What They Say: "Creamy fuller coverage. Achieve perfect-looking skin at last! This long-lasting SPF 18 foundation offers fuller coverage to smooth over pores, blemishes, and imperfections. Enriched with age-defying coenzyme Q10, hydrating olive oil, and UV damage–fighting olive leaf extract, these ingredients can help you win the fight against fine lines. Feels silky, not heavy, on skin. Elegant matte finish."

Jamie's Thoughts: If you’ve read my bio page, you already know that I am not a fan of liquid foundation. I don’t think anything that starts out as a thick layer of flesh-toned goo EVER looks natural – I would rather wear no makeup at all, than have to feel the foundation on my face all day.

You also might be surprised to find out that I actually like this offering from DHC. It’s easier to apply than most – I used my fingers, so a sponge is not absolutely necessary. It blends smoothly and evenly. It beats my everyday powder foundation in both staying power and coverage. It worked well with my concealer routine, and created a matte finish – I didn’t need my pressed powder until late afternoon!

That being said, I didn’t like how it completely covered my freckles. I love my freckles - I don’t want to hide them! I do not recommend this product for redheads, unless they plan on mixing the lightest shade with a daily moisturizer – a DIY tinted moisturizer, if you will. Nail the color perfectly, otherwise you risk looking heavy and fake.

Outside of having to get used to “feeling” my makeup on my face all day, I quite enjoyed this product. While it may not be appropriate for everyone, it does exactly what it claims. I don’t think I’ll be switching over to liquid foundation for good, but I will definitely keep my Q10 around for special events when a flawless, long-lasting face is needed.

Jamie's Rating:

Melissa Says: Similarly to Jamie, I think this foundation blends very well and is incredibly smooth. I particularly like the fact that as a liquid foundation, the end result is among the best that I've tried. I actually didn't have a problem with the fact that it is more full-coverage (I've seen heavier, but it's definitely not sheer) because some days I just feel like camouflaging any redness or unevenness completely in one easy swipe. On the days that I don't feel like I need it, I can always reach for something more sheer or mix this with a bit of moisturizer to thin out the formula.

As a liquid, this didn't matte out my four o'clock oily spots on its own, but I didn't notice any increase as a result, either. I apply it over my daily moisturizer to help it glide even easier, and this has always provided a nice, even finish. If you have deeper wrinkles, this may settle into those lines a bit after a few hours (though I was pleased with it in this respect and didn't notice the problem on my own skin), so be cautious when trying it out if this is the case.

I've been using Yellow Ocher 02, which has worked well with my still winter-pale skin (though I think I may have been able to use Natural Ocher with good results as well).

As a side note, unlike Toya, I've been using this for almost three weeks with no irritation or breakouts at all, and I didn't find any strange consistency issues with the foundation in the tube either. In fact, it was creamy and perfectly smooth. I guess this is another example of why it's so hard for a woman to find the perfect foundation!

Melissa's Rating:

Toya’s Take: For women of color, indeed, for any woman, buying a foundation is a process that requires a bit of trial and error before the buyer finds the perfect shade. Therefore, having to pick the best shade from a catalog or from a website, like I had to do with DHC, is not the best option, unless you’ve used the foundation previously and are repurchasing. I picked what I thought was the closest color to my skintone, Pink Ocher 3, and while I may have, in fact, made the closest match, this shade didn’t work for me at all. In the case of both of the foundation formulations, the shade was just “off” – I wound up looking ashen. The cream foundation, which, according to the website, offers full coverage, felt and looked heavy on my skin.

While it did offer quite complete coverage, eliminating redness, etc., I think it also made me breakout – in the week since I’ve used it, I’ve battled two large pimples. I’m not sure that they’re directly related to the foundation, but their appearance shortly after using the foundation didn’t look too good. The liquid foundation apparently separates when in the bottle. When I squeezed some of the product out of the tube, it was clear first, followed by the pigmented part of the foundation. Shaking the tube vigorously helped, but the foundation was still frustratingly watery and, while it should have offered sheer coverage, I found that it didn’t offer any coverage at all, while simultaneously giving my fast a ghostly pallor. Ugh!

Toya's Rating:

Retail Price: $16.00 (at dhccare.com)