen in the air can cause oxidisation.

What I've been doing to combat the oxidising issue is using the Fit Me on my bare skin or with the Rimmel Primer (which is a great primer) it does oxidise still a teeny bit but not as bad, I am still trying out different options but for now bare skin or primer is the way to go, this foundation is actually emollient enough to let me do this.

Which moves us onto texture, the texture of Fit Me is very emollient and creamy, it's thick-ish but fluid enough to run down your hand. I find the gel texture most agreeable on my dehydrated skin type and it really sinks in beautifully. This texture is also a dream to blend, I love using my damp Beauty Blender to apply this, it's almost magical to watch how seamlessly this disappears into the skin and I can also use a brush too, I adore it! 

Coverage-wise I think you can get between a medium to slightly full coverage with this, though if you have severe blemishes to cover you may have to use a concealer too. I love light to medium coverage on myself and one layer of this does me perfectly fine, though on myself personally I can also build it up to a full coverage. I never used to colour correct with orange back then so I would be ashy in areas and I'd hate how it'd overall look on me, hence also why I pushed it away. I almost always colour correct now, I love the difference it makes on me and I literally cannot do a full face of makeup without orange colour corrector under my eyes and around my mouth, so when I did this last week with Fit Me, I was super pleased with the results. I also sometimes like to use 2 swipes of the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer on my chin area and blend it out for further coverage, I love how even and radiant this makes my skin look. If you also like light to medium coverage this foundation is right down your alley.

The Fit Me builds up beautifully on the skin, it is literally seamless, it doesn't pick up on my skin texture too much nor does it cake up on me, it's so emollient and hydrating it's effortless to work with. It builds up coverage and layers wonderfully whilst still looking like skin. Like I always mention, working on well exfoliated and moisturised skin gives you a more beautiful finish, if you have texture or dry flakes any physical matter added on top will accentuate them, though saying that the more emollient the formula the better it disappears on textured skin, like this one.

The feel of Fit Me on the skin is light and moisturising, it's not a thick heavy feel at all, like I mentioned before people with dry skin will like the Fit Me formula, they'll really appreciate the comfortable hydrating feel of this foundation. It doesn't have a setting factor so there's no pulling or feeling of dry down like Nars ADLW or EL Double Wear, this may be an issue for anyone with oily skin, you may want to avoid this foundation or perhaps use a mattefying primer and you'll most definitely want to set as this will most probably make you oilier. 

The finish of Fit Me is radiant and dewy, depending on the steps you take beforehand or after, if you use a mattefying primer you'll have a satin finish, extra moisturiser will give a more luminous and dewy finish. I love the way this makes my skin look so radiantly smooth, especially with the Rimmel Primer, the two work so well together, it's a match made in heaven. I feel like this is a wonderful foundation formula for anyone with dehydrated or dry skin types as this really perks up the skin and is so skin like, in fact the characteristics of the Fit Me is almost like it's the 'lovechild' of the Nars Sheer Glow and Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation but lesser coverage and longevity, if you like dewy, smooth and radiant finishes this one's for you!

I love a glowy finish to my skin but when you have skin texture, a dewy finish can sometimes look horrible on 'bumpy' areas, which is one other issue I had back then, I wasn't overly keen on how the dewy glow looked in some places. Enter Soap & Glory Kick Ass...because this powder has  literally revolutionized my base makeup, I love how the powder works with the Fit Me foundation as well, it fills in my pores, smoothens the surface of my skin and takes away any unwanted shine from my face without looking a bit cakey. I leave the areas I want to look dewy and set the t-zone since I do also have a combination skin type which gets oily there. Though I've noticed that when I use the Rimmel Primer, I don't feel the need to set it as much.

This can last a decent time on me when I set my whole face, I can also use my Avon Setting spray as a primer like the Smashbox one and this technique will make it more durable. If I don't set it after a few hours my natural oils will start to seep out and I'll start to look a bit greasy and it'd have faded in areas. Though I love how well this formula works with my dehydrated combination skin type, it's emollient enough to keep my skin supple and hydrated, yet once set with powder it stays put and in place a long enough time for me. The Fit Me doesn't set nor is it at all transfer resistant, so if you want it to last you will have to set this because it does transfer very very easily, this would be the only flaw with this foundation, it's not a major issue for me but others may want it to have better longevity.

I really really like the Fit Me foundation, if someone put this formula in a high end bottle I would totally understand and believe them, it's such a quality and affordable foundation at its' price and with the additional spf of 18 you get sun protection too. It's a pity it oxidises on me but I suppose I've made it work. I'm so surprised I've come to love it so much with just one week of trialling, I always knew I liked the formula but could never understand why it always looked horrid on me after a while. I can actually see myself purchasing the full bottle in the near future, well, once I've gone through the many other bottles of foundations I'm hoarding! I hope this review was helpful and if you had any similar issues let me know! Peace and love. X

Update 5/08/16: I don't think I will purchase the full size of this, reason being recently I've found my pigmentation around my mouth seems to have gotten darker as well as other areas on my face like my under eyes etc, I find this foundation won't give me the desired coverage anymore and perhaps will be too light for my skin tone as I'm preferring deeper foundation shades to balance out the discolourations and different tones on my face. This foundation has too many cons and does require extra work which ultimately puts me off from using it. Definitely better for those with good skin. 

Do check out my other foundation/product reviews if you enjoy in-depth details of texture, finish and other such qualities! 

*Update*: The Fit Me Matte & Poreless has finally landed on our shores and as expected with a limited number of shades... The Fit Me Dewy & Smooth unfortunately seems to have been taken off the shelves as well as online in both Boots and Superdrug. But I'm sure you can find them online quite easily.

The only two medium shades available of the Matte & Poreless in the UK are 220 Natural Beige and 230 Natural Buff. Unusually 230 Natural Buff is very pink/neutral undertoned whereas 220 Natural Beige retains its former oliveness. Here are the swatches:

Fit Me Matte & Poreless 220 Natural Beige 230 Natural Buff