Foundation shopping is just as difficult as denim shopping. Everyone’s skin type and tone is different. While your bestie’s BB cream may work for her, it might not work for you. Enter our beauty panel. Six women with six different lifestyles, makeup routines and careers all testing one product. When a product gets a stamp of approval from our panel that means it is probably going to work for our readers too.
The latest beauty launch to get our approval is Maybelline’s Dream Velvet Foundation. The product comes in 12 shades and has a hydrating matte finish and velvety smooth feel that delivers flawless coverage. The new Dream Blender helps to effortlessly apply the foundation giving you that #nofilter selfie look.
We gave one foundation and one blender to each of our Beauty Panelists with some instructions on how to use them. Read on for each of their personal experiences with the product, how they differed and if they’d recommend the foundation to a friend.
Anne T. Donahue, comedian, writer and TV personality
Fun fact: if you cave and use a sponge to apply foundation it’ll blend better than using your hands. This is something I didn’t know until I tried doing just that with a bit of a side eye. (First I was cautious because, like, you don’t know me — so don’t tell me how to put on makeup. Second, because I’m pretty sure I used a sponge to apply foundation back in 2001 and it resulted only in a very distinct difference between the tone of my face and the rest of my body.)
But I digress. Turns out Maybelline knows what they’re doing. Not only did their Ivory foundation match my freakishly pale skin tone (and actually matched it — I didn’t have to mix concealer in or anything, which is an actual miracle), their Dream Blender lived up to its name so I looked hashtag flawless. (That’s still a thing, right?) So, it turns out I’m born with it and it’s also Maybelline.
And yes, I’ve been waiting my whole life to say that.
Gracie Carroll, fashion blogger
As a long-time fan of Maybelline’s BB cream, I was very excited to try out their new Dream Velvet Soft-Matte Hydrating Foundation with the new Dream Blender Sponge. I’m regularly in front of the camera so I rely on good-quality foundations that are easy to apply and don’t feel or look heavy on my face. The results from using the Dream Velvet Foundation are exactly what you’d expect from the name – it left my skin looking smooth, matte and flawless with a lightweight feeling. I got a ton of compliments on how good my skin looked on the first day I used it! This is definitely one foundation I’ll be using on the regular, and especially to help reduce unwanted shine when on camera.
Sara Koonar, editor-on-chief of 29Secrets
I’m a Maybelline superfan, so they are preaching to the choir here. My beauty bag is packed with Lash Sensational mascara, Colour Sensational Vivid Matte lipsticks, EyeStudio Brow products and more. So, I had really, really high expectations for this product. The first thing I noticed was how well it blends, immediately vanishing and looking like skin. This is important to me, I don’t want people to know I am wearing makeup, it has to look natural. Secondly, I loved the matte finish and how it lasts throughout the day. I find my makeup looks matte when I first apply it but as the day goes by my T-zone gets really shiny. That didn’t happen with this foundation, which had me really excited. Third, the blender was really easy to use because of the handle. I don’t like how with regular blenders your hands and nails get full of product. With the blender I can even touch up during the day with no mess.
Thus, I’d absolutely recommend this product to my friends with oilier complexions looking for that flawless finish.
Meghan Yuri Young, fashion blogger and writer
I don’t use foundation often, so I really appreciated how lightweight Maybelline Dream Velvet felt on my face. Although the colour wasn’t a perfect match, contouring helped make it look a lot more natural and the moisture-rich formula really did smooth out my dry, winter complexion. I also loved the matte effect since I tend to get the typical oily T-Zone throughout the day. I just have to be less generous when applying it since it did come off on my hands when I touched my face. Overall, I found the foundation a great product for its price and the blender a helpful tool.
Stacey Brennan, beauty YouTuber and social influencer
The Maybelline Dream Velvet foundation had me a little nervous at first because I tend to stay away from matte products in the winter due to dry skin, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that it didn’t dry me out or stick to any patches on my face.
The first time I used it I tried the Dream Velvet foundation with the corresponding Dream Velvet Blender. I found that this application method did not allow for the foundation to blend in to my skin properly but it was perfect for blending in my concealer. I decided to switch to a buffing brush for the foundation and found this worked much better for me and allowed the foundation to become one with my skin. The finish left me looking perfectly matte without having to use any setting powder. I found that I could build the Dream Velvet foundation up to suit my coverage needs where necessary without it going cakey on me. It was very comfortable to wear throughout the day and stayed put on my skin without any issues. If you are looking for a nice matte foundation I would definitely suggest the Maybelline Dream Velvet Foundation.
Bahar Niramwalla, makeup artist, beauty expert and TV personality
The blendability of the product was incredible as was the ability to mix shades.
It’s tough for me to find one shade that suits my skin tone and, as such, I don’t wear much foundation. I was able to mix and blend multiple shades of this with ease. You may ask yourself why doesn’t she do that with other foundations? Well, the foundations I do like run about $50 a bottle, but I’m way to frugal to buy two bottles just to get the right shade. I want to have a great looking foundation but I am not willing to break the bank to get there which means Dream Velvet is a #FoundationWin for me!
This post was brought to you by Maybelline. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Maybelline.
