Product Review : Clinique Repairwear SPF 15 Foundation

June 12, 2009

I wasn’t planning on buying foundation but I got overheated with the excitement of finding this color and formulation. And I’m still on a Winter Self-Discovery kick. And I had an afternoon alone. So what, you might say. Or, you might say, “3 hours?! In a row??” . I myself fit into the latter category.

I went to Sears to buy another tube of Estee Lauder Zero-Smudge mascara because my daughter appropriated mine. And I had a gift card, you see. So I wandered over to Clinique because they make some good, and more affordable, stuff and they had a GWP.

Their gifts are pretty good and free has a certain appeal that I’m certain you can understand, especially if you have teenagers. I wish they’d put some new lip products in those gifts. The ol’ Different Grape (this is a widely wearable color?), Apple Cider ( less wearable than A Different Grape), and Raspberry Glace (kind of boring), they’ve seen their day. I guess that among Clinique lipsticks, I really like the Butter Shine best, but I can see how not everyone would because it’s so creamy. I do like the choice of gifts, the various glosses, and how they’ve done a warm and cool option.

Clinique has a PWP offer right now of Summer Pinks or Summer Bronzes.

Clinique PWP Bronzes Summer 2009.

Clinique Summer Pinks PWP Summer 2009.

I’m always drawn to foundation. It fascinates me for some reason. There’s a sticky spot in my head for all those nuances of beige. My own skin issues are,

-lines under eyes,

- a lot of pigment discolorations on sides of face,

-large pores on nose,

but the skin is pretty smooth in the sense of not-bumpy.

Foundation these days is astounding in the number of finishes available and even the more complete coverage products look and feel pretty good. So I started looking for a foundation with heavier coverage that might still look believable with a face full, and would allow for less coverage in some places and much more in others. Although we all need a darker skin-tone concealer (for imperfections on the skin) along with the lighter one (for shadows), I feel unlikely to begin mixing 2 concealers to arrive at my perfect shades. Even if I did, I don’t have time to dot concealer on a hundred little spots. What if foundation alone could cover well enough to hide those pigment spots?

Decades ago, foundation used to be too pink. Eventually, I think makeup artists convinced cosmetic companies that skin is actually more yellow than it is pink. Now, I wonder if a lot of products are too yellow. The salespeople tell you that they make it that way to diminish redness. Well, ok, but you’re not supposed to see the yellow tones. Your skin becomes a different color than your ears. I see skin as kind of grayish, but maybe that’s because mine is. I freely admit that I have no experience matching foundation to anybody but myself. Does anyone remember Club Monaco makeup? Monica Lewinsky wore it, just to date it for you. Those were neutral foundation colors.

I found Repairwear in Fair Neutral 03 and Neutral 05. Micaela, the very nice Clinique saleswoman who has worked at our counter for years and knows me to be weird, contesting, and hard-to-please but does a great job of pretending I’m a normal client, gave me a sample. I’m thrilled to see they’re taking a page from the MAC book and doing this now; must have all been at the same staff meeting. You should get a sample too. It’s very hard to get a sense of this foundation, or any foundation, at the store. Like mascara, it can only be tested in your own bathroom.

What happened was this. I tried it on, just the smallest bit, as Micaela advised. She said clients who buy it love it and don’t buy another bottle for ages. Your initial impression is “No way, this is too masky”. But once it’s all spread out, after about 10 seconds, dayam, it looks good. It feels a little bit heavy if you get too much on, but your skin seems rather perfect. Maybe a little too perfect, but I can get with the drama easily. This is not the formulation to begin with if you’re leery of the artificiality of foundation.

Pick a Saturday when you have a lot of time. Apply it as you usually do your foundation. Realize immediately the coverage is more dense than you expected and the only way to make it look real is by wiping it off which will make your skin red and uneven. Rinse it all off instead. Wait 10 minutes.

Begin again. Use ¼ your usual amount of foundation. 1 pump of the bottle is about right for your face. Apply it on the side of your hand and from there, put little dots all over your face and start blending them together. You have lots of time to work it around. The sunscreen in it doesn’t sting so it can go on eyelids and at the inside corners of eyes.

Take a little more off your hand and dab it, or stipple with your foundation brush, over pigment irregularities. It covers very well without looking cakey. If you have larger pores, drive the foundation brush into them end-on, with a little more foundation, and they’ll go away. Only the thinnest coverage goes under the eyes, as with any foundation, mostly just to blend away the concealer lines.

It is supposed to dry matte, and it does an ok job of it. You will need powder. I don’t need more touchups during the day than I normally would. I think the product looks a little “tired” at the end of the day, after a couple of powder re-applications. If I were going out at night, I’d wash it off and reapply. Luckily, I have no night life besides chauffering to soccer games so … if it ain’t my problem, … it ain’t a problem!

I start with Clinique’s All About Eyes concealer in Light Neutral, fabulous in its own right, and paint it in the usual places, the darker shadows. I don’t even blend it in, just paint it on with a lipstick brush. Wait 2 minutes and it will dry looking like Indian paint. The foundation brush will blend it for you but don’t smear. Keep your foundation brush strokes feathery, light, and quick. You want the concealer to stay where you put it.

Don’t buy makeup without visiting Paula Begoun’s group at Beautypedia. You’ll get another opinion and a better sense of what’s in this product than I can give you. You’ll learn whether it deserves Clinique’s “anti-aging”, or even better “de-aging”, label.

Unbelievable someone could have so much to say about foundation.

Posted by Christine Scaman | Filed Under Makeup

Comments

4 Responses to “Product Review : Clinique Repairwear SPF 15 Foundation”

jaycee on June 12th, 2009 1:58 pm

Since you were out buying the Estee Lauder mascara does that mean you prefer it to the Clinique Lash Power product? Im waiting to hear before I get either one!! txs for the tips.
Cathy on June 13th, 2009 10:31 am

Hi Christine, I too love and obsess about foundation. Can’t tell you how many I’ve tried. Right now I have Clarins for summer because I have very oily skin, and I bought Chanel which I love the texture but the colour is not quite right but their powder is wonderful. I wish I could find the Shiseido 40 spf foundation to try. I also got a sample of MAC Studio Sculpt because of the review you did awhile ago and I loved that too. Is the Clinique foundation better than the MAC one as that was going to be my next full bottle purchase. I do like the full coverage foundations. I also have gotten samples of the Georgio Armani foundation because Paula always recommends it as the best foundation if you can afford it. Even though the sales girls say it’s for all skin types, it really is not for oily skin as I shine in under half an hour but the texture is gorgeous. Also, how does the Estee Lauder Zero-Smudge mascara go on? Right now I am using Christian Dior Iconic mascara and it goes on great but it does leave me with some black under my eyes after awhile as does all drug store mascaras. I am always on the search for the perfect mascara as well. I understand you are in the Detroit area, sorry if I’m wrong, but just wanted to say sorry to see your team lose last night.
Rosalie Weiss on June 15th, 2009 1:13 pm

Hi Christine,
I read this and smiled. Seems the cosmetic companies have suddenly realized(or needed) to give some great GWP’s and I got caught for 2 out of 3. I had bought Clinique almost powder at Sephora but took it back without having used it since Macy’s came out with a GWP for exactly the price of this product. Great colors no pinks and I even like the lipstick and love the blush plus their new moisturizer with SPF. etc. Then revlon got me too! When it came to Clarins and their Hydraquech line as a GWP I had to stop but was tempted.

Have you tried any of the tinted moisturizers? I really like them for day wear with color and a SPF.

Have you decided on a name for your company yet?

Rosalie
Christine Scaman on June 15th, 2009 5:22 pm

Hi, Jaycee,
I don’t know if I’ll ever get around to Lash Power unless I’m given it, so I can’t really compare it to the EL product. Both on Beautypedia and another blog (can’t recall which), I read essentially the same review…that it washes pretty well but doesn’t create more than just a natural look. I like a little more lash ooomph than that and I’ve been very pleased with the EL product. It performs extremely well during the day and washes off like nothing. Though the application isn’t what I’d call thick and creamy, it’s plenty good enough and it builds well without needing the lashes to be separated or declumped.

Cathy,
One of my life’s goals is to get through my foundation arsenal. I have all these little bottles in my fridge, all dated, kind of silly but each one is some improvement on the last.
Is the Clinique better than MAC? No, I wouldn’t say that. We’re in the realm of some high-performing product here and your “better” could be quite different from mine. The MAC looks less makeup-y and wears better through the day. I couldn’t get a perfect color in Studio Sculpt so I’m mixing Repairwear Fair Neutral 03 and Studio Sculpt NW15.
I only know Armani’s Luminous Silk well. It is very good but again, there is no universal “best”. I hadn’t thought of it till you asked but Luminous Sik and Repairwear are similar, with Repairwear being heavier and delivering more coverage if you use the same amount. I agree that Luminous Silk is heavy on oily skin and you would likely find the same thing with Repairwear. Definitely, try a sample first. I’ve been discovering MAC Prep and Prime Line Filler lately and very impressed with its smoothing and shine-reducing ability – plus, it helps the Repairwear look fresher at the end of the day.
I wrote a few thoughts about Zero-Smudge above. I don’t know Iconic but that Zero-Smudge lives up to its name. I wear sunscreen, moisturizer, serum, more moisturizer, eyeliner, my eyes tear in the wind and sun … never ever a single black smudge. I have trouble believing it myself.
Actually, I live in Ontario, about an hour from Detroit. We love the Wings but were very happy to see the Pens win. They earned this one.

Hi, Rosalie,
Free stuff is good, ay? Everybody likes it. I like tinted moisturizer but it doesn’t have the coverage I get used to with full foundation all winter. I put on a tinted moisturizer in summer and think my skin looks too uneven so I go back to full coverage foundation, though I might wear less of it. I’m so shiny with sunscreen all summer that the point is almost moot. Once, I had a tube of Bobbi Brown Tinted Moisturizer and remember it as being most impressive color-wise and appearance-wise.
Haven’t named the company yet. Kind of waiting for a good brainwave. I’ve driven everyone I know silly. I did an Ontario Business Name Search on Leading Edge, AlterImage, and one other (Undertones? I’ve forgotten) just to see how that works. It appears you don’t have to register the business here unless you want to operate under a name other than your own so I’m just using my own name for now. Once things get rolling, I may have inspiration. It’s quite challenging finding a name that a man could say comfortably. Certainly the words season, body, soul, colour, anything to do with feelings (such as confidence), personal growth, are all excluded. AlterImage has had 2 male votes so far. I’m not wild about it but hey. July is always spent with family in PEI. I’m hoping a name will percolate to the surface while I’m sitting on a beach.