Hello everyone! I am finally sitting down to write a review for the Mehron HD foundation, which has been around for quite some time, but shot to fame after Hrush used it on Kylie Jenner. This is the second cream foundation I have tried and it didn't take long for me to understand why one of my favourite bloggers, Oni (check out blog here) loves it so much. I had seen many beautiful photos of her makeup using this base and although I hadn't jumped at the chance to buy it, due to having enough bases, I decided to pick up the shade Euroasia Fair on the whim, to see if I would get on with it. Once I did, I realised I had to pick up a few more shades, for when I do the makeup of my family, so I now own 5 shades in total. One of the things that put me off a little from purchasing it beforehand was the difficulty with picking shades online. Whilst there are a few swatches, there aren't many, so I do hope this post will be helpful for those who are searching for theirs. I'm going to start with the review itself, then share the swatches and finally ending with how I ended up with four new shades instead of the typical two (and yes this involves a deal haha).
So starting with the packaging, this really is as basic as as it could get. Plastic container with a clear plastic lid. The shade name is written on the back and unfortunately after you've had it for a few months, it does seem to fade, so I plan to stick on some labels during some weekend I actually have the time for little jobs like that! One pot contains 25g of product, which according to google is equivalent to 25ml?? Whether thats true or not, I know you get a LOT of product in here.
Formula, Application and Finish
It is obviously a cream foundation, so its beautifully silky but I find that it can need some warming up beforehand. Personally I don't remove it from the packaging first with a spatula, I use my ring finger and literally warm up the surface for a few seconds before placing it directly on my face. If I am mixing shades I will usually mix two on the back of my hand and then apply it to my face - this works best. I have tried mixing them together by putting the lighter shade on my face first, then the darker shade on my face, proceeding to blend it all in with a brush or a sponge, but it doesn't quite photograph as flawlessly.
I tend to apply this with a damp beauty blender, however I have tried it with a buffing brush and a flat topped brush and it looks great. The formula is so blendable that it would work either way, if you want a fuller coverage buff it in with a brush and then lightly go over with a damp sponge. The finish of this foundation is a demi-matte in my opinion - AKA 'natural'. You can also manipulate the coverage, if you want a lighter coverage add less, if you want to build it up to medium/full apply another layer. I find that I can't apply more than two layers (after this it starts looking a little cakey), but as long as you've really blended it into the skin - which is easy enough to do, due to the silky creaminess, it looks great!
In terms of longevity, if I haven't applied a primer underneath (or SPF) and if I haven't set it with powder all over and/or a setting spray the wear time I get is about 7 hours. Within around 4 hours it'll start to get a little shiny in my T-Zone. So because of this, I do gently set it in place with a loose powder - usually my NARS Soft Velvet Loose Powder in Beach, using that famous buffing technique. This keeps shine at bay. I then spritz my skin with the MUFE Setting Spray or the Pixi Makeup setting mist. I find that both of these do a good job in prolonging the wear.
Now the main reason I love this foundation for special occasions and evenings out is the fact that it really is a HD base. Which means it photographs beautifully with flash! So the reason I decided to purchase a few more shades was because I knew it would be the perfect for those times I am doing other's makeup and they'll be having their photographs taken. There is nothing as annoying as flashback when it comes to makeup and photography, so to get a foundation for less than a tenner, which doesn't flashback and looks GORGEOUS I cannot complain!
Oh and I should add here that as the packaging is very basic, and with most cream foundations its not the most sanitary, I do spritz this with surgical spirit at the moment. However I am going to be purchasing some isopropyl alcohol instead and using that to clean the surface, which is really important.
I purchased my first shade from a U.S site, but I've noticed that this one is a little stiffer than my newer four and for some reason the text which says HD Celebre pro is brighter yellow too. I'm not sure if this is because it was part of an older batch 🤔 Anyway I decided to pick up some more shades from a reliable seller on ebay, called stagedoor makeup, the link is here. They have a great deal on where you can pick up 4 shades for the price of £29.99 or one shade for £8.50 each. So you save a bit of money and I thought I might as well get a couple of shades as I wasn't sure which would be the best - online makeup shopping is tough! At the moment a couple of their shades are out of stock, but it's worth checking out what they have anyways and maybe coming back in a week or two to see if they have restocked them.
Now on to the shades themselves, as you can see I have swatched them with both natural lighting and flash. My mum kindly lent me her arm because the shades show up much clearer on her (plus she isn't having horrible skin issues like myself 😞).
Light 3 - I picked this up purely as a lightening shade and it works well for that. It is ever so slightly on the yellow side and is VERY light! I couldn't ever wear this alone but I'm glad I have it as it's been useful so far and if I ever do my auntie's makeup, she is a lot fairer than me so this'll be useful then.
Light Olive - A gorgeous yellow toned shade, I sometimes use this to highlight my face (I do still mix some of euroasia fair though!). I haven't seen this online at all, so I'm guessing this is part of their new shade range, its a great one if you have an olive skintone ofc and you're looking for a lighter shade.
Medium 3 - Regret picking this shade up! You can probably see its more on the pink side, and for that reason I just don't use it at all. Hopefully one day I can put it to use when doing someone's makeup, I don't even know. But yah if you're olive skintoned I'd recommend avoiding this.
Euroasia Fair - my closest match. It's very close to NARS Stromboli and although when I first applied it I thought it looked a little on the dark side, once I had applied my Kevyn Aucoin SSE, my face was all balanced out. Plus you can see that with flash they all lighten a little, so it's best to go for a shade thats a smidgen darker anyways. When I use this shade alone and then take flash photos, it looks the BEST! So if you're around my skintone (check my about me for shade references) definitely go for this shade. They have two other 'euroasia shades' but neither seemed close to my skintone.
Medium Dark 1 - This is the only darker shade I picked up and I really like it for mixing when I'm doing mum's makeup. I also like to use this as a bronzer shade too, it blends effortlessly and adds the perfect amount of definition ^_^ I'd recommend this is you need a darker colour to mix in with and I think its a good shade to have if you're looking for a bit of a mix!
Round Up:
Rating: 9/10
Pros: A very affordable HD foundation which is fantastic to have if you're a beginner MUA on a budget and need a base that will work well under harsh lights. It applies easily (and even if it needs warming up, still goes on quite well). Both a brush and a damp sponge will work with the application and it blends into the skin super easily. There are a wide range of shades available and all skintones are covered. The coverage is very manipulatable too which makes it super versatile. Plus you can get it on sale through stagedoor makeup and save yourself a few pennies! The fact that you can get four different shades for the price of a normal highend foundation, is pretty awesome, so if you ARE having trouble sourcing out your shade then definitely take advantage of that deal here.
Cons: This base does need some setting, my skin is normal/oily and I find that it looks quite shiny after a few hours if I don't take the time to do that. Shade matching can be difficult and as its only really available online, if you're not wanting to purchase a few shades you might have a bit of a challenge.
Overall: This is my go-to special occasion base now! I don't wear it for everyday purposes as I prefer something lighter in coverage, or just concealer since my skin is doing quite well right now. I think this is a must have base for those of you who are looking for a good foundation to wear now and again, its super affordable and photographs like a dream.
Repurchase: YES!
Have you tried the Mehron HD foundation?
P.S For my SC and IG followers, I got over 75 screenshots for those hijabs I shared yesterday which is a RECORD for me! HERE IS THE LINK, they cost £28.00 for 10 hijabs and to order the colours, you leave the colour number in the note to seller box (if you scroll down, you can see the colours clearly and each hijab is numbered). I've only had them for a day so can't really comment on the quality, but first impressions are that they're super soft and comfy and they aren't over-priced at all!
Thank-you for reading ♥
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