First Impressions: Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Hydrating Longwear Foundation

It’s foundation season. Every time I open up Instagram, I find out about yet another new release. For the most part, I’ve shown self control. But I have never purchased anything from Fenty so I decided to go ahead and purchase the new hydrating foundation to review. Normally I would wait at least a week or two to review a foundation, but the Sephora sale is ending on the 27th so I wanted to get this review out before then. I’ve worn this foundation 3x so far so here are my first impressions!

Disclaimer, I’ve been absolutely loving the Pat McGrath foundation lately so it set a very high bar, and it definitely colored my opinions.

Availability

$35.00 for 1.08 oz/ 32 mL via Sephora; available elsewhere internationally

Packaging

If you’ve ever used the now discontinued Sunday Riley influencer foundation, this is like a cheaper version of that. It’s a plastic tube with a pump with a click on pump. It mostly looks and feels like a drugstore foundation, but it’s functional so it’s not a big deal. Plus, it’s easier to pop into your makeup bag as it’s less susceptible to breaking vs. a glass bottle.

The pump also allows for a good amount of control. The product doesn’t spurt out and I can easily dispense half a pump, if I desire.

Claims

As per the Sephora description, this is supposed to be a “hydrating, long-wear foundation that delivers comfortable, medium-to-full coverage in a natural finish perfect for normal to dry skin.”

Shade Range

50 shades in a variety of undertones, ranging from pale to deep. I mean, honestly, there’s a reason Fenty is considered the gold standard when it comes to inclusivity.

I personally bought shade 300 which is unfortunately, a tad too yellow for me.

Application

I’ve tried to apply this with my fingers, with a foundation brush, and a sponge. I think the formula is too thick to apply with my fingers alone. I find it sits on my skin and doesn’t look fully blended and ends up looking like I’m wearing a mask. With a brush and a sponge, I’m able to blend it in pretty nicely. Usually when I use a sponge, I find that the foundation is sheered out a bit— I didn’t find that to be the case with this. I pretty much got the same level of coverage with my sponge as I did with my brush.

Texture & Finish

As mentioned above, it has a thicker texture. I’m used to using liquidy foundations so the difference was more noticeable to me vs someone who is used to wearing thicker foundations. If I were to dispense it directly onto my face, it would not dribble down (not saying I tried this or anything…)

When blended out with a sponge or brush, I do get a natural finish with this foundation, depending on how much I apply. As promised, this delivers medium to full coverage. But I think layering it up to full, full coverage is very unflattering on my skin. It emphasizes my pores as well as the fine hairs on my face. I also always have to set this with some sort of mist because otherwise it starts to cling to the texture on my face. Luckily, a setting spray is a quick fix.

I also don’t see how this is marketed as a “hydrating” foundation because I do not find it hydrating at all. It’s not mattifying and drying like their original foundation, but nor does it add any moisture to my skin. It has a satin finish, in my opinion.

Wear Time

This is where I was most disappointed. Every single way I wore it, it started fading by the 5-6 hour mark. Primer helps to a degree, but even then my acne scarring is fully visible by hour 8.

I keep talking about Pat, so let’s compare. Throughout the day, the Pat foundation gets super dewy from my from oils and sweat and all that jazz. But the coverage lasts. In comparison, this Fenty foundation does not make me super oily or dewy, rather it just disappears from my skin.

I will say though, this fades gracefully. It doesn’t go patchy or start seperating. It still looks very natural, but natural with less and less coverage.

Scent

This contains fragrance in the ingredients list but it doesn’t smell like much to me. If anything, it smells like foundation.

Review

My preference for foundations is something that’s at least somewhat liquidy, can be built up in coverage, and produces a natural skin like finish. I even like fuller coverage foundations, like the Estee Lauder Double Wear, that I can sheer out with a sponge. This… ain’t it.

The thicker texture makes this a “high maintenance” foundation to me. I can’t easily blend it out with my fingers or with 4 swipes of my brush. I have to take a minute or two to really blend it in to make sure it doesn’t show up streaky on my skin. Once all that work is done, it does look nice and skin like. But when I’m rushing out the house with 5 minutes to do my makeup, I don’t want high maintenance foundation.

That said, I will deal with a high maintenance foundation if it looks beautiful or provides long lasting coverage or does something extraordinary for me. But this is average to me. Nothing horrible, but nothing about it would make me reach for it over my other foundations that I love.

Final Thoughts

This isn’t a bad foundation, but it isn’t the foundation for me. In the summer, I want to wear something that provides coverage but feels like nothing on the skin. This very much feels like foundation on my skin. It’s not something I forget that I’m wearing. Furthermore, I don’t like that I can’t easily sheer this out.

If I wanted to do my makeup with medium coverage, I would not apply a layer of this Fenty foundation. I would rather build up the coverage with the Pat McGrath foundation. But as I stated in the start of the post, this is merely a first impression. I will continue using this foundation a little bit longer to see how it fares.