If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve probably come across one of my many rants regarding the lack of reasonably priced foundations for darker skin tones currently on the market and how women of darker skin always have to fork out more money to get anything within our shade. I’m always on the lookout to see whether brands extend their shades when new releases are put out, and so when I was kindly asked to review the new extension shades from Vichy’s Dermablend range, I gladly accepted!

A bit about the Dermablend foundation:

The foundation contains a high concentration of ‘high coverage pigments’ and is said to provide coverage for up to 16 hours without the mask-like effect. The foundation is said to be blendable and great for those who prefer high coverage, as it contains 30% of pigment concentration which helps correct uneven skin, redness and blemishes. The foundation has an SPF of 35 with the exception of the two darker shades which I’ll be reviewing today, which have an SPF of 25 instead. The two shades I was sent were ‘Coffee‘ (65) and ‘Espresso‘ (75). For reference, I have combination skin, normally wear a medium to light coverage, and am an NC50 MAC foundation shade. and use a beauty blender to apply foundation. On this instance however, I followed the instructions and used my fingers to apply. Also, I have used Coffee on one side of my face and Espresso on the other half as a comparison.


Colour & Texture
As you can see above, there is a huge difference between the two colours. Upon seeing the colours before using, I kinda had a feeling that Coffee would probably be a tad too light, but I thought I’d still apply it so you guys could get a rough idea of the colour. Coffee is a warm, caramel toned colour that I think would be ideal for people with red undertones. Now while I also have red undertones, as you can obviously tell, the shade is far too light on me and almost comes off as a bit ash-toned. Espresso is slightly darker and has quite cool undertones, but seems to be the closest match to my skin. In terms of texture, I found the application with my hands a bit messy? I don’t normally use my hands so that may have been the problem. The foundation is pretty thick and I found it quite hard to blend as the solution dried to an almost powder finish. Once on my face, I could really sense the weight of the foundation and it was a bit uneven on the areas where it had dried before I could  blend.  

In this instance, I decided to have another go with the foundation, Espresso in particular, and mixed the formula with another of my foundations to see if the consistency and colour would make it any better (please excuse the silly face!)

As you can see above, by adding just a tiny bit of foundation to Espresso, the foundation is much easier to blend and is also a tad warmer. I used a damp beauty blender this time which I think was the main reason for it coming out a lot smoother this time round!
Longevity
I wore the foundation at home for the whole day and found that it started to wear off around 11/11:30pm. Considering I applied it at 9am the same day, I’d say it’s lasted pretty well.
Final thoughts
While both shades were a bit too light for me in the long run, I commend Vichy for extending their foundation line to incorporate the darker tones and I can only hope that they extend even further, along with other brands. While I found the consistency and texture far too heavy for me, I eventually managed to make it work by combining it with a lighter foundation and would recommend the foundation to those who prefer a heavier coverage. I’ve found that the foundation works best when using a damp beauty blender as opposed to the fingers and tend to wear this (Espresso) if I’m going “out” out, and want a bit more coverage.
Vichy Dermablend Correction foundation | £12.00 | Escentual