“I’m not the greatest; I’m the double greatest. Not only do I knock ’em out, I pick the round.”- Muhammed Ali

In natural light from L-R Pure color envy lipsticks in “intense nude” and “insolent plum”, lip pencil in “rose”

With flash

You know when something is hyped up SO much that it deters you from even wanting to try the product? That’s how I felt about Estée Lauder Double Wear Foundation. I’m a foundation hoarder and there just didn’t seem to be any good reason to splash out on yet another foundation. That all changed when I saw a bottle on clearance for a mere $11 at my local CCO (Cosmetics Company Outlet). $11?! That was a no-brainer and I snapped it up unsure of whether it was even the right color for me. This was at the tail-end of last Summer and I’ve barely reached for my other foundations since.

This foundation stays put. It’s by far the most long-wearing foundation I own and when I took it on my trip to blisteringly hot and humid Ghana and drizzly England in October, it performed fantastically in both climates. I’ve never had a foundation even come close to outlasting the African sun and this did a truly admirable job.

I would describe it as a medium- full coverage foundation and a little bit goes a long way. It is pretty easy to control how much coverage you want so that’s always a plus. It sets pretty quickly so I advise that you don’t dally when it comes to blending it out. It offers a very matte finish so if you suffer from chronically dry skin, I would not necessarily recommend this foundation. It comes in a decent shade range and although I think my shade (7W1 Deep Spice) is a touch red for me, it definitely does the job.

There are a couple of cons though, the main one being that this foundation doesn’t come with a pump. It’s a never-ending source of annoyance to pour out the foundation each time because a lot of foundation gets wasted and it’s just messier in general. Additionally, the bottle is made out of glass so this may cause some concern for the butterfingers amongst you.

I  decided to purchase this new bottle from Macy’s as they were doing a fantastic gift with purchase that I just couldn’t pass up. A $35 purchase of any Estée Lauder item came with a cute bag filled with a ton of (expensive) goodies. There was a choice between an eyeshadow palette and mascara, or two full-sized lipsticks and a lip liner and I chose the lipstick option. The bag also came with deluxe-sized samples of a serum, eye cream, and moisturizer. The lipsticks are lovely and creamy and wore well on me for about 5 hours and did I mention they’re full-sized? This offer is currently still available so if you’ve had your eye on this foundation, this is a fantastic chance to get some great extras with it. The foundation retails for $39.50 and that is slightly lower than most of the higher-end foundations out there so I have no quibbles with the price. I wholeheartedly recommend this foundation so grab a sample and try it out for yourself if possible.

And now here’s a picture of me wearing Double Wear with the rest of my makeup on in natural light. Unfortunately, I don’t remember absolutely everything else on my face because I’ve developed a sieve-like memory and this was taken about a month ago. However, I have listed the things I do remember:

Eyes:

Viseart theory palette 02 in “minx”

Kat Von D tattoo liner in “trooper”

Benefit Goof Proof Brow Pencil in “05”

Lips:

Stila Stay All Day liquid lipstick in “chianti”

Face:

Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-In-Place makeup in “7W1 Deep Spice”

Kat Von D Lock-It concealer crème in “Deep 31”

Nana Adomah