Maybelline Dream Nude Airfoam Foundation > Reviews (6)

Ad power

This is one of those products which I have to admit was sold to me by the advertising. I like to think I’m immune to these things, but obviously not! And I like to think I have learnt my lesson (until the next time of course....)

Light and airy?

It is only recently that I’ve started to use foundation and I like to have very light coverage. I never use powder formulas as they just don’t work for me – instead I really like light liquid formulas, or even a mousse formula which I have recently found works best for me. However in the past the mousse formula foundations I have used have been creamy mousses presented in small jars – more like the texture of a mousse you may eat for desert! So the idea of a mousse foundation presented in a small can, which would be more like a hair mousse, was quite intriguing and I couldn’t resist trying it out.

The product comes in eight shades and costs £8.99 if you buy from Boots - although Maybelline cosmetics are Buy One Get Half Price in store at the time of writing - with which you would collect 24 Advantage Card points. It promises to be effortless to apply and give skin a flawless finish. It also has an SPF of 16 and has been allergy tested.

A moussy mess

I must admit my reservations about this product started as soon as I went to Boots and had a look at the testers. The foundation comes in a small canister, which is the perfect size to fit in your hand, and has a little button at the top that you press to dispense the mousse. Put it this way, it is very lucky that the branch of Boots I was in had tissues to hand on top of the cosmetic displays! It is impossible to control the amount of mousse that’s dispensed from these canisters, especially when you first use one and are not familiar with it, and needless to say I ended up covered in various shades of foamy brown mousse. This made it really difficult for me to check out the different shades as it is so tricky to just dispense a tiny amount of this – even after a bit of practice! So my hands ended up looking as though they had been involved in some sort of fake tanning disaster, and eventually I kind of gave up … but still intrigued to try out the product properly at home I did actually make my purchase, hoping that I’d picked out the right shade!

Try again...

So once I got this home I could try this out in the privacy of my own room and hopefully make a bit less of a mess. The Boots website gives the following instructions for application:

• Shake can well before use and remove cap. Hold can upright and press lightly to dispense a walnut sized amount of product onto back of hand.
  
• Take small dabs of product from hand.
  
• Apply to face one section at a time, blending with short circular motions.
  

So as instructed I give the canister a good shake, and dispense a small amount. As I’ve already said, it is really tricky to control the amount you dispense – if you’ve ever used any other mousse formula products that you dispense from a can, you will know that the mousse expands and you can end up with more than you bargained for.

This is also the case with this mousse so I push the button for the tiniest amount of time possible! I dispense the mousse into the palm of my hand and then, using the fingers of the other hand, apply this directly to my face.

A damp mousse

The texture of this product is a bit odd. Although it is a light fluffy mousse, once you apply it to your face it kind of dissolves on the skin but feels a little bit damp to the touch. It is reasonably easy to apply but you only have one hand free to pop it on while your other hand has the mousse in it! It does sink into the skin almost immediately but for me it is a bit too visible – I guess it is possible here that I’ve chosen the wrong shade, but it doesn’t give the light, subtle finish I had expected – it seems to sit on the skin more than the creamy mousse foundations I am more accustomed to. And, as I say, it leaves the skin feeling a little bit damp which I find quite unpleasant!

What is also a real pain with this product is if you just want a tiny extra bit to apply to the skin, to finish the application or have a little top up. With the best will in the world it is impossible to get just a drop of mousse out of this so if you want a little dot to touch up the skin or just finish your face, you can forget it! You will end up with more than you want as you simply can’t control what you dispense. While I find that generally one tiny squirt of this is enough, this is annoying if you just feel you need a tiny bit more – and of course every time you use this you are going to end up with a slightly different amount.

I do find the coverage I get from this product isn’t great. It just isn’t as light as I like and, as I say, it seems to sit on the skin. I feel more conscious of wearing this than other foundations and I also don’t like that it leaves my skin feeling a little bit wet after application – even if this is just for a few seconds I want it to absorb and sink in straight away as with other foundations I’ve used.

The verdict...

I really want to like this product – I like the idea of a light mousse that sinks into the skin leaving a flawless finish – but for me this just doesn’t deliver. It is too difficult to control the amount and the formula just isn’t quite right in my opinion. I have been back to it a few times, giving it benefit of the doubt and hoping I have a breakthrough with it but every time I'm left disappointed and during a recent clear-out of stuff I actually threw this in the bin. So that was almost a tenner wasted!

So overall I am obviously really unhappy with this product and can't recommend it to anyone really. There are better foundations out there so spend your money more wisely - and don't fall for the ads like I did!