Review: Revlon Photo Ready Compact Makeup

I need to warn you right off the bat that this is a pretty long and detailed review. For some reason, I just cannot condense my feelings about this new foundation into a "liked it" or "hated it" type of post, and it's actually giving me flashbacks of my Maybelline The Eraser review. Gah!

OK, so let's get started:

Revlon Photo Ready Compact Foundation SPF20 in Vanilla

(retail: $13.99 at CVS, .35 oz)

NOTE: this foundation contains SPF20--I didn't even see this until I got it home because the font is so small on the compact. So I just wanted to point that out in case you also missed it.

When I purchased this foundation at CVS, I posted pics of the actual display (click here if you'd like to see) and this is a close-up of the text on the display:

This foundation claims to go from a cream to a liquid and then dry to a powder finish. The magical, mystical part of this foundation is obviously the "liquefying screen" so let's take a closer look:

I was absolutely intrigued by the fact that this screen turns the cream foundation into a liquid. You cannot remove the screen (I mean, I guess you could, but it would take a bit of prying) and I was very curious as to how the accompanying sponge was supposed to be applied to the screen in order for the "liquefying" to occur. So I documented the process:

1. The first time I applied the sponge to the product, I thought that all I probably needed to do was apply light pressure to the screen and that some light pressure would be enough to pick up the product. Looking at image number 1, this turned out not to be the case.

2. Next time, I applied even more pressure with my sponge (I didn't press hard, but just harder than the first time). Still not enough...

3. This time I pressed pretty hard, and I did get a bit more product onto the sponge, but still not enough.

4. Bingo! Pressing the sponge doesn't work, but pressing and swirling the sponge simultaneously does the trick! I can conclude, after numerous attempts, that you really need to press firmly, while swirling the sponge in a circular motion, to liquefy this product and pick up an adequate amount onto the sponge.

After using this product every day for about seven days, I find that the motion you need to use in order to get this foundation onto your sponge is similar to what you'd do with a kitchen sponge and a tough stain on a frying pan. You know how you need to press firmly and make little circles on the stain in order to clean it? That's exactly what you need to do in order to liquefy this foundation and get it onto your sponge. I hope that analogy is helpful to some of you if you decide to try this!

Here's a closer look at the inside of the compact (there is a small mirror on the inside lid), the directions and the list of ingredients (click once to enlarge, again to magnify):

And now the moment of truth: some before-and-after photos:

As you can see, I have some redness and old acne scars on my cheeks. I also have large pores in the region closest to my nose. I thought that these were the types of flaws that a product promising "complete coverage" and "perfected airbrushed skin in any light" would be able to conceal, or at least almost conceal.

Unfortunately, looking at picture number two above, this is not the case. In fact, if you look closely at that second photo, you'll see that this foundation actually pools up in my pores, and makes my skin look dry (I have very oily skin).

I do want to state that, for the record, I purchased the wrong shade for my skin. With drugstore foundations, I'm almost always the second-to-lightest shade in the range, which is what Vanilla is, but this foundation is a tad too light for me.

So I can't really comment on how it matched my skintone, but I CAN comment on its sheerness. This foundation is sheer, folks. And I'm a medium-to-full-coverage kind of gal. So right off the bat, I knew this wasn't for me.

I was, however, very pleased with the way this foundation applies and blends. It actually applies very easily on my skin, and I found that it was easy to blend it to a seamless finish without using my fingers. It's got a feather-light consistency and I think it works quite well with the accompanying sponge.

Moving on to the third picture above, I took this after applying a layer of setting powder OVER the Photo Ready Compact Makeup. Now, this is when I became the happiest, because my skin felt much more even and my flaws were much more concealed. I did not use Revlon Photo Ready Powder (because I don't own it); I used my Prestige powder foundation, but applied lightly with a fluffy powder brush.

After attempting to wear this foundation without a setting powder on top of it, I have concluded that my skin is just too oily for that to be possible. Without setting powder, I find that this foundation dries to a semi-powder finish on my skin, but it just doesn't feel as dry as I need it to feel in order to have confidence and go about my day. BUT, if you have dry skin, this foundation alone might be enough for you. If you're skin's oily like mine, I think setting powder is mandatory.

After wearing this foundation (with setting powder) for about three hours, product starts to settle into the fine lines under my eyes:

(the first two pics in this collage are of the product swatched on the inside of my arm, just to give you an idea of the consistency of this foundation)

See where I placed the arrow? That's where the product settled. This is my NUMBER ONE NO-NO for any foundation. I absolutely will not tolerate a product that settles into fine lines. I tried to correct this by using various different under-eye conealers before applying this foundation, and nothing seems to work (although I did not try using a primer first, which might help. I don't like to use primers when testing foundations though, because I want to know how a foundation works without the extra help).

I also tried stopping short of my under-eye area when applying this foundation (in other words, not applying the foundation to my eye area at all) and that works, but I just don't like the uneven feeling of not having my foundation on top of my concealer. So, for my particular needs, this is a deal-breaker for me.

So, to whom would I recommend this product? In my opinion, I think it would be best for someone who has normal-to-dry, close-to-flawless skin. If you normally use tinted moisturizers or very sheer foundations, you might love this product. I can see it working well for someone who only has minor redness and just needs to even out their skin a bit. If your skin is oily, I just don't think this is a good choice because I did notice that, before the day is through, my oily skin pretty much devours this foundation. It's a good thing I have been setting it with powder foundation because, if I didn't, I'd look like I wasn't wearing anything at all on my face by around 5PM.

All in all, I'm disappointed with how this product performed for my skin and my particular needs. The claims really sucked me in, but I only agree with about 50% of them:

"Complete coverage": no

"Superior blendability": yes

"Lightweight powder finish": sort of

"Perfected airbrushed skin in every light": no

I hope this review helps you to determine whether or not you think this foundation might be a good match for your skin. As always, I'd love to hear from you, and if there's any question I failed to answer in this review, just leave me a comment and I'd be happy to try and help!

Have you tried Revlon Photo Ready Compact Makeup yet? Do you think it might be a good product for your particular needs?