Over the last few years, we have seen an explosion in the realm of high end fashion houses entering (or in some cases, re-entering) the makeup world. Brands like YSL and Dior have had makeup and skincare for quite some time. And lord knows nearly all of them have a toe in the fragrance game. But now we are seeing brands like Christian Louboutin, Valentino, and the subject of today’s review, Prada step up to the plate with a wide array of beauty and skincare products in their range.
Prada officially launched their makeup range back in 2023, and entered the Australian market the following year. This launch came with a ton of buzz surrounding it. Particularly their Reveal Foundation. Which was getting rave reviews from the international beauty community. Now, you know me by this point. When an expensive product is getting that much hype, I have to add it to my cart. I’ve spent the last few weeks testing it behind the scenes. So, let’s get into my thoughts!
PRADA BEAUTY REVEAL SKIN OPTIMISING FOUNDATION – $135.00 – adorebeauty.com.au
*33 Shades Available*
Well, if nothing else, the Reveal Foundation has the honour of having the most unique packaging that I’ve seen to this point. The foundation itself is housed in a sleek frosted glass tube with black detail. But that tube is then housed in a stylish, clear plastic tube with chrome gold detail and a mirrorised silver cap. And when the foundation runs out, you can repurchase a refill ($115.00) to easily put inside the outer packaging. Refillable foundations aren’t new, but I’ve never seen one in this format before. And theoretically, you can just purchase the refill itself. But the outer packaging does offer some protection as well as a cap. The Reveal Foundation contains 30ml of product.
The Reveal Foundation is dispensed via a pump that is attached to the refillable tube. It’s a fairly standard metal pump. Nothing too exciting. The pump isn’t super stiff, but you do need to apply some force to get product out. I also haven’t experienced any leaking. Which is good considering how much I paid for this foundation.
The Reveal Foundation contains 33 shades in the line. The shades are divided into shade types (in this case, light, medium, and deep). And those shades are then divided by undertone (cool, neutral, and warm). Surprisingly, there is a pretty decent split between the three shade ranges (11 light, 12 medium, 10 deep). But there is a favouring towards the neutral shades overall (8 cool, 13 neutral, 12 warm). I did have the the opportunity to swatch this foundation while I was in Melbourne. And seeing it in person, the range is extremely well thought out and balanced. The lightest shade is very fair, the deepest shade is super rich and deep. And there doesn’t appear to be too many gaps in the range. Overall, I was very impressed.
As for me, I went with shade LN15, Light with Neutral Undertones. And this might be my new benchmark for foundation shade matching. It is as close as I have ever come to finding my shade perfectly online (full disclosure, I did buy this before I went away). Even swatching it against LC15 and LN10, it was clear how good of a match it is on me. It blends seamlessly down my neck. And it stays true to colour throughout the day.
Now, it wouldn’t be a super bougie foundation without a few skincare benefits chucked into the mix. And the Reveal Foundation is chock full of them. The Reveal Foundation was formulated with Niacinamide, Vitamin E, and Lactobacillus Extract (which I will admit was new to me, it’s supposed to help calm the skin and help ward off bad bacteria).
Getting into application, I found that my favourite way to apply it is to apply to my fingers, smooth it all over my face, and then use a beauty sponge to even things out. Because the Reveal Foundation’s consistency was more on the liquid side, using the sponge on it’s own would soak up too much product, a brush would leave my finish looking streaky, and using my fingers without the sponge just looked off to me. Ipso facto, fingers then sponge.
The Reveal Foundation is described as being a medium buildable coverage with a soft matte finish. And I am inclined to agree with the first part of that. Coverage wise, it does do an excellent job at evening out my skin tone and covering up my freckles and dark spots without ever looking cakey or heavy. The finish on the other hand? Well, they say soft matte, on me, it’s more true matte. And I did find it to be a little on the drying side. I did have to do some experimenting when it came to what primer to pair with this to get me the most ideal finish. The winner, believe it or not, was the Glossier FutureDew. The luminous, slightly oily finish paired wonderfully with the Reveal Foundation on me.
Let’s talk wear test now. And the pictures don’t lie. The Reveal Foundation stayed put pretty well over the nine hours I had it on. As I mentioned before, it stayed true to colour. I didn’t notice any oxidisation. It didn’t sink into my lines or my pores. I did notice a little shine peeking through towards the end of the day. But that’s nothing a little powder can’t fix.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that I’m 95% certain this foundation is breaking me out. As you can see to the right of my face, I have quite a few breakouts that have popped up in the last week that I’ve really been putting this foundation to the test. This is the only new product that I’m using and the breakouts are in an area where I don’t usually breakout. Whenever I do wear this foundation consistently, I do notice new pimples popping up. Especially around my nose and cheeks. This is a huge point against it. And it kills me because the finish and wear is so good!
All in all, the Prada Reveal Foundation is a pass for me and I don’t recommend it. There was already no way on Beyonce’s internet that I was ever going to recommend a $135 foundation to you all. But the breakouts are what sealed the deal for me. I’ll keep using this throughout the rest of the year. But for right now, this is a no. Have you tried the Prada Reveal Foundation? Let me know in the comments.
Cheers and love
Emily xo