Maybelline | SuperStay Full Coverage Powder Foundation: Review and Swatches

Disclaimer: The products featured were provided for review.

New from Maybelline comes a 12-shade powder foundation promising an unparalleled coverage and up to 16 hours of flawless wear. Packed with color-matching pigments, the SuperStay Full Coverage Powder Foundation ($14.99 CAD for 6 g) seems to tick all my boxes as I have oily, acne-prone skin that benefits from a matte, high-coverage, and long-wearing formulation. So how well does it actually work? Read my review and see some before and after swatches to find out......

Maybelline | SuperStay Full Coverage Powder Foundation

Packaging:
The Maybelline SuperStay Full Coverage Powder Foundation comes in a round white compact made with plastic. The lid is clear so you can easily see the shade inside. The compact is two-tiered to accommodate a mirror and a sponge applicator for touch-ups on the go. There's nothing fancy but everything is sturdy and well-made considering the $15 price tag.

Maybelline | SuperStay Full Coverage Powder Foundation

Formulation:
With a very rich and creamy texture, the SuperStay Full Coverage Powder Foundation is packed to the brim with pigments, providing an impressive coverage that will camouflage not only subtle discoloration but also large areas of acne and blemishes. However, despite the lovely texture, the powder looks very cakey, settling into pores, creasing around fine lines, clinging onto dry patches, and basically emphasizing every little textural imperfection that I wasn't even aware of. Initially, I paired this with the Dior Backstage Face & Body Foundation (a recent favorite reviewed here) and figured that maybe the powder just didn't jive with the liquid foundation. So I tried using it over my usual YSL All Hours Concealer and Touche Eclat combination and the same thing happened, indicating that it's really the powder that's the culprit.

Maybelline | SuperStay Full Coverage Powder Foundation

In the swatches below, I applied the SuperStay Full Coverage Powder Foundation over bare, moisturized skin and as you can see, there's still significant cakiness. The formulation is simply not blurring or smoothing; instead of gliding nicely on the skin, the pigments cling onto any imperfection and magnify them ten-fold. I've also experimented with applying using a brush versus applying with the included sponge applicator and neither made a difference. In terms of wear, the powder performed just okay. The matte finish delayed shine for a couple of hours but the coverage started to fade once sebum began to seep through.

Maybelline | SuperStay Full Coverage Powder Foundation in "110 Porcelain", "110 Natural Ivory" & "120 Classic Ivory"

The range is available in 12 shades, which is quite impressive for a powder foundation. There's a decent selection of very pale and very dark shades. "110 Porcelain" is a very pale ivory with a slight yellow undertone, "112 Natural Ivory" is a very pale ivory with a subtle pink undertone, and "120 Classic Ivory" is a light ivory with a neutral undertone. I have below a before and after comparison of the shade "112 Natural Ivory", which admittedly is way too pale for me. However, it still very well demonstrates the impressive coverage but disappointing finish.

Maybelline | SuperStay Full Coverage Powder Foundation in "110 Natural Ivory"

Overall, this is a big miss for me. I love powder foundations and since Maybelline's Dream Wonder Powder (reviewed here) was a long-time favorite of mine, I had high expectations. Despite the high coverage and creamy formulation, the SuperStay Full Coverage Powder Foundation emphasized pores, fine lines, and dry patches, resulting in an unforgiving finish that simply won't work for most skin types.

Availability: 
Maybelline is available at London Drugs, Shoppers Drug Mart, Pharmasave, Walmart, and other drugstores nationwide.