Make Up For Ever Water Blend Face & Body Foundation ($43.00 for 1.69 fl. oz.) is a new formula that offers “sheer to buildable coverage” with a “dewy glow and flawless finish” using a “water-gel” texture, and it is supposed to be waterproof and transfer-proof. This formula comes in 20 shades, which is decent but not as impressive as the Ultra HD Liquid range, but the numbering system used for Water Blend is the same as Ultra HD (though I haven’t personally seen all the shades, so there may be differences – I expect shade mismatching to be more forgiving, as this is a sheerer formula). It is an updated version of the brand’s previous Face & Body formula (which I recall being a smidgen thicker but not by much).

I tried two shades–Y305 and Y315–and as you might guess, I ended up mixing them together when I was trying out the new formula. I find Y305 to be darker and yellower than Y315, which is a smidgen lighter and more neutral-to-warm and has a more peach undertone than true yellow (this is closer to my skin tone). If someone likes sheer, weightless coverage that is just enough to even out very minor variations with decent wear and a natural sheen, you might like this. It’s almost undetectable to me when applied, and it sat well on the skin without emphasizing pores, clinging to dryness/flakes (I had a wee bit of dryness around my nose). The wear was modest–seven to eight hours without primer or powder–but the nice part is the sheerer coverage makes it look less obvious as the foundation starts to wear down as it always looked very skin-like. Worth noting, it seemed to have a very faint, floral scent to it, which I noticed for the first hour or so of wear but not later in the day.

The texture was very water-like; it felt wet, thin, and ran easily when I put a pump on the back of my hand. It spread well, but it could get streaky if I wasn’t careful. I preferred using a dense foundation brush (like Real Techniques Expert Face) for initial application and then using a damp Beautyblender to buff and blend the remainder in. If I used a Beautyblender first, it absorbed a lot of the product and made it harder to spread out the actual product evenly. I also liked applying and blending out with fingertips, which helped avoid streakiness and made the process faster overall than using a brush and then a sponge.

It’s a very, very sheer foundation with one to two pumps of product, while two to three pumps yielded sheer to light coverage. I didn’t feel like I could really build it up beyond light coverage, as applying more than two to three layers seemed to make the underlying layers lift and shift, which made the texture appear more uneven. I think the coverage seems mostly in line with how it’s described, as it is buildable from very sheer to sheer to light coverage. It dries down to a mostly non-tacky finish that doesn’t transfer easily for most of the wear (it had slight transfer after six hours of wear). It seemed waterproof in the sense that a splash of water didn’t cause the foundation to separate or run, but if I splashed water on my face and then patted my face with a towel, the product did come off.

I have normal-to-dry skin (leaning normal) with minimal dryness at the moment. It was hard to judge if it was hydrating or not, because I don’t normally see signs of dryness coming through with most foundations or during the day (with no foundation), and the best I could judge was that it didn’t seem to emphasize the lines or texture of my under eye area, which I find to be the least forgiving area on my face. I’d love to hear from others with drier skin types to see if they find this a particularly hydrating foundation.

The foundation was comfortable to wear and wasn’t a fussy foundation to wear all day; it didn’t break down in such a way that it looked awful at any point (I think that’s mostly due to the coverage level!), and it didn’t transfer easily, so I didn’t worry about clothes or scratching my nose or blotting around the corners of my mouth with a napkin after a meal. I think it delivers on being ultra-lightweight, sheer, and natural; I think it looks a lot like my skin-but-better and manages to mask some of the natural pink tones I have in my cheeks and chin area. I personally prefer light-medium to medium coverage, so I don’t think you’ll see me reaching or wearing this, but if I wanted sheerer coverage, this would definitely be one I’d consider.

Make Up For Ever Y305 Water Blend Face & Body Foundation

Make Up For Ever Y305 Water Blend Face & Body Foundation

Make Up For Ever Y305 Water Blend Face & Body Foundation

Make Up For Ever Y305 Water Blend Face & Body Foundation

Make Up For Ever Y305 Water Blend Face & Body Foundation

Make Up For Ever Y305 Water Blend Face & Body Foundation

Make Up For Ever Y305 | Y315 Water Blend Face & Body Foundation

Make Up For Ever Y315 Water Blend Face & Body Foundation

Make Up For Ever Y315 Water Blend Face & Body Foundation

Make Up For Ever Y315 Water Blend Face & Body Foundation

Bare Skin | Make Up For Ever Water Blend Face & Body Foundation

Bare Skin | Make Up For Ever Water Blend Face & Body Foundation

Make Up For Ever Water Blend Face & Body Foundation (Y305 and Y315 mixed)

Make Up For Ever Water Blend Face & Body Foundation (Y305 and Y315 Mixed) | With Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder

Bare Skin | Foundation with Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder