Review: Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet +

Over Christmas, I went a bit crazy and bought all three of the Make Up For Ever liquid foundations. I heard great things about them and because I am greedy and foundation obsessed, I bought all three (not at the same time mind you). I have reviewed the MUFE Face and Body previously and loved it, and today I will review the Mat Velvet + foundation. This foundation is liked by many people, however more for those with oily skin. I have dry skin and kept hearing warnings not to get this, but I am curious person and I had to try it out for myself. The girls at Sephora were not recommending this on my skin either. If you have dry skin you should opt for foundations that offer a dewy finish, have light-reflecting properties and are gentle and light on the skin. So are the claims true that this is not really for those with dry skin?

MUFE Mat Velvet is described as "evens and matifies the skin tone, its amino acid coated pigments provide both stability and durability to the makeup. The formula, rich in wheat amidon complex, covers imperfections, neutralizes the shiny areas, and leaves a velvet finish. After the silicon evaporation, its oil-free textures leaves a non-greasy and comfortable finish". This is recommended for normal, combination, and oily skin types, dermatologist and sensitive skin tested, non comedogenic. It retails for $34 US/$39 CAD at Sephora. It comes in a plastic lightweight packaging, much like Clinique's foundation does, with a squeeze applicator (I like this packaging). I have it in the shade #20, which is "light with beige undertones". If you want to see more swatches of this foundation click here, and here (goes to Karlasugar's site).

This foundation provides very good coverage, yet creamy and light feel for the coverage that it gives, if that makes sense. I am used to more lighter/waterier feeling foundation, so this took some time to get used to and I am still not totally happy with how I apply it (tried fingers and flat tops). Let me know how you apply this in the comments please. This doesn't have enough slip to it as I would like in a foundation (since it is matte). Those are fresh cat scratches on my hand.

Here it is blended out a bit, you can tell a little goes a long way (I poured out too much), and it covers very nicely. This is a very pigmented and opaque foundation, if you are looking to cover a lot, this is a good one. Although this is thick and mattifying it does not give me a mask-like face, if I am careful on how much I apply. It's very adjustable, you can use a little or a lot to get the effect that you want. As for how it feels on my dry skin, with a good moisturizer and primer I feel like I can make this work, I just wouldn't recommend wearing it everyday (I alternate my foundations) because it will dry out your skin even more. This is a medium-full coverage foundation and I would suggest definitely adding a bronzer, blush or highlighter to give some life back in the face. For the winter when my skin is extra dry, it's not my ideal as it feels waaay too drying, I think I would use this more in the summer, when my skin has more moisture. If you looking for something with comparable coverage and have dry skin, I would recommend the Lancome Teint Idole instead.

For those with oily or combination skin I think this would definitely sit better on the skin because it does tend to set quickly and is long-wearing and resistant. I have to wash my face very thoroughly when I wear this, because only using wet wipes I can see myself taking it off over and over again and it's still there. So for oily skin, I think it's heaven-sent, for dry skin you gotta work, I've been mixing mine with moisturizer to sheer it out and give it more slip. This foundation also did not blend very well for me, probably due to my dry skin, where you put it is basically where it stays. It seems more work than it should for me.

And here is my MUFE foundation collection, they are all great and totally different with varying textures and coverage, so I like having them all for different reasons. For my dry skin, I like the Face and Body the best hands down, it feels like skin and feels comfortable, the HD offers good coverage and the Mat Velvet gives the most coverage.

As you can tell the swatches differ A LOT, so you need to go in and get colour-matched for this foundation. You can tell the MUFE Face and Body in 20 is very yellow and darker than the rest, but because the coverage of it is light it evens out fine on my skin. The HD in 117 is more yellow toned than the Mat Velvet in 20, which is more slightly more pinky. The Mat Velvet is the closest match to my skin I think.

While I wouldn't recommend Mat Velvet + for those with dry skin. if you are willing to work with it, it is do-able. I will reserve this foundation for use in the summer, as right now it is a bit too much for me, I much prefer the F&B and I will review the HD soon, still working out that one too.

Have you tried MUFE Mat Velvet? If you have dry skin, please let me know how it worked for you!