I’ve used many products from the L’Oreal range over the years, ranging from face make-up (i.e. lipstick, mascara, blusher, etc), to face and body moisturisers, self-tan products and hair-care products, and I have to say that the majority of the time I’ve been fairly pleased with my purchase. So, when I saw the very lovely Penelope Cruz advertising L’Oreal’s newest addition to its range – True Match Minerals Powdered Foundation – I thought I’d give it a try.

The following week during my lunch break at work I trundled into my local Boots store believing I’d be able to pick one of these up no bother at all. Not a chance! Yes, there was a large sign by the L’Oreal counter telling me all about the range, and what it would do for my complexion, but on the shelf where the product was meant to be, all there was, was a fairly bare shelf with the remnants of tester pots. I asked an assistant, and was told that stocks had run dry but they were ‘expecting a delivery ‘the following Monday’. Not much good to me, so, with about ten minutes left of my lunch break I wandered further up the high street to the nearest Superdrug. Once again, the same scene met my eyes. The large sign, the bare shelf and the powdered remains of half used tester bottles.

My hunt for the elusive True Match Mineral Powder Foundation went on for some time over the following weeks, and I was unable to locate any at all (I even checked my local Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury) all to no avail. Then FINALLY, back at my original haunt (my local Boots), I managed to find a pot in the colour I wanted. Apparently it normally retails for £13.99, but Boots had it on ‘offer’ for £9.99. I was informed by the Sales Assistant that the powder foundation has proved to be extremely popular, and due to it’s also being on offer, sales have surpassed all expectations. I hastily made my purchase, and feeling very please with myself I hurried off.

Before I tell you about how I found this product, perhaps I should explain what it looks like. The powder foundation comes in fairly small (10g) plastic pot, about two and a half inches high and an inch and a half wide. It has a transparent plastic lid, which you remove to reveal a small brush (which looks a lot like a shaving brush that my granddad used to use) with fairly soft bristles about half an inch in depth. Once you remove the plastic lid, you then have to screw off the bristle brush, which is attached to a silver coloured base. You are then left with the third part (i.e. the little pot of powder). Once you remove the sticky paper which prevents the powder from falling out, you then have to re-attach the bristle brush to its base and turn the pot upside down gently (without shaking, otherwise you are left with an awful mess), so that the powder falls into the brush. The idea is that you then have to (very gently) put the brush into the pot sifter and then shake off the excess powder before applying to your face with gentle circular motions.

The instructions for this stuff state that it is meant to be lightweight and allows the air to flow around my skin! I don’t know what they are talking about here, but it clearly isn’t this stuff. It looked like I was caked in stage make-up. I’d decided that if this was the lightest colour I could have applied, then goodness knows what I’d have looked like if I’d decided to buy a darker shade. My daughter came upstairs at this point, and once she saw me she was hysterical. The tears rolled down her face and she asked me what on earth was doing. I showed her the bottle and she agreed with me that the shade looked like the right one in the pot, but said I must have gone wrong somewhere with the application.

Any way. I applied to powder to my daughter’s face as instructed, working my way from the inside to the outside. Once again, from the first touch of the brush, it was very clear that the make up was clinging for dear life to large patches of her skin, i.e. nose and chin and looked incredibly unnatural. Added to this, was the fact that while I was applying it to my daughter, I still had the stuff on my face, and it was making my eyes water like crazy. I know I do have eyes which can be sensitive to certain brands of make up, but as I was very careful before I bought this to check that it is meant to be “all natural, oil and fragrance-free and non-comedogenic”, I thought I’d be pretty much okay. No such luck! My eyes started to smart and then stream with tears very quickly.

I don’t really think I can say anything positive about this product at all. I genuinely bought it believing the hype – i.e. that it would give me a matt and flawless complexion. It didn’t! It was extremely disappointing and a big let down. I’m £9.99 worse off and it’s since been binned! I can’t think that I went wrong anywhere with the application and when I tried the tester bottle on the back of my hand in the shop beforehand it looked lovely and appeared to look as though it would be a good colour match for my skin tone.