Hallelujah! Milani has added some much-needed shades to the oddly limited shade range of its popular Milani Conceal + Perfect 2-in-1 Foundation ($7-10).
A few months ago after hearing enough raving reviews of this high-end drugstore foundation, I picked up their absolute lightest shade – 01 Creamy Vanilla. It went on my skin looking like a contour shade. It’s a warm, yellowish taupe color, nowhere near “vanilla” and far from the lightest skintone. After putting it on my face, my heart broke as I watched it oxidize into a yellowish orange on my pink-undertone skin. It was all gross, and I was out $10.
A swatch of 01 Creamy Vanilla from The Makeup Affair
Creamy Vanilla!? There’s no way they expected that shade to accommodate the majority of light-skinned people. I’d love to say that Milani’s stunted shade range was limited to the light end of the spectrum, but it isn’t.
A few months ago, Milani quietly updated their 15 shade range with an additional five shades. Three lighter-than-Creamy-Vanilla shades: light with pink undertones (00), fair with neutral/pink undertones (00A), and fair with yellow undertones (00B). They’ve also added a medium neutral shade (05A) and a dark warm neutral shade (11A).
Let’s talk about that formula for a second because it’s actually really nice. It’s comparable in coverage to Wet’n’Wild Photo Focus Foundation and L’Oreal True Match Foundation, but everything else about it is completely different.
For start, the texture is thick, mousse-like, and saturated. It’s best when dotted or swiped on with your fingers then blended out with a dense brush or makeup sponge. A little goes a surprisingly long way, but you may find that it needs to be set in order to get rid of the tacky feeling. If you have dry skin, watch out for patchiness after some wear. Other than that, it’s a really beautiful foundation that leaves a velvety finish that isn’t totally matte, but definitely isn’t dewy.
You might need to spot conceal with this foundation, but if you aren’t trying to hide anything glaring, the 2-in-1 concealer + foundation mix will really work for you. Evening out skin tone and leaving a smooth canvas are its best functions.
Lastly, it comes in a gorgeous clear glass bottle with black ombre overlay, and it has a freakin’ pump. Any foundation that doesn’t come with a pump should be ashamed of itself. It takes about 2-3 pumps to cover my whole face, but if you mix anything into the foundation, it will loosen it up and help it spread out. This would work really well mixed into a moisturizer because it’s thick enough to handle the dilution.
The addition of these five shades makes a total of 19 shades that are now available on Milani Cosmetics’ website. In stores, the shade ranges are still fairly limited. Free shipping is available at $25, but Milani charges $10 for this foundation on their website, so you’d need to make up the difference to avoid shipping charges.
An additional frustration is that, in stores, this foundation is only $7-$9, but there are usually less than ten shades available. You just can’t win with Milani, but this foundation is so nice that it might be worth trying if you’re on the hunt for a foundation with a high coverage.
Give it a spin! Buy the new shades of Milani Conceal + Perfect 2-in-1 Foundation on their website!
If you’re interested in saving some money and happen to be a shade that’s offered in drugstores, try shopping here: