Let me guess that if you were to see the words “lasts 24 hours” on a beauty product, especially makeup, you’d be rolling your eyes so hard, I’ll need to smack the back of your head with a clipboard to get your eyes right-side up again.

Okay, maybe not in such a violent way, but you know what I mean. 😛

When the new L’Oreal Infallible 24H liquid and powder foundations landed on my desk for review, I won’t deny that there was quite a lot of eye-rolling at the “24 hour hold, 24 hour comfort” claim. Seriously, who actually wears foundation for that long? Unless you fell asleep with your makeup on and expect it to still look like new when you wake up, you’ll be calling B.S. on the claims.

Still, when I see a claim like that, you know that I’d want to bust those claims. Juvenile? Maybe. But surely you would want to do it too!

While I’m obviously highly sceptical about 24 hour hold claim, I discovered something quite surprising about the foundations. I actually like them! Twenty four hour hold hogwash aside, these are pretty darn good makeup.

Infallible 24H Stay Fresh Foundation

Straight up, aces to the packaging, L’Oreal. All foundations should come with an easy-to-use pump and this one delivered. The shade I’m currently using is #140 Golden Beige (with warm yellow undertones) and it suits my skintone to a T. It dispenses a thick and creamy, er, cream but when you blend it on your skin, it feels very light.

The coverage is good for this one. I got at least a medium coverage and if I add more thin layers of foundation, it gives me almost full coverage without it feeling thick and heavy on my skin. The finish is quite matte but it doesn’t exacerbate the fine lines on my skin. What I really like about it is how good it makes my skin look after a few hours. This is the sort of foundation that looks even better after a number of hours. My skin no longer looks matte but quite satin without looking shiny.

Longevity-wise, it’s pretty good too. I’ve had it on for well over 10 hours without experiencing any fading. Of course, I didn’t test this out for the full 24 hours (I won’t go to sleep in my makeup and you can’t make me! 😛 ) but I’m at least able to use this for a good number of hours without it falling off my skin. I didn’t experience any skin issues with this foundation.

Infallible 24H Powder Foundation

It’s been many, many years since I’ve used powder foundation. Back in the day, I favoured powder foundation as my skin was quite oily. Even though I still have an oily T-zone, the rest of my cheeks are pretty normal and sometimes dehydrated. Liquid base makeup is my weapon of choice now. Still, I was keen on trying this out as powder foundation just to see how it fares on my skin.

Sadly, it didn’t work very well when used as foundation (i.e. I don’t have any liquid foundation on my skin prior to applying this). I used the enclosed sponge to apply the powder foundation. The coverage was mediocre and I found that the powder sunk into the fine lines. It makes my enlarged pores more apparent. It also makes my skin look chalky.

However, when this isn’t used as powder foundation but as setting powder, then it’s a whole different ball game altogether. The powder is incredibly fine-milled and is of the quality you see in luxury brand makeup. I half-expected the powder to be chalky and a tad gritty to the touch even but it was quite the contrary. I use a large fluffy brush on this as setting powder and it works a real treat. As it isn’t a translucent powder, it does give a tiny bit of coverage even when used with a fluffy brush.

So, 24 hours hold? Most likely not. On the other hand, the liquid foundation itself is good and if the powder foundation is used as a setting powder, then it’s even better. Colour me impressed.

Oh, and I’m nitpicking here of course, but did you notice that the liquid foundation spelled infallible with 2 Ls but the powder foundation with just 1 L? I don’t know if it’s meant to be a typo or if they’re going for the Spanish spelling. Either way, the inconsistency of spelling for both products does get on my tits. 😛

L’Oreal’s Infallible 24H Stay Fresh Foundation retails at AU$31.95 for 30ml. The powder foundation retails at AU$29.95. These are available at major pharmacies and supermarkets nationally.

Have you tried any of these foundations before? What do you think? Yay or nay? What do you think about the mystery of the missing L?

Disclaimer: These products were provided for editorial consideration.