Elizabeth Arden Flawless Finish Sponge-on Cream Makeup Review

I was excited to be given the opportunity to trial this Elizabeth Arden foundation.I'm in my 40's, with normal to dry skin. I selected the shade Vanilla Shell which was a good match as I'm usually about an Ivory or one shade darker.

The foundation compact is very glamourous looking. It's a mirrored compact & inside is the cream foundation and a little sponge. It's a bit 'plasticky' when you feel it & on my compact the clasp didn't work, so the lid pops open again when you close it. I use a hair tie now to keep it closed.

The foundation itself can be applied 2 ways. With a dry sponge for a full coverage finish, or a wet sponge for a lighter finish.

Dry sponge application. This foundation goes on fairly heavy and is buildable so very quickly my makeup looked very heavy. Yes, my skin tone was even, and it covered imperfections but what stood out for me above the fact that it’s heavy is that I looked super shiny, oily looking. I gave it a few minutes to settle, & then realised the foundation was settling into some of my more prominent wrinkles. I then applied a finishing powder to settle the shine down a little, which worked. The finished look was okay, but the foundation did seem to absorb the powder, and through the morning I became super shiny again. Dry sponge application was also a little heavy a finish for my liking. Overall it was okay, and it felt nice on my skin, but I don't think I achieved the youthful radiance it promised, it did the opposite

I tried the wet sponge application & the coverage was much more to my liking. It was a medium coverage and still buildable in places I needed a bit more. It still finished super shiny and still settled into wrinkles. I looked like I had really oily skin. I also noticed on a couple of humid days my skin was sweating a little under the foundation. The application was better with a wet sponge, and with less coverage the wrinkles weren't filled as bad, but oily skin look just didn't look right. Yes, the really fine lines seemed less noticeable, but I think the light creamy formula particularly on my forehead crease really settled into the crease and became super noticeable! It lasted a good 6 hours, but I felt my makeup looked a little worn by mid afternoon.

The foundation itself felt lovely and light on my skin if you ignored the finish. It didn't cause my skin to breakout despite the oily shine it gave off. Removing the makeup was easy and my skin wasn't dried out after wear.

It's a pricey foundation which is why I probably had higher hopes from it. Had I paid the money I would have been upset by its performance so if you have an opportunity to try it in store first you should. While I don't tend to fret about my wrinkles there are other foundations out there that do a better job minimising wrinkles and fine lines instead of highlighting them. I wouldn't purchase this particular foundation for myself - but I'm sure others, perhaps younger than me would like it.

When I received an invite for this trial I was super excited. I had never tried an Elizabeth Arden foundation before so was interested to see how well it would work for me. The packaging is gorgeous! It comes in a metallic silver and gold box and inside is a matching compact. It has 2 compartments, the top one has a mirror and the foundation, then underneath is where the sponge lives.

I selected the shade Vanilla Shell which matches my pale skin perfectly. My skin is dry and sensitive so I have issues with foundation looking cakey or causing irritation. This is super creamy and on me the coverage is light to medium. I use after cleansing and moisturising, it feels quite lightweight on my skin.

I don't love or hate the sponge that comes with it, it's nothing special but gets the job done. However, I get a weird looking finish with this foundation, it doesn't look very natural on me and seems to sit on my cheeks and makes my fine lines on my forehead really noticeable. You need to be careful as I find it can cake up if you use too much. More than 1 layer on me and it starts caking really bad.  I also dislike that it doesn't feel completely dry. I got no irritation at all though which was a positive.

For me the best way to use it is over my BB cream, it gives me a nice looking complexion and lovely glow that way, however on its own it just doesn't work for me.

So while it is a lovely foundation I suggest if you have dry skin to make sure you prep your face well to stop it accentuating any dry areas and caking. I don't see this as a life changing foundation for me and I would not repurchase this unfortunately.

Packaging: From the photo I was expecting the compact to be metal but its plastic giving a bit of a cheap feel. For the price it seems like they could of made it metal like a sturdy re-cycle-able tin. The thick compact has a mirror and separate compartment for the applicator. The applicator is very standard you might want to use a brush or beauty blender.

some additives: It contains mineral oil/liquid paraffin this is basically a by product of petrol. It clogs pores and doesnt allow skin to breathe. Although there is some research that highly refined cosmetic grade mineral oil wont clog pores companies dont need to disclose the quality & there's evidence that something in it - 1,4-Dioxane is a carcinogen. Talc.This mineral can have asbestos contamination. Studies by the National Toxicology Panel demonstrate cosmetic-grade talc free of asbestos is a form of magnesium silicate that can be toxic and carcinogenic. Silica and Talc absorbs oil so this would help keep the foundation from being too oily. Kaolin. This is a clay which helps exfoliate skin and cleanse.

Product function: I disagree that it goes on "effortlessly" the cake was a little hard. I wet the sponge applicator to apply and this worked. I was hit by a detergent smell which i thought was the applicator but the foundation actually smells like it too. Once applied, it seems to lighten a little & look okay this must be the light reflecting thing in the description working. I am very fair and I got warm sun beige. At first seems orange but looked more yellow when all over my face. It depends on the lighting I guess. After about 4 or 5 hours I noticed my skin had absorbed a lot of the make up so I would not say this is long lasting although I did not use primer. It will apply fairly easy with a wet applicator and it is creamy but does not have an amazing silky feeling like conditioner or silicone based primers. The next time I wore it with a lighter foundation over the top to balance the fact it is too dark for me using the Elizabeth Arden like a contouring base and a light other branded foundation on other areas. It lasted very well in the light rain for several hours. But afterwards looked bad you could tell I was wearing foundation and it looked all the same shade like the darker foundation which could of been oxidization or the darker Elizabeth Arden one dominating the lighter foundation. I could see it sitting in my pores. I didnt see a huge change in diminishing the look of aging but it has a little smoothing effect & gave a healthy glow as described. Although it sates that this is ideal for medium to dry skin its not very hydrating. I suggest trying with a primer and moisturizer.

Verdict. Not something I would spend $75.00 on. I have seen them cheaper on trade me. The diamond powder addition gives this a nice high end luxury feel.

I was really excited to trial this foundation as my skin has changed dramatically over the past year while being pregnant, I develop pigmentation spots on my cheeks and forehead and then after giving birth my skin lacks radiance and appears rather dull. I normally use Dermacol make up cover in shade 208 but I have been looking for something with a more natural finish and is quicker to apply.

I choose the shade Vanilla Shell which is probably a tad too dark for my porcelain skin but as the shade selection in NZ is limited it looked to be the best match by going off swatches on the Elizabeth Arden website.

The foundation is very creamy and light in texture which makes application easy especially on my skin which is currently dry. It can be applied in two ways depending on the type of coverage you wanted. I mainly applied it dry rather then damping the sponge as I need fuller coverage. The packaging of the foundation is very stylish. It comes in a gold and silver compact with the Elizabeth Arden logo on the front. The compact has two compartments one houses the foundation and mirror and the second contains a sponge. The things I like about the packaging are firstly the mirror, it makes applying make up on the go easy and secondly the air vents at the bottom of the compact keep the sponge fresh. The thing I think could be improved on is the feel of the packaging which is rather plasticky considering the price and the fact it does scratch easily.

The foundation states it contains " Micronized Diamond Power" or real diamonds which are suppose to help blur fine lines and other imperfections. I found that this foundation helped conceal redness on my cheeks and it did blur some fine lines around my eyes which gave a lovely radiant glow to my skin however it didn't cover much of the pigmentation I have on my forehead which is the one thing I was hoping this foundation would do. In my opinion I would not consider this foundation to be "flawless finish" as the name suggests.

It is a nice foundation and I like the concept of the compact with a mirror and sponge but it didn't quite live up to its name especially considering the higher end price. For me personally I wouldn't repurchase this as it didn't cover my pigmentation spots which my usual foundation does and it costs half the price.

If you are after a compact foundation with a natural looking finish and lasts a good eight hours and are not worried about full coverage then this could be for you. I would advise to get colour matched in store though.

The product is an absolutely beautiful mirror finish box with a red door on it and gold trim. Upon opening you will find the foundation cream and under this a thin application sponge. I was pleased with that the shade matched my skin when after applying as I wasn't sure before. It looked a little darker than it really was. Application with the sponge provided was not great. It was too thin and small to be of any use yet I thought I would give it a go. The issue I had was that the cream was clinging to my dry patches on my face and the finish was anything but flawless. I tried a second time with my beauty blender with that same results. To give it another chance I tried again to get a great finish and used my fingers with the same results. I wasn't thrilled. I try to give a product the benefit of the doubt and make it work but it wouldn't. I will probably try a few more times to apply this product in a way that it will work for my skin but so far no luck and I wasn't happy with the results, which is a really pity.

I was so excited to try out this foundation, I loved the idea of blending out my lines, I mean who wouldn't be intrigued by such claims. I picked the shade Gentle Beige which turned out to be a perfect match for my skin.

First impressions, Its a cute wee compact with a mirror which is always handy to have. The foundation pan has a decent amount of product in it which I was glad to see with it being on the higher side of the price scale. The sponge sits underneath in its own little compartment that has tiny holes in it which would let air get in and prevent mould and all that which is nice to see. The sponge applicator is much smaller than I was expecting, its very thin so I would be interested to see if it out lives the foundation. The compact clip on mine doesn't lock though, it pops open and doesn't keep the lid down... so it wouldn't travel very well at all. Not a great look for a high end product.

The foundation its self I was really happy with, the finish is very nice and almost velvety like, with no tacky feel to the skin. I liked the way the sponge applied the foundation to my skin without streaks and blends like a dream. But again it is a very thin sponge so i'm not convinced it would last very long. As far as my lines, I felt like it blurred my annoying forehead lines really well and I was super comfortable with the way it sat on my skin. As far as wear it had a good 4 hrs plus lasting power but after 5 I felt like I needed a little touch up. Coverage wise I would say it gives a good medium cover.

Overall I am really enjoying the foundation and will happily wear it on the regular. Just a bit gutted with the clip not locking the compact shut so I have to store it in the box so it doesn't dry out.

I was really excited to be chosen for this trial team as I'm a big fan of Elizabeth Arden products but I haven't tried any of their foundations before. I selected Warm Sunbeige and was pleased that it turned out to be a good match for my skin.

I love the appearance of the product, it comes in a classy gold compact with a mirror and separate compartments for the foundation and sponge. I did think the sponge was a bit thin and small though compared to other brands compacts that I have used in the past.

I was impressed that this foundation was easy to blend and provided quite an even coverage. However I felt it provided more of a medium coverage than a full coverage, while my skin appeared smoother I felt that it didn't provide as much coverage for my sun spots and pigmentation as I would like.

For $75 I probably wouldn't buy this foundation for myself unless there was a really good sale. While it did a pretty good job I felt it didn't meet all my expectations around full coverage and a radiant finish that lasts all day.

I was excited about getting to review this product. I haven’t had much luck with Elizabeth Arden products in the past but was open to giving this one a go. I also was a wee bit concerned about this type of foundation as I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Moisture Mist Beauty Cake foundation either.

I must say I do adore the packaging of this. The lovely gold packaging with the mirrored lid and red door is very classic. I think having the sponge in there is lovely too as it makes it easy to take on the go and not worry about forgetting a brush or it getting dirty. It is reasonably bulky though so maybe not one for travelling with if you are trying to reduce the size of items. I do also wonder whether you can get refills of the foundation as it seems like such a waste to chuck out the beautiful packaging when you are finished.

The foundation does have a slight smell to it, but nothing offensive. This also doesn’t have any SPF in it - although I would never rely on foundation alone for this. I also just have to mention that the shade selection is a bit poor with only appearing to have eight shades in the NZ market - none of which were quite pale enough for me (but I’ve tried to ignore that in my review as my face shade isn’t your problem). I do find this cream product a strange one to use a sponge with as with these sorts of products they seem to work better once they warm to your skin and then they blend better so often I like to use a brush to get a more sheer application. I did find with the sponge provided that I got a nice medium coverage that didn’t look cakey at all. I think my favourite part though was that it still looked like skin and had some luminosity which is impressive for this type of foundation.

Overall I actually quite enjoyed this foundation despite my initial misgivings about it. So if you can find a shade that suits you I definitely think it would be worth a whirl.

I'm not usually a fan of compacts and sponges, so I was very sceptical to try this but ended up being pleasantly surprised! I found the formula to be very lightweight and glided onto my skin. I would say it gave me medium coverage. It covered up my hyperpigmentation but did not feel or look cakey on my skin but I used a primer on my skin before, which also helped. I suffer from dark undereye circles and while it did not cover them completely, it did make a massive difference. The only issue that I found with this was that I found the compact itself to be a bit bulky and clunky and felt a little awkward to use at times but overall, really surprised by how much I enjoyed using this!

Ok I was super excited to receive this foundation! I love EA products and have never used one of their foundations before. Firstly the packaging! Wow, so shiny and gold and silver :) My 6 year old daughter loved it and took the cardboard packaging haha. Really like the size of it, even though it's quite thick (width wise), it's still quite small and easy to pop in a small purse. It’s a very cute compact and easy to open and close. The mirror is a decent size which is great. It comes with a sponge applicator, I did try this but really didn't like it much as it didn't seem to apply the foundation as well as another damp sponge that I already used, so I didn't use their included applicator and used my own. The foundation is quite hard (not sure if that’s the right word or not), but the previous foundation I used was a bit more slippery (or softer?). It seems that it will last a bit longer as it’s more “dense”. It doesn’t really have much of a smell, but what you can smell is pleasant and not overpowering. The colour was not too bad, maybe a little on the orangey side? I used Beige which is normally the kind of shade I would choose and this colour was pretty good but again a tinge orangey. I did find that I needed to use a bit to get good coverage for me, eg had to wipe the sponge over quite firmly to get enough to cover my scar – I have old burn scarring around my chin so need a decent coverage foundation. This foundation does cover but it takes a couple of layers to do so. It does seem to last well, I usually need to touch up a couple times a day and still did have to do so using this EA Foundation. They say they have diamond powder in this foundation and this should help with fine lines and wrinkles by not sinking in and making them stand out less. I’m not really sure if this product really did this or not, maybe a little better with my fine lines around my eyes but really not that different to me. Price wise it is definitely on the more expensive side at $75 and for me I wouldn’t usually spend that much on a foundation as I use it every day, however if it lasts for longer than my usual foundation then I would think about purchasing as I do like the foundation. All in all – a good foundation with decent coverage and looks nice on my skin. I would recommend this foundation to others, however the price would probably be a major factor in whether people would purchase or not, definitely a factor for me