I Bought This, Affiliate Links, Informational Link
Per usual, I fell for another ad on Facebook. And per usual, I read it too quickly to get all the details. Il Makiage, a brand I like, was running an ad on FB that I thought was offering free samples of their new-ish medium to full-coverage but lightweight foundation, Woke Up Like This. I was surprised when I saw that they were offering a full size bottle of the stuff in exchange for $5 for shipping. Obviously, I missed out on some key details, lol.
The ad asked the reader to take their survey online and get color matched. They have 50 different shades of foundation. I took the quiz. If you want to try it, here’s the link. I can’t remember most of the questions, but I had to choose several times from among a few photos of women with different skin tones which best matched my skin tone. My match was #35, Light with Pink Undertones.
About a week later, I received a full size 30 ml glass pump bottle of Woke Up Like This foundation.
They also included a “mystery gift”, a full size black liquid eyeliner called Inkliner, that I tried out that is priced at $23. I thought I would have to return since I don’t wear black liquid liner ‘coz it’s too dark and harsh on me, and I already have a million of them. But I discovered that the mystery gift is free to keep or give away. (Why do I always try out liquid liners when I know I won’t use it?)
It turns out the deal is:
- the products are yours to try for 14 days, starting from the day they were delivered
- if you don’t love it, go to the website to print out a return label and send the returns back to Il Makiage
- at the end of 14 days, your credit card will be charged for whatever you don’t return.
What I have discovered since receiving the foundation with mystery gift that you can do this, Try Before You Buy program, with all of their products.
I’ve been wearing the Woke Up Like This liquid foundation every day since I received it. I’d say the shade, 35, is a tad more golden than I might ordinarily select, but it is a good match.
It matches my neck, chest and wrist slightly better than my face that is pinker. Though many foundation brands say to match foundation to your neck, Il Makiage says “don’t match to your neck or wrist (they’re a different tone than your face)”. Although #35 looks to me like it has neutral undertones, it is listed in the category, Light Pink Undertones and it is the shade in the middle of the pack of three shades. The lighter shade #10 would definitely be too light for me and #55 the darker one would be much too dark. I guess this is indeed my match! And it makes me think that some of my foundations are too light for me. So I guess the quiz worked!
The videos show women with flawed skin applying Woke Up Like This and magically covering their imperfections. I would say that this buildable, matte formula does a good job of covering flaws with repeated application for full coverage. I have two areas of dark spots on the left side of my face that require 3 or 4 dabs to cover. The rest of my face is covered in one or two applications that is medium coverage.
For me, the best way to apply Woke Up Like This is to use the densely packed foundation brush that I received with a Doll 10 Beauty purchase a few months ago.
The instructions say to apply with a brush or blending sponge, not fingers. It’s quite easy to apply with the Doll 10 Beauty brush. I tried applying it with a faux Artis-style foundation brush that I use with other foundations, and I wasn’t happy with it for this foundation.
Just so I give you all the info, I apply foundation over my favorite primer for the past couple of years, Tatcha Liquid Silk Canvas Primer.
Woke Up Like This foundation is unbelievably lightweight. Honestly, it feels like wearing nothing. I love that about it.
I hadn’t been wearing foundation very often during the past year, and when I have, I wore Glo Beauty’s stick foundation that I like a lot. Going back to liquid was a change, but again the lightweight formula makes it painless.
I guess this foundation has been around for a while because there are about 350,000 reviews on their website where the average review is 4.5 stars out of 5.
The 30 ml bottle of Il Makiage Woke Up Like This foundation is priced at $45, not cheap but pretty standard for a high end brand. Though I hadn’t been planning on buying new foundation, I’m not sorry I did this. What I will change up next time I wear it, however, is either not applying in to my eye area or using primer around my eyes (I didn’t use it in this photo) where the foundation makes my skin look wrinkly.
What a lovely finish, and I think that the color looks lovely on you! Nice discovery, Allison!
Lola+Seicento recently posted…VISEART Petit Pro Paris Étoile Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatches
Thank you so much!
I’m so glad you reviewed this foundation. I had been receiving so many emails from the company to try their product but never wanted to give it a shot. I’m super fussy about foundations and just figured it was just another foundation that was no different than the rest. You have me curious now.
Diana, I would say that what makes Il Makiage Foundation somewhat different is that their matching quiz actually works (I would never have bought foundation online without trying it first, but this time it worked!) and the fact that even if I apply it to full coverage, it is light as a feather on my skin. I’m gullible as you may have figured out, and I didn’t realize I was buying this foundation, but now I guess I am because I do like it. However, if I didn’t need foundation, I don’t know that I would have bought it right this minute. I don’t know if that helps or not. I really do like this foundation, but I wish I had used up the ones I have at home first 😉
Hi! You do an excellent review, so complete with all the details needed. This looks beautiful on you. I get their emails too. They have me in #10 after the quiz because I am quite fair/cool. The return policy is nice, in case that’s too light. I may go for this deal too! Thanks!
Thank you, Valerie!! Number 10 looks beautiful. I would definitely classify 10 as fair. I think that the foundation is worth $45 because the coverage is so flexible and it is almost imperceptible on my skin. I wish, however, you could choose your own “mystery gift” (I guess then it wouldn’t be a mystery, lol), because I would have chosen something else instead of the black liquid liner! LMK if you do give it a go and how you like it xoxo
I think it looks so good on you! A flawless looking finish. The price point is what stops me from pulling the trigger on this one.
Lynne, thank you! And I completely know what you mean about the price point. Honestly, I didn’t read the promo carefully on Facebook when I pulled the trigger on this. I thought somehow I was miraculously getting a decent size sample of this foundation for $5. At $45, I probably wouldn’t have bought it either. The “mystery gift” that I didn’t realize I was getting was a nice touch, but it turns out I don’t use black liquid liner anymore so it didn’t mitigate the high price. Nevertheless, since I received the full size bottle, it’s an excellent match for my skin, and I love how lightweight it is as well as the coverage, I will swallow hard and keep it. I looked to see if it could be purchased elsewhere where there might be a coupon or a sale, but the brand doesn’t seem to be at Sephora any longer, and it wasn’t at any of the usual suspects like Dermstore, Lovelyskin, Lookfantastic etc. either.
I remember Il Makiage from way back when Allure adored the brand. Wayne Bandy was always recommending it. I don’t think it was ever at Sephora. I love the color and finish of this on you. If you wear it and enjoy it then it’s worth the money, Typically brands charge in the mid 30’s making this in line with them.
Marcia recently posted…Try Before You Buy Il Makiage Foundation
Il Makiage is now owned by Israelis. I had no idea that it had been around since 1972. I believe you are right that it never was at Sephora. It had been owned by a company that believed in digital-only retail. I guess Il Makiage Woke Up Like This Foundation is priced just about the same as Charlotte Tilbury.
I heard so much about this foundation and it’s super popular on IG. Thank you for your review, Allison! I love seeing it in-use by someone I know! That share really matches you well and I can’t believe how well it evened out the skin tone! I think with all full coverage foundations it make sense to go lightly around the eye area because they tend to settle in fine lines.
Glamorable recently posted…My Favorite Fall Supplements for Immune Support from NOW Foods + Giveaway!
The best part about the Il Makiage foundation is that it is buildable to cover everything, but it is so lightweight, it’s imperceptible on!
It looks great on you! Do you know what happens to the products that get returned?
Michelle+|+con+limón,+please recently posted…DIY Guirnalda de San Valentín biodegradable
Michelle, I am guessing that Il Makiage cleans, sterilizes and reuses the glass bottle and throws away the used foundation
Helpful review!
Thanks, Pat!
My coloring is very similar to yours. I’ll look into this!
Il Makiage is a really nice makeup brand. I think their try before you buy idea is a good one and you get an extra freebie that’s always good 🙂