Revlon PhotoReady Insta Filter Foundation

The Revlon PhotoReady ColorStay Foundation is such a classic within the beauty community and it’s been a foundation I’ve used for at least ten years and I can even remember trying it for the first time. I had gone on a weekend away to Milton Keynes and forgot my foundation so I had to find one in the Tesco before my night out and I just bought the Revlon PhotoReady without even knowing if it was any good as beauty reviews online weren’t really a thing back them but it turned out to be one of my best beauty buys to date as I’ve loved it ever since. Revlon have just launched a brand new foundation within their PhotoReady collection; the Revlon PhotoReady Insta Filter Foundation, and I couldn’t wait to try it.

“Get selfie ready with our new flawless-finish foundation with built-in blender so you have a perfected makeup look anytime, anywhere. Our Innovative formula works with your skin type to even and smooth skin tone to leave you fresh-faced with a natural finish.

• Medium, buildable coverage
• All day wear
• High-Definition Filter technology captures and transforms any light to blur and soften flaws -leaving the perfect app filtered look.“

The Revlon PhotoReady Insta Filter Foundation is available in twelve shades and is £12.99 for 27ml of product. I can’t recall ever seeing a foundation with a sponge attached before, although Maybelline did do a foundation version of their Age Rewind Concealer. This foundation has an angled beige sponge attached which I believe you can’t remove to clean, and to use the foundation you have to twist the black portion on the base, and the foundation begins to seep through the hole in the centre of the sponge.

I am a real germaphobe so the idea of a sponge applicator which you can actually wash doesn’t appeal to me. I have discovered that you can tip the foundation upside down and it will drip onto your Beauty Blender or brush should you wish to avoid using the built in blender like myself, although I did try it with the sponge for the purpose of the review.

Have you ever used one of those sponge marker pens? That’s exactly what the sponge feels like to me, and I don’t like how firm it is against the skin especially when applying foundation around the eyes as it does tug at the skin, and you obviously can’t dampen it to soften or enlarge the sponge either.

From the shades on offer I chose 130 Porcelain as it looked to be the palest shade, but it’s much too dark for me sadly but I’ve never found a shade from Revlon which I can use straight from the bottle without using lightening drops. Porcelain is a very warm toned shade which is a shame as porcelain shades tend to lean a lot cooler, but it’s very orange on me and the built in blender makes it difficult to mix it with lightening drops as you obviously can’t add them to the blender.

The only way to do is to tip it upside down to tip the foundation out of the tube onto a mixing palette or the back of your hand, and then add lightening drops and apply it with your chosen foundation application method. Another issue I’ve found is oxidisation as the shade deepens quite considerably once applied to the skin.

Another issue I’ve found sadly is the lack of coverage as it’s very sheer and it doesn’t wear very well either as it faded within only a couple of hours. I know the purpose of this foundation is to create a natural finish but it just doesn’t work for me which is such a massive shame, especially when the ColorStay foundation is amazing.

I really wish I could but sadly I cannot recommend the Revlon PhotoReady Insta Filter Foundation. The lack of shades isn’t great, the built in blender is a breeding ground for germs, the foundation oxidises and it lasts for four hours max which I think is poor for £12.99 foundation, I have however had a much better experience with the Revlon PhotoReady Perfecting Primer…

The Revlon PhotoReady Perfecting Primer isn’t a new product, but it’s said to work well with the new Revlon PhotoReady Insta Filter Foundation. I’ve seen the Revlon PhotoReady Perfecting Primer on Revlon makeup stands but I’ve never been tempted as I felt like £12.99 was quite pricey for a drugstore primer. The primer is designed to prime and smooth the skin to create the perfect canvas, whilst reducing the appearance of pores and fines lines.

I’ve never heard anyone talk about this primer but I really, really like it. It has a pale pink colour with a lotion consistency but it’s a silicone based primer with silicone being the very first ingredient, but it’s the silicone which works so effectively at diffusing the skin and reducing the appearance of pores and fines lines as shown in the photo above. I would recommend trying this primer as it’s one of the best blurring primers I’ve tried from the drugstore but for foundation, I couldn’t recommend the Revlon PhotoReady Insta Filter Foundation unfortunately.

Have you ever tried or been tempted by the Revlon PhotoReady Insta Filter Foundation? I’d love to know your thoughts?

All products featured on Gemma Etc. are PR samples or gifted items, unless otherwise indicated. This post may contain affiliate links. If you wish to find out more, please see my Disclaimer within my navigation bar.