Firstly, I have to admit I’ve never liked Rimmel products. I
don’t mind their nail polishes or
lipsticks but among my everyday essentials not one Rimmel product makes an appearance.
But, being the (rather skint student) sheep that I am, I couldn’t ignore all
the hype over the new(ish) Wake Me Up foundation so decided to see what all the
fuss is about. This is all despite the fact that just about a month ago I
remember laughing with my friend about the very same foundation and making
Edward Cullen jokes due to its sparkly properties. Well, I’m running out of Studio
Fix, so times have changed.
I picked this up for £8.99 from Boots. At the moment its on
a 3 for 2 deal, but I honestly couldn’t see any other two products I’d want to
buy. I think I’m finally realising I shouldn’t just spend money for the sake of
it! (Maybe). The packaging is quite nice, in a nice glass bottle with a
disposable pump (yay for hygienic, practical cosmetic storage solutions! I’m
looking at you, Mac Comsetics).
There are only six shades available, which is ridiculous, a
bit presumptuous, and eliminates a huge amount of potential customers. I know the average high street brand can’t have
enough variation to supply a perfect match to everyone, but if L’oreal True Match is available in 20
shades then surely Rimmel branching out to, say, 10 shades shouldn’t be too
much difficulty? I picked up the lightest shade available- Ivory- and hoped for
the best (I'm NC15 in Studio Fix).
The stereotypical blogger swatch test:
As you can see it has pretty good coverage, not quite as
heavy as Studio Fix but significantly better than most high street foundations
I’ve tried before. The ‘sparkle’ in the foundation, which looks ridiculously
scary and glittery in the bottle, isn’t as apparent on the flesh (thank
goodness!). It covers up my blue veins without much difficulty.
Excusing the rather dour look I’ve got on my face, this is
the foundation in action in direct daylight. I’m not wearing any primer
underneath, or any powder or blush on top, and the pictures haven’t been edited
to give an accurate portrayal of how it looks.
Close-up, with and without flash:
As you can see, the flash does bring out a slight shimmer to
the foundation, but it’s in no way the disco-ball effect I had been slightly
apprehensive about. I think a touch of powder will probably eliminate it
substantially for a more matte effect.
Overall I think its a foundation deserving of all the fuss. For me, it doesn't beat my favorite- Studio Fox- for a couple of reasons. The first is obviously the lack of shades. Whilst 'Ivory' isn't a noticeably bad match for my skintone, its not excellent either. It also gives me a slight 'mask' effect, and although some blusher should sort that out, I wouldn't exactly reach for this if I was going for a 'natural' type of look. However, it gives good coverage, smells lovely, and the shimmer genuinely does make me look more awake.
For a daytime foundation, I would definitely recommend it.
xxx
by 
