Women often wear many hats in our lives, and we’re sure you can empathise. Whether you’re a student, a homemaker, a career woman, a pursuer of your dreams, or everything in between, you know what it means to multi-task.
With so much to do and so little time for ourselves, we tend to cut corners with our makeup, which leads to the dreaded comment, “Why do you look so tired today?”
We found a foundation that claims to make that a thing of the past. The Lancome Ultra Wear Foundation is finally in Singapore and boasts a range of 16 shades! The foundation is said to be able to “last all day long”, and give up to 24 hours of “optimal comfort and impeccable matte complexion”.
A foundation that only needs to be applied once to give us that flawless look for the rest of the day without touch-ups? Yes, please! We put the Lancome foundation to the test by getting three busy women to wear it for an entire work day – one of them even wore it for 24 hours on end!
Three busy women tried the foundation
Juliet, magazine editor
As editor of a beauty magazine, you can probably already imagine how busy Juliet’s life must be. She wears the Lancome Ultra Wear Foundation in the shade 025.
Juliet heads the editorial, video production, and marketing teams at Daily Vanity. On top of that, she also juggles managing a household, church commitments, and social outings with friends.
Kavya, videographer and photographer
Kavya is one of the video masterminds here at Daily Vanity, and her work involves video production, editing, and everything in between. She wears the Lancome Ultra Wear Foundation in the shade 055.
Kavya works the daily grind that we’re all familiar: 9am to 6pm in an air-conditioned office (sitting right underneath the air conditioner also doesn’t help her dry skin). During work, she constantly has to oversee video shoots, set up the studio, and handle all kinds of heavy cameras and equipment. Her after-work hours are filled with social activities, whether it’s going for a movie or getting dinner with friends.
Faizah, supermom
Faizah is a freelance beauty contributor to Daily Vanity, but on top of that, she’s also a supermom. Because her husband works overseas, she has to take care of her two young children, aged 3 and 6, by herself most of the time. She wears the Lancome Ultra Wear Foundation in the shade 035.
As might be expected, her usual routine involves sending her children to school early in the morning, before coming back home to do some cooking. After picking her children up in the afternoon, Faizah splits her time between minding her children, grocery shopping, settling household bills, and cooking dinner. She even manages to sneak in some exercise time, take online classes, and, of course, contribute to Daily Vanity.
We made Juliet wear it for 24 hours straight
In order to really check out how a foundation can hold up to busy lives, we had to ask one of the busiest women in our office to test it out for 24 hours straight as the foundation proclaims. Check out Juliet’s review below!
Juliet’s review
My work day can get rather hectic. If I wanted my makeup to look pristine from morning to night, I would usually have to do about two touch-ups in the day. I volunteered to try the Lancome Teint Idole Ultra Wear 24H Foundation because I’ve heard a lot of rave reviews for it. The foundation is finally available in Singapore and I wanted to see if it could really stay intact for 24 hours like what its name suggests.
8AM
I start my makeup routine to prepare for work and usually set aside 30 minutes for it. The foundation is the most important part of the routine for me – we all know that we need great foundation as a canvas for the rest of our makeup, and a good foundation makes us look “awake” and ready to take on the rest of the day.
It was my first time trying the Lancome Teint Idole Ultra Wear 24H Foundation and, for a matte foundation, I was surprised by how effortless it was to blend in the product. More importantly, its easy application allowed me to save almost 10 minutes in my makeup routine. I found that it evened out my skin tone beautifully and made my skin look matte but not flat.
10.45AM
Mornings typically pass by quickly for me. I spend it picking up from where I left off the previous day and making sure I set the right rhythm for the rest of my work day. Most of my mornings are usually spent responding to emails and following up with associates and PR professionals for any story I may be working on. I checked my makeup quickly at this point and it looked as fresh as when I’ve first applied it.
12.20PM
I headed out for lunch with my team mates. There’s little shelter and the scorching sun always gets to us. We head back from lunch at about 1.30pm, and I could feel my face heating up and beads of perspiration appearing on my forehead and around my nose area.
Back at my desk, I dabbed off the perspiration with a tissue and noticed that minimal foundation had come off. The sweltering walk back and fro didn’t leave my foundation looking greasy too – I’m impressed! In fact, my skin only looked healthier and more hydrated.
4.30PM
Afternoons are sometimes spent catching up with my team to get updates from them. I would usually need a touch-up by 3pm if I don’t want to look greasy and tired (even if I felt so). I’m glad that my makeup still looked put together and I actually looked fresh and energetic, and I felt like I could still go on without a touch-up.
6.30PM
I knocked off earlier than usual because it was a Friday. The day had been busy but a very productive one – exactly what I hope to achieve on any work day. I checked out my makeup before I drove off for dinner. I could tell that the coverage wasn’t as great as when I first applied it, but it didn’t look like it was calling out for a touch-up. My complexion still look even and there was no visible caking.
Date night! My husband asked me if I had been stepping up on my skincare routine because my skin looked good. Well, I didn’t. It could be the Lancome Ultra Wear Foundation that was giving me a nice glow, but I wasn’t about to let up my “secret”. So, I said, “Yes, I’m glad you noticed.”
11.10PM
I had a shower but avoided cleansing off my makeup for the sake of this 24-hour test. I have to be honest, it felt weird. My skin was beginning to feel a little greasy, but it wasn’t as uncomfortable as I thought it would have been.
That was actually quite a feat for the foundation, considering it had been more than 15 hours since I had applied the foundation. I noticed some caking on my forehead but it was easy to dab off to make it look good again. I spent the next 30 minutes reading, before calling it a day and turned in.
8AM
Rise and shine! I actually forgot that I was wearing makeup when I woke up. When I did, I quickly checked my pillow to see if I left any foundation stains on it – zilch, thank goodness! After 24 hours of wear, my makeup actually still looked presentable! In fact, the foundation managed to help hold my blush on and it was still very visible in the morning.
I used makeup remover to swipe along my chin and jawline and a lot of foundation came off – a sign that the Teint Idole Ultra Wear 24H Foundation had managed to stay on after 24 hours. While there was no way I was ever going to wear my makeup for 24 hours again, the fact that the makeup stayed on for so long was impressive.
This will now be the foundation that I’d reach out for, especially on busy days. I save a lot of time with it: quick application, no need for touch-up, and more importantly, it gives me confidence that my foundation was going to hold up and make me look good, no matter what I may be busy with.
We test-drove it with our busy lives
Kavya
As a photographer, videographer, and video editor all rolled into one, you can bet that Kavya does some heavy lifting (in more ways than one) at work. She barely has time for makeup in the mornings, so a quick foundation that would last all day is the holy grail she needs.
“I loved how this matte foundation was smoother and more moisturising than what I’ve tried before,” says Kavya. “I have very dry skin, so I tend to have problems with other matte foundations when they highlight the dry patches on my face really quickly. With Lancome’s, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there wasn’t any flakiness, and my skin didn’t feel tight either.”
Kavya usually uses foundations with matte finishes, but the finish of Lancome’s was something new to her. “This one was a matte finish foundation, which is like what I usually use, except that I noticed that it still gave me a hydrated, healthy look despite the matte-ness. I loved it!
“Another thing that impressed me a lot about this foundation is that it had the perfect shade for my skin tone! I usually have to mix foundations to get something close to my skintone, but I was really glad to find that I had a perfect choice within the Lancome range.”
But the crux of the Lancome Ultra Wear Foundation is, surely, its long-lasting wear. What did Kavya think about this? “Despite spending 8 hours under some intense air-conditioning, I was happy to see that the foundation did a great job keeping my skin dryness at bay. With no touch-ups at all, my foundation stayed flawless and lightweight throughout my entire day, which lasted 15 to 16 hours.”
What are Kavya’s final thoughts on the foundation? “I prefer low-maintenance makeup because I just don’t want to bother too much about touching up throughout the day, and the Lancome Ultra Wear Foundation definitely hit the spot for me on that score. I also stay out till very late quite often, so the longevity of the Lancome foundation works super well for me because of how effortless it is.”
Faizah
Faizah is a full-time supermom. Her husband works overseas, so she has to do the housekeeping, manage the bills, and take care of her two young children, aged 3 and 6. As you might imagine, she doesn’t have a lot of time to spare on any given day, so a foundation which she could easily apply and not have to think about for the rest of the day would be a life saver for her.
“The foundation glides on the skin easily and blends well with my skin. It is not streaky and even using just fingers, I managed to get one side of my cheeks covered in a short time. The foundation sets quickly too and it truly feels lightweight, almost like nothing on my skin.”
Freshly applied makeup
Because Faizah has to send her kids to school in the morning, she has to keep her makeup routine as simple and fuss-free as possible, but still keep her face looking bright and awake for the rest of the day. “The coverage of the foundation was good, my skin looked smooth and even, and my pores appeared smaller. Extra points for not exaggerating the dry patches on my face or the eczema. I’m quite impressed!”
Having to make your way around with two children in tow is, we’re sure, a feat that nobody is underestimating. “The foundation survives a walk to the MRT in the Singapore heat and back home again. It still feels pretty light on my skin!” says Faizah.
Faizah proceeds to spend the rest of her day cooking, spending time with her children, and “other moms-y things”, like checking on their homework and playing games with them. The foundation is on her face for about 8 hours, with minimal touch-ups and blotting. So how does Faizah feel about the foundation now that she’s test-driven it for a day?
“Overall, it does live up to most of its promises! What impressed me the most about the foundation was how it worked with my sensitive skin, and also managed to cover up my blemishes and pores – checking those off the list is a big win in my book!”
How did the Lancome foundation change her life? “I don’t typically like to use foundation every day because of how it makes my skin feel heavy, and I don’t have time for that. The ultra lightweight texture of this one really changed my mind about foundations. I was able to go out with a fresh face of foundation without feeling overly made up, as I barely noticed it on my skin!”
You can be flawless all day too!
The Lancome Ultra Wear Foundation retails for SGD68 at all Lancome counters and Sephora.
But here’s how you can try it out for yourself, free of charge:
This article is brought to you by Lancome.
