Revolution Matte Base Foundation (F1) Review | My New Favorite?!
Hey, pretty people!
If you have already taken a look at my previous makeup posts, you probably have figured out that Makeup Revolution (or simply Revolution) is among my absolute favorite brands out there.
They are known for pumping out new products at almost an extreme pace, and recently they have been all about base. From foundations, to concealers, to powders.
Coming from an oily-skin point of view, I was really interested in their Matte Base Foundation. I mean, the promise of a pore-blurring and full-coverage is enough to wrap most people up, right?
This foundation is one of the best deals you’ll find on the Revolution Beauty website, but is it actually any good?
Let’s find out!
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GENERAL SPECIFICS
- 5£ | 7$ | 5.99€
- Net Wt. 0.95 fl. Oz. (28 ml)
- 24 shades total
- 12 months shelf life
- Cruelty-free
- Vegan
- (Medium to) Full coverage
- Matte finish
- Lightweight
- Oil-free
You can find the full list of ingredients at revolutionbeauty.com.
PACKAGING
I personally feel like this packaging is kind of like two sides of the same coin.
On one hand, it’s very practical and easy to carry around. On the other hand, though, it gives off kind of a cheap-feeling vibe.
When it comes to size, the product is actually handy and extremely travel friendly. If you plan to hit the road a lot, you’ll most definitely appreciate how compact this little guy is.
MORE AESTHETICALLY
Moving on to the more aesthetic part, there is actually a few things one might say about this foundation. 
The matte rose gold base is actually pretty soft, melting into a color that could almost be mistaken for a beige; not only the black writings pop way more, but also the glossy gold inserts furtherly enrich the general aesthetic of the product.
SMALL DETAILS
One detail I was able to appreciate is the little square insert on the front that sort of allows you to see how the shade you picked actually looks like.
Another thing that I feel brings the quality of the overall product a little higher is the ‘R’ engraved on the black cap. It’s probably a small and irrelevant detail, but I am glad that the Revolution team keeps stepping things up a bit.
OVERALL
Overall, I have mixed feelings about this packaging – as I said at the beginning. I think that it’s very practical and in line with the price point, but also gives off a kind of cheap-vibe.
FORMULA, APPLICATION AND PERFORMANCE
The Matte Base foundation promises not only a matte texture, but also a pore-blurring and full coverage finish. These claims are quite ambitious for such a low price point; so, how much of it is true?
THE FULL COVERAGE ASPECT
Since this product claims to be full coverage, I decided to start with a smaller amount and see how much I would need for a perfect base.
Picking up a little bit of formula with my fingers, I patted it around my face; a couple of dots on my forehead, a couple on my cheeks and about one on my nose and chin. Blending the product out with my damped beauty sponge (I am currently using the Real Technique ‘Miracle Face + Body‘ sponge, the biggest one they have) did not mess with the matte finish at all; I am pretty pleased about that!
THE DRY DOWN ASPECT
I did notice, however, that this foundation sort of dries down if you don’t blend it quickly enough. It doesn’t dry down completely though. You can still manage to work with it to create a seamless base, but the best thing you could do is act as quickly as you can.
In terms of coverage, I am definitely impressed by this foundation. I have to be honest and admit that I did not expect much out of this product, especially when it comes to coverage. I wouldn’t label it as a proper full coverage base, but it definitely is a medium to full coverage buildable formula.
THE FINISH
The finish of this foundation is a proper matte one; not silky, not semi-matte: a proper, true matte finish. Much like with the coverage, I was positively impressed by the finish of this product. I sure did not expect it to be this opaque, and I am fairly pleased by this detail.
PERFORMANCE
Now that we’ve got the general application and finish out of the way, it’s time to talk a little bit about performance.
Right off the bat, I could see that the foundation melted perfectly with my skin, not sitting on top of it but creating a perfect skin-like canvas to work with. Before continuing on, however, I may need to point a little something out.
The ‘pore-blurring’ element of this foundation is definitely present, although not overwhealming. It does help a considerable amount when it comes to smoothing out pores, but it will work even better with a pore-blurring primer.
FOUNDATION + CONCEALER
Continuing on, I wanted to see how this Matte Base would team up with a concealer that isn’t exactly similar in formulation. ‘Conceal & Define’ is usually my go-to, but I wanted to try something different and pair it up with a much different concealer. Hence why I picked ‘Fast Base’.
Surprisingly, the two melted together perfectly. The spots where I placed and blended out the concealer were not only pleasantly highlighted, but also offered a nice silky (almost dewy, but not quite) finish.
FOUNDATION + POWDER
Another detail I noticed is that this foundation doesn’t need immidiate setting to work perfectly. It won’t crease right away, so you do have a little time to smooth rough edges up.
To set the base in place, I used the RCMA ‘No-Colour Powder’, which is a loose setting powder, and Mario Badescu’s ‘Facial Spray with Aloe, Chamomile and Lavender’, which isn’t really a proper makeup setting spray but I like to live dangerously. When I spritzed the mist and called it a day on my look, it was 9:20 am.
I have combination to oily skin, with an actively oily T-zone – particularly my nose – and the remaining oily point of my face are my cheeks (the area closer to my nose) and my chin. Compared to my nose, however, these two take a little more time to get oily throughout the day. My nose is definitely the most challenging, followed by my forehead, chin and cheeks.
LONG LASTING?
The general look and application went on smoothly for about 6 hours. Around 3:45 pm I started noticing the sides of my nose getting oily. You couldn’t really tell even from a close distance, but a closer and thourough inspection definitely gave it away quickly.
I wasn’t really bugged about it, 6 hours without re-touches is a pretty good result in my book – especially considering how oily my nose is!
MORE SPECIFICALLY
My nose became visibly oily about an hour later, when the makeup had been on for roughly 7 hours and a half. At this point, you could really tell my nose was straight up oily and not just highlighted.
30 minutes later, my forehead and my cheeks also started to get oily; the center of my forehead was kind of visibly so, but my cheeks looked pretty normal still.
After almost 11 hours, when I finally decided to take the makeup off, I inspected my face closely one last time. I noticed that my foundation had started to disrupt in the area around my nose. It was fading gracefully, I’ll give you that, but it was starting to become noticeable.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Ok, I know this one has been way too long.
All in all, would I recommend the Matte Base by Revolution? Without question!
If you have a combination to oily skin type, this is going to be your new holy grail. I believe it would work nice for a normal to dry skin type as well, since it’s not an overwhealmingly dry foundation, but I would recommend a proper priming and moisturizing routine beforehand.
This foundation has truly been an amazing surprise for me. From performance to finish, I think I couldn’t find a better deal on the Revolution website at the moment.
PERFORMANCE
The matte finish claim couldn’t be more on point, even when paired with a setting spray that leans more towards the dewy side. The Mario Badescu Facial Mist is my go-to for powder accidents and dewy skin, and for this foundation to mantain its matte finish anyway it’s kind of amazing!
When it comes to performance, I feel like that’s when the product actually shines the most. I always test my foundations without re-touching it to see how well it works, and I was beyond impressed with the resiliance of this one. You have to admit, more than 6 hours without a breakthrough of oil is pretty impressive!
DOWNSIDE
One thing I don’t exactly ‘appreciate’ about the Matte Base is the application method. The only thing you can do is squeeze the desired amount out of the bottle either on your hand or directly on your face. I find this process not only to be a little impractical, but could also make it hard to pick up the perfect amount for your base.
Application methods aside, I find this product to be absolutely incredible – especially for its price point!