Milani Conceal + Perfect, 2-in-1 Foundation + Concealer

February 10, 2019

Milani is well known now as that drugstore brand that you can get amazingly performing products at an affordable price. I have personally had immense success from their blushes, highlighters and eye shadows. As such, I had high expectations for their foundation.

It runs in 29 shades, but with a lot of brands they miss a bunch of undertones and make huge jumps between shades, especially when looking at the darker range. Despite this, for a drugstore brand, 29 shades is quite an accomplishment. In saying that, I did find that what was seemingly my shade ended up having a very yellow undertone (I naturally have pink to neutral undertones), and many reviews on Milani’s website mentioned the same issues. In fact, 14 shades were described as warm undertones, with 12 being specifically yellow based.

At a $9.99 USD price point, of course a company will take cuts somewhere. For Milani’s Conceal + Perfect, 2-in-1 Foundation + Concealer this shortcut is in the packaging, and honestly this isn’t much of a concern. The main bottle is made of plastic and feels cheap (well, it is). However the design of the bottle itself is very nice, slim and simple with a luxurious font and black pigmented gradient into the opaque bottom half revealing the shade of the foundation. Essentially it’s nice to look at. Despite the plastic, I wouldn’t consider it travel-friendly. I did have a problem with the cap as it didn’t lock on properly and was very easy to knock off, so make sure to secure properly before placing in your bag.

By far my favourite foundation applicators are pumps. They are more hygienic and easier to dispense the right amount of product for use. Incredibly useful = happy me. Now, how does it apply? Milani’s Conceal + Perfect, 2-in-1 Foundation + Concealer is a thick and creamy formula, which for me was a little concerning. I love cream formulas, but thick ones can cling badly to dry patches. I usually don’t struggle with dry skin, but I get patches after I’ve been sick, and this was the case as I was testing this foundation out. It did cling badly and it was a struggle to mask it. As such, I wouldn’t recommend this for people who suffer with dry skin. Blending-wise, I am impressed. It didn’t set on the face quickly, allowing for build-ability, and a small amount of product goes a long way. The smell is a little intrusive, with a semi-alcoholic note to it. Once it dried down it wasn’t a problem, but it was a bit of a surprise when dispensing the product.

Pros

High, buildable coverage
Blend
Applicator/ Pump dispenser
Creamy consistency

Cons

Transfers
Oxidizers
Not travel friendly
Jumps in shade range
Lack of undertone variety
Not useful as a concealer
Breaks up after 4-5 hours

This is a build-able full coverage foundation, which is wonderful for me because I have a stupid number of freckles on my face (to the point I used to be called “Speckles” by my friend’s parents as a kid), and contrary to the current trend I do not think they’re cute (sorry, not sorry). My biggest beef with Milani’s Conceal + Perfect, 2-in-1 Foundation + Concealer is that it doesn’t really live up to the name. On Milani’s website they state that it “combat[s] under eye circles, redness and other skin imperfections…”. Now I do agree that it evens out redness very well, as it covered the small breakout I had. But I do have under-eye tiredness problems and will forever look like a walking zombie until the sleeping gods bless me with the knowledge of my perfect sleeping time. Despite saying it’s also a concealer, Milani failed to cover up my obvious tired under-eye area.

Perfect for :

Buildable high coverage
Yellow undertones
Short events

I will say that the foundation is super pigmented on first application and covered red problem areas with ease. It’s a matte finish so it doesn’t look very natural and isn’t hydrating, which makes it a little cakey. At around the 5-hour mark I started seeing blaring issues. The foundation had oxidized a little and was now definitely not my shade or undertone. Due to the consistency and its 2-in-1 formula, the foundation stuck to pores and fine lines and creased badly. I also noticed breakage on the face all around my T-zone, which began to spread further down the face despite setting with a powder. Unless you plan to wear this for a short outing, I wouldn’t recommend it. Matte foundations should perform better and last a lot longer than this one.