Review: CoverGirl & Olay Tone Rehab 2-in-1 Foundation|Base

I've said it a zillion times but in case you don't know, I'm not a liquid foundation gal. My oily skin prefers powder foundations and, in the past few years, only one new liquid foundation has seriously impressed me: CoverGirl NatureLuxe. So when CoverGirl recently released their newest CoverGirl & Olay product, Tone Rehab, I was excited to try it (especially since I really enjoy the CoverGirl & Olay blushes). I was sent two shades for review a while back, so now that I've been wearing nothing but this foundation for a few weeks straight, I'd love to share my thoughts with you.

CoverGirl Tone Rehab 2-in-1 Foundation|Base in Buff Beige & Medium Beige

(retail: around $13.99 each, 1.0 oz)

From CoverGirl:

COVERGIRL + Olay  Tone Rehab

• One pump instantly covers discolorations, lines and wrinkles while one bottle to help improve skin tone over time.

• Tone Rehab 2-in-1 Foundation is a new way to get luminous coverage for youthful, radiant looking skin. 

• Soft focus sphere technology optically blurs visible contrast edges and smoothes out rough surfaces, while working with light to create a radiant, soft focus effect so skin seems lit from within

• Tone Rehab 2-in-1 Foundation is clinically shown to help reduce the appearance of discolorations, like age spots, over time.

• The Olay serum contains a moisturization package featuring known skin conditioning ingredients, Glycerine, Niacinamide, N-acetyl Glucosamine, that effectively penetrate the skin’s outer surface layers for improved skintone over time and an Anti-oxidant package, Vitamin E, Allantoin, Panthenol, and Green Tea to help protect skin from harmful free radicals at the surface.

• The shade palette covers light to deep skin tones and has been revamped with a balance of cool, neutral, and warm undertones to beautifully meet the shade needs of all women.

Shades  

• Ivory
• Classic Ivory
• Creamy Natural
• Buff Beige
• Nude Beige
• Medium Beige
• Natural Beige
• Warm Beige
• Creamy Beige
• Soft Honey
• Golden Tan
• Classic Tan
• Tawny
• Soft Sable

Ingredients:

Cyclopentasiloxane, Water, Glycerin, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Sodium Chloride, Acetyl Glucosamine, Diethylhexyl Carbonate, Niacinamide, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Talc, PEG/PPG 18/18 Dimethicone, Panthenol, Palmitoyl Pentapeptide 4, Tocopheryl Acetate, Allantoin, Methicone, Aluminum Hydroxide, Benzyl Alcohol, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, PEG 10 Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Disodium EDTA, Fragrance, PEG 100 Stearate, May Contain:, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides.

 This foundation comes with a convenient pump dispenser, which I LOVE:

Before I get into the performance of this foundation, let's talk about the two shades I received:

I am a MAC NC20, and I normally gravitate toward the second-to-lightest shade in any given foundation range. But since there are 14 shades in the Tone Rehab range, that's not the case this time around. I'm LOVING the color Medium Beige for my skintone. It's a tad darker than my skintone but I actually like that during this time of year because I tend to look pale and pasty right after winter and going into the spring. Medium Beige gives me that extra little kick of color that I crave, but if your skin is what I like to describe as a "pale NC20" then definitely go for Buff Beige. When I wear Buff Beige, it's almost like I'm wearing no color at all--it blends perfectly into my natural skintone.

So now let's take a look at my before-and-afters:

 

Bare skin (moisturizer only)

In this "before" picture of my cheek, I'm not wearing anything other than moisturizer. No concealer or primer. As you can see, I have fine lines under my eyes, large pores near my nose, darkness under my eyes, redness on my cheeks and old acne scars. In other words, my skin is FAR from perfect.

After applying CoverGirl Tone Rehab in Medium Beige with my fingers

(no setting powder)

In this absolutely un-retouched "after" pic (FYI, I have never, ever retouched an "after" pic or any pic on this blog for that matter. I may do color-correcting for things like nail polish if the color is not accurate, but that's it), you can see that Tone Rehab in Medium Beige gives my skin an almost airbrushed quality (hard to achieve when you're 41, let me assure you). It gives my skin a very smooth-looking appearance, it minimizes my pores, and it evens out the redness. It doesn't really do anything for the darkness under my eyes (to be fair, NO foundation takes care of that for me--I must use a separate concealer), but it does seem to "plump up" the fine lines around my eye area a bit.

Texture, coverage and blendability: this foundation reminds me of NatureLuxe in that it's very silky and creamy and super easy to blend. It's not a runny liquid, but it's not a super-thick cream either. I would consider the coverage light-to-medium. If you prefer a lighter foundation, I think you could apply this sparingly and be very pleased with it. If you prefer medium-to-full coverage (like me) then you might need to build a bit to your liking. I find that one application is good for the non-problem areas of my face, but I do need to go over the problem areas of my face and do some additional spot applications before I'm happy with the coverage. The good thing is that this never seems to get cakey or feel heavy, no matter how much I apply. AND, it doesn't pool up in my larger pores, which is something that makes me very happy. 

Finish: I find that this foundation provides a very natural-looking finish, but not in a tinted moisturizer type of way. It has much more coverage than a tinted moisturizer, but yet it doesn't make me feel like I'm wearing a lot of makeup. I can't really describe it, but I'd say my skin looks luminous and almost dewy when I wear this. It's definitely not a matte foundation but it does not contain any sparkle or shimmer either.

Staying power: When I first saw that this was a 2-in-1 foundation, I assumed that meant it was a foundation and PRIMER, not foundation and serum. Even though I was wrong, this foundation really surprised me because it FEELS like there's a built-in primer here. I have very oily skin, and I have heard that people with dry skin were loving this foundation. Well, let me tell you that this oily-skinned gal loves it too. I've been putting this on at 6AM every morning, and by 6PM my skin still looks smooth and even and my blush is still in place! I can seriously go the entire day and only feel the need to powder my nose at around noon. I really can't stress this enough: the staying power of this product has been incredible for me. Oh! I should add that I've been using my CoverGirl Clean Oil Control Pressed Powder that I reviewed here on top of this foundation (applied lightly with a big, fluffy powder brush) and that combo has been working very well for me.

Fragrance: If you like the fragrance of Olay skincare, you'll probably like the fragrance of this foundation as well. It doesn't have the signature CoverGirl scent that you find in the CoverGirl Clean Makeup line--it smells sweet and clean and a lot like Olay moisturizers.

FINAL VERDICT: For me, this foundation absolutely lives up to all of its claims. Not only does it make my skin's texture look smoother, but it also evens out the redness, plumps up my fine lines and minimizes my pores. And on top of all that, it lasts all day on my face, despite the fact that I have very oily skin. I only need to powder my nose once during the day and I'm good to go. My makeup stays in place for a good 12 hours, no problem. I'm seriously impressed with CoverGirl Tone Rehab, and I think that if you can find a shade that works for you, you might enjoy it as well.  I know that $13.99 may seem a little steep for a drugstore foundation, but the fact that you're really getting a foundation and serum in one bottle makes the price more justifiable to me (plus, as you know, CoverGirl products often go on sale at the drugstores). I say give it a shot, and even if it does not work for you, you can easily get your money back. Per the CoverGirl website:  "...we're so sure that you'll love COVERGIRL & Olay Tone Rehab 2-in-1 Foundation, that if you're not satisfied with the results, we'll refund your money." Click here for guarantee details.

Have you already tried CoverGirl Tone Rehab? If so, I'd love to hear what you think of it, and if not, I'd love to hear if you think this might be a good fit for your particular skin type.

A sample of this product was given to Nouveau Cheap for editorial purposes, either directly from the manufacturer or from the agency that works on behalf of the manufacturer. All reviews on NouveauCheap.blogspot.com are the honest opinion of its author and editorial samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews.