FENTY BEAUTY PRO FILT’R INSTANT RETOUCH CONCEALER | HIT OR MISS?

Fenty Beauty has been back on everyone’s radar recently with the launch of the Pro Filt'r Instant Retouch Concealer | £19! Today I wanted to share my thoughts on it but I also have a bit of a Take 2 on the foundation now I actually have the right shade (after very careful selection)...

- BACKGROUND & PACKAGING - 

Fenty famously launched in the second half of 2017 with 40 foundation shades. I know a lot of brands have jumped on the bandwagon of offering large numbers of shades, however many of them haven't got the gradient of how those shades are spread over the skin tone spectrum right or they've messed up the undertones. Fenty really invested the time and effort to create shades for near enough everyone, at a time when it wasn't the 'trend' to brag about how many shades you offer, and for that I think they deserve their place in beauty history.

The products are nicely mid-range - £19 for a concealer vs. £24 for a similar one from Too Faced and £22 for Tarte's (though this only has 8ml of product against the other two, which are 15ml and 10ml respectively, so I guess it's a case of 'swings and roundabouts') and £26 for the foundation, which is less than those from Nars and Estee Lauder. I personally really like the pastel with graffiti grunge of the external packaging and the concealer has the same frosted tube as the foundation. It has a doe foot applicator that's somewhere in-between the size of one you'd find on a lipgloss and the huge ones found on products like Tarte Shape Tape.

In the UK you can pick up Fenty from Harvey Nichols and I strongly suggest going to get matched in-store (we'll talk a little more about shade matching shortly!) In the US and other countries that have a Sephora; that's where you'll find Fenty.

- SHADE RANGE & MATCHING YOURSELF - 

The shades in the concealer correspond to the foundation shade numbers (there are also 50 shades) and are meant to be complementary tones as opposed to exact colour matches to the foundation. I actually found the concealer shades very confusing as some of the shades I expected to be deeper as I moved through the colours actually became lighter. I would go and swatch these yourself instead of relying on your foundation shade to guide your purchase. The concealer for my foundation match was suuuuuper peach when I swatched it - essentially like a corrector - and it was also definitely too dark so I bizarrely I had to go up several shades to get a skin tone match that was just a touch highlighting - for me this was Shade 310. Unlike the foundation, this doesn't dry darker than it looks when wet. It's still not perfect and can look a little ashy, but it's a lot better than my actual shade would have been based on my foundation colour!

- THE FORMULA - 

I actually really like this formula (spoiler) - it has a sort of mousse-like consistency, so although it's kind of glow-y, it isn't in an overtly dewy or 'wet'. This is pretty much perfect for my combination skin type, as it doesn't look dry or crepey under my eyes but it also doesn't crease. I do set it with a loose powder and it stays relatively crease-proof (the only concealer that doesn't crease at all on me is the Tarte Shape Tape) and I think it lasts really well throughout my normal work day. The consistency is really lovely and blends out like a dream (I use a damp sponge) - if I have one little gripe though, it's that I wish the applicator was a little larger. It isn't one of those products that will give that super flawless 'Instagram baddie' look, which I think will surprise some, however I don't think every concealer that gives good coverage has to be that full-on.

- MY VERDICT - 

I really love this as an everyday concealer. It gives me enough coverage to look nice and flawless but isn't super heavy-duty like some of the other concealers I use, so blends in really well to my tinted moisturiser (which is what I wear on a normal work day). It's a little more affordable and easier to get hold of than my usual Tarte, so I definitely see myself repurchasing this.

- FENTY FOUNDATION: TAKE 2 -

With great trepidation, I also picked up the Pro Filt'r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation | £26. You might remember I reviewed this way back when it was first released (here) but it was entirely the wrong shade! I actually have a different opinion of the foundation now and can assess the formula properly. I really wasn't convinced that 250 was going to be my correct shade, so the counter staff gave me a little sample to try in my own light and environment, and it turned out it's spot-on! As I mentioned; these shades definitely dry darker and a lot of the shades in the Medium and Tan range looked quite orange on me. 250 was described as warm but with peachy undertones, which I usually associate with a pinker based foundations that tend to look ashy on me, however it matches me well once it's set down.

A lot of people feel like this is super full-full coverage and it can be (obviously if you're squirting 4 pumps directly onto your BeautyBlender and go to town; it's going to look like you have a lot of makeup on!) however I love how build-able it is. You can definitely sheer this out to a medium coverage that's freckle-friendly and feels like not too much makeup on my face for an everyday product. However you can definitely build up the coverage too. I apply this with a damp sponge to give me a but more control over the coverage and I really press the product into the skin for a more natural look. It dries down relatively quickly, so I try to work fast when I'm blending it out.

It has a matte finish but doesn't suck my skin dry. As someone who's combination; I tend to suffer from an oily t-zone in the summer months then during winter, things can get quite dry. This does feel a little tighter on my skin than a hydrating base, however I can still make it work. When I use this foundation (as my skin is a little drier right now) I prep my skin with hydrating products like the Pixi Rose Ceramide Cream* (review) or Herbivore Pink Cloud Rosewater Moisture Cream (review coming soon) to moisturise, the First Aid Beauty Coconut Smoothie Primer (review) or Too Faced Hangover Primer (review) as a base for my makeup and then I set it with the Laura Geller Spackle Mist Restore with Coconut Water* (review coming soon). Doing this, I still get that shine-free finish (a tiny bit of glow creeps in by the afternoon, but not enough for me to feel any urgent need to powder) all day long. It doesn't go patchy or really settle into my fine lines, which I love.

Overall I'm so glad I gave this foundation another go! It's definitely going to be a firm favourite of mine for a long time to come.

Have you tried / will you be trying out the new concealer?

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Disclosure - products marked * were gifted to me as unpaid advertisement for the brands / websites mentioned. All opinions expressed are my own. Please read my disclosure page for more information.

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