Milani Conceal and Perfect Foundation – Oily Skin Review

MIlani Conceal and Perfect Foundation on Oily Skin

Probably one the most hyped up drugstore foundations I’d ever heard about was from Milani. I watched review after review of the Conceal + Perfect foundation all with just about a perfect score. When I found the Milani Conceal and Perfect Foundation last year in the middle of London I was surprised (we can’t get Milani here in shops) and I haphazardly picked up a bottle in any shade in a shop with dodgy lighting and when I got it home I realised it was way too dark, and it’s only been over the past 2 months or so that I’ve actually been able to start using it.

MIlani’s colour range for this was notoriously dark and they’ve since added a wider selection of colours to the spectrum, at the time of buying this, it was the their lightest shade and at the moment I’m around a 25-30 in MAC shades, 003 – Light Beige it ain’t. Described as Medium – Full Coverage, Oil Free and Lightweight, Water Resistant, Long-wearing and Sweat Proof, I’ve just finished up my favourite Kat Von D Foundation and decided to get straight onto using this whilst the colour match was actually workable, I do have to blend it down my neck to get a good match all the way down, but I’m determined to use every drop of this possible whist the colour is good enough to work with.

I’m the kind of skin tone which can be either a pink or yellow undertone – I’m pretty neutral and using either is usually pretty do-able for me. This for a beige foundation is very yellow toned, you can see on the image below you’ve got my natural skin tone, next to a heavy swipe of foundation, next to a block of foundation that’s been blended out fully and it looks very yellow.

It’s been about three weeks now since this has become my day to day foundation and I’ve had opportunity to really put it to the test with my skin only improving over the past few weeks, and it’s been tested from the heatwave over the bank holiday in August to the rain whilst I was away over the weekend. It’s seen all weathers and couldn’t have had a more varied test in a three week period if I’d tried.

Coming out of the bottle Milani Conceal and Perfect Foundation is a pretty thin cream consistency, one thing I really like about this is that the pump squeezes out quite a small amount of product at once, on the image below that’s three pumps at once, meaning you’re really able to control how much product you want to use rather than being bombarded with too much. I find three pumps enough for one layer, but always do a minimum of two on the skin. In general I do quite like the foundation’s packaging and feel like it looks quite sleek with quality packaging for a budget friendly foundation.

So let’s start with it’s claims, first off being coverage – I’d agree with it’s claims about being medium coverage, but even with layering I struggle to get this to full, it does as promise feel really light on the skin and I can’t feel that I’m wearing this at all. Application of choice is definitely a sponge as the finish is quite natural, but with a demo-matte finish that I don’t think would be so matte that it would scare normal-dry skins away.

In terms of being water resistant, I thought “ha – yeah alright, if you say so”, but over the weekend we went away (pictures to come) and ended up on a misty moor where it began to drizzle quite heavily, when we got back to the car I looked at my face in the mirror to inspect just how terrible I looked, and was surprised to see the water was just sitting on top of my foundation and it hadn’t budged a bit (it had been around 2 hours since I put it on). In terms of sweat proof, I’d say it’s sweat proof in terms of if you had a jog to the bus and you’re as unfit as I am then yes, it’s not going to move – but if you’re talking about full workout then this doesn’t fully stay put. I wore this on the beach over the hot bank holiday weekend whilst we walked the dogs for an hour or two and it didn’t hold up well.

With regards to it being 2 in 1 is where it falls down – the picture below is three light layers of foundation, without concealer and you can see I still have some redness in my cheeks that hasn’t been completely masked and I’m not somebody who has bright red cheeks who would expect to have some flushness peeking through. Day to day, I do have to use a concealer in addition to this, both under the eye as I find it really settles into my underage and for extra coverage elsewhere.

My final problem with this is longevity – at least in the case of my skin this just doesn’t wear through the day well at all. It has long wear promises and it just doesn’t work as well as I expected it should. For me it’s too much effort, I could live with the idea of putting on two-three layers of foundation if I was going to get all day wear, but seeing this wear off some time early to mid afternoon is only a disappointment to me. By the time I’m home from work (around 10 hours), this is no where to be seen on my skin (although it does stay on my neck), following up with a micellar soaked pad shows there’s barely any product on my skin left and I have no idea where it goes, is my oily but dehydrated skin consuming it? It sure seems like it.

I will say however if you’re a normal skin type (and possibly dry, as this doesn’t feel drying at all), then this will probably work a lot better for you, my skin just seems to break this down to their being almost zero trace of it always surprises me in the mirror in the bathroom on an afternoon. I was hoping to find a good alternative to my Kat Von D foundation in this, and whilst I will use it up (which probably won’t take me that long with the amount of pumps and layers I’m having to do) it’s not one I’ll be repurchasing.

If you are interested in buying it and are wondering where you can find it in the UK, then it’s available on the Beauty Bay.

Have you tried this Milani Conceal and Perfect Foundation?

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Helpless Whilst Drying

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32 Comments

  1. September 21, 2017 / 6:32 am

    I currently own this as well, for this kind of finish I wasn’t expecting it to give me undereye creases yet it does! I can’t wait to finish it and get back to my HG foundation.

  2. King_Lici_Mua
    September 21, 2017 / 6:09 am

    great review I’ve really been wanting to try this one out

  3. September 21, 2017 / 7:31 am

    Shame to hear this didn’t quite live up to all of it’s claims. The waterproof factor is good to have, I wish more foundations were like that. It’s good the pump doesn’t distribute too much or too little and you can control how much product will come out. It sounds like my skin would like this as it’s pretty dry but they probably wouldn’t have a shade light enough!

    • September 21, 2017 / 12:46 pm

      I know there’s some really pale shades of this available now so I would of thought there should be a shade that matches!
      I think that this is definitely a foundation for dry-normal skin who likes a semi matte finish xx

      • September 21, 2017 / 9:16 pm

        Maybe I will look into it and Google swatches 🙂

  4. September 21, 2017 / 7:59 am

    I have this as well and was so excited to try it out. I have combo skin and like you this just didn’t last ☚ī¸ It looked beautiful on initial application and if I was only wearing it for a few hours then great, but my work day is about 12 hrs and this just doesn’t cut it!

    • September 21, 2017 / 12:45 pm

      My thoughts are exactly the same! if I wear three layers for a meal out in the evening or something then it looks lovely – long wear though, nope!

  5. September 21, 2017 / 1:06 pm

    I really want to try this out! I have oily-combo skin and was just wondering how the foundation held up on your nose? did it break up etc

    • September 21, 2017 / 2:53 pm

      I don’t normally get too many problems on my nose, normally foundation holds up there pretty well – my t-zone is the worst spot and that was the first place to go with this one. It’s hard to get coverage build up on my oiliest areas I found xx

  6. Sophie in Wonderland xo
    September 21, 2017 / 3:09 pm

    It’s a shame that it didn’t live up to expectations. “If you’re jogging for the bus and you’re unfit” made me laugh! Xxx

  7. September 21, 2017 / 4:25 pm

    I have combo skin and I tried this out and thought it was great until it broke me out! Kind of upset about that, it is a great product though and the coverage was pretty medium to full

  8. September 21, 2017 / 6:42 pm

    Honestly I can never decide how I feel about this. I do love how it sits on my skin, and honestly for me it is very full coverage strangely. My issue is how oily it gets so quickly! My skin literally looks wet after a few hours, but I still reach for it quite a bit. Really loved reading your review xx

  9. The girl in green scarf
    September 21, 2017 / 7:38 pm

    I just gave a review on my instagram regarding a foundation I know how it really feels. In search of better foundation

  10. September 21, 2017 / 9:17 pm

    I want to try this. It’s been on my list for awhile.

  11. September 21, 2017 / 9:47 pm

    Thank you for such a good review. I loved it. I won’t buy it till they come with more shades even 00 is to dark for me 😂😂. I have dry skin so maybe it will perform better on my skin. Still it looks fab in that packaging for sure

    • September 21, 2017 / 9:56 pm

      They now have some shades 00 was the lightest and they now have 00a etc which are all lighter than the original palest 🙂
      Definitely think it would be better for dry skin!

      • September 21, 2017 / 10:50 pm

        Thank you for report. I will check it for sure 🙂 ❤ī¸

  12. September 22, 2017 / 1:46 am

    I find the Wet and Wild foundation offers better coverage and lasts longer, and lately I’ve been mixing it with the Milani and it lasts on my oily skin better. Great post though! I agree it doesn’t last super long on my skin either

  13. September 22, 2017 / 2:41 am

    Too bad this one wasn’t a winner for you entirely! I picked one of these up but haven’t tried it yet.

    http://www.xxojess.com

  14. September 22, 2017 / 8:52 pm

    Okay can I just say I love your photos and styling! Beautiful post!

  15. luxblush
    September 22, 2017 / 9:37 pm

    This seems like a really great foundation, especially as I have dry skin! Great review xx

    Hannah | luxuryblush

  16. September 24, 2017 / 2:54 pm

    I’ve been curious about this one but I think the coverage is TOO much for what I prefer. I’m not surprised that it doesn’t live up to the 2in1 claims – I’d still use a separate concealer myself. Also, I wasn’t sure if any of the colours would match me well – the risk of drugstore foundations!

    • September 25, 2017 / 9:29 am

      Yeah me neither, they shouldn’t say it if it’s not going to live up to it though – definitely had other products that are closer to being a 2 in 1 than what this one is! Definitely one to see in person and find the colour, the line runs so, so dark!

  17. September 24, 2017 / 6:48 pm

    This is the darkest running foundation range I’ve ever tried. I’ve got 001 and its darker than my fake tan colour!
    Such a shame it doesn’t work on your skin though, I really like it on my very normal skin!

    .xo

  18. October 2, 2017 / 8:12 pm

    Thank you for this review, I had seen this in stores and was thinking about trying it.

  19. Sydney
    May 15, 2020 / 8:40 pm

    I have oily skin and I tried this product but it kept breaking up and sliding off my face. If you have oily skin and want a matte finish, I recommend using tarte amazonian clay foundation.

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