I have some sad news for makeup junkies around Ireland - particularly those of us who are super pale. You may remember Beaut.ie writers' enduring and universal love for Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation. It's a dead ringer for YSL Le Teint Touche Éclat Foundation (which is beyond glorious), and has always been available in a fantastic pale shade - Light Porcelain - which set it apart from other budget bases who usually exclude us paler people.
Until now. That sad reality of this makeup buff's life has happened - my favourite ever budget foundation has been reformulated, and my favourite shade - Light Porcelain - will not be widely available in Ireland. It will be available in Boots and Superdrug stores, but not from your local pharmacy or supermarket.
The new formulation is absolutely excellent, so that's good. It has the same rich, moist formulation with slightly more coverage and a higher SPF, so don't worry - if you have a deeper skin tone, your shade match will still be there.
Here's my issue though - there are only seven shades available widely in Ireland, and they are all very much yellow-based. I don't like the idea of a foundation that lends itself to your skin tone - it might do that within half a shade, but a dark, yellow-based foundation will never work on a pale, pink-toned skin.
Left: Orginal Formula Lightest Shade (Light Porcelain) v New Formula Lightest Shade available in stockists excluding Boots / Superdrug (Ivory)As you can see, the shade on the right is much deeper and yellower - here they are swatched:
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Right: Top - Light Porcelain, Bottom - IvoryThe Pale shade (top right) disappears into my skin, showing that it's a perfect match. As you can guess, there's no way that the bottom shade could ever possibly 'adapt' to my skin tone - it is, for someone pale like me, unwearable.
I've championed this foundation for years (because I genuinely believe that it is fantastic), but now I can't obtain it from Irish stockists (Boots and Superdrug are stocked from the UK). Affordable brands focus toward the middle of the market to make money, so the lightest and deepest skins are frequently overlooked. Even though the formulation is as good as ever, I think this is a sad loss for pale Irish skin. We don't all fit into a spectrum of seven dark, yellow-based shades. It's a pity that the most classically Irish shade of all now has such limited availability.
The new formulation hit counters on Monday and costs €10.29.
Are you a fan of Rimmel Match Perfection? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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This is an edited version of the article published earlier today, to take into consideration that even though the new formulation will not be available from Irish stockists, you can find it in stores stocked from the UK.
