MAKEUP | Tom Ford Traceless Soft Matte Foundation with Before and After Photos

Purchased by me

This is the first true foundation I have purchased since before the pandemic and my third "complexion improvement" product in three years so this was KIND OF a big deal! I went to my first Estee Lauder warehouse sale last November and right in the lineup were a couple Tom Ford foundations. This was completely an impulse buy as I have never tried a Tom Ford foundation nor had the urge to until that very moment in the check out line! I took a guess on the shade after looking up some positive reviews online and decided that for $45 (more than 50% off as it retails in Sephora for $115!), I would give this luxury foundation a go!

 

Coming in 40 shades, this is described as a long-wearing hydrating, medium-full coverage matte finish foundation which uses "soft focus microspheres" to blur imperfections with "wear-extending pigments" without making skin look flat or cakey. The formula is also infused with hyaluronic acid, vitamin C and E as well as caffeine with the intention of improving texture of the skin over time. It even says in the product description that even after you remove your foundation, skin will feel smoother with prolonged use! The colour is also meant to stay true for 10 hours and resistant to fading. These are all incredibly specific claims so let's see if they actually rang true for me!

I picked up the shade 1.4 Bone which I feel was a teensy bit too light on me after seeing it on my face, but I can still get away with it during these winter months. The texture of the foundation is watery, very light and incredibly blendable. It also smells like lavender as there is lavender oil in the formula which I quite enjoyed!

I would have described this as a light-medium coverage based on how I use foundation, but if you want to build the coverage to high, I'm sure you can. I have used high coverage matte foundations in the past and I feel like if you prefer high coverage, it would just make more sense to get a formula that caters to this instead of having to work harder at building up your foundation. You can see that once blended, you really cannot see anything on my hand. 

This bare face is from a few months ago, but other than my hair being darker, all factors are the same! I am always a little dewy because of my sunscreen, but you can see that once I have applied the foundation all over, my skin has a truly matte, but soft looking finish. I don't wear matte finish foundations a lot as I lean more towards dewy or satin finishes and my fear with true matte finishes is how flat my face looks since all of the natural contours of the face don't reflect light anymore. I did not feel that way with this foundation and it felt like my skin had just been lightly airbrushed. 

The only additional products I am wearing here are lipgloss and an eyebrow pencil! Note that I used a makeup sponge to apply the foundation.

Add in a full face of makeup and I was a bit surprised to see quite a bit of texture on my cheeks once I applied my shimmery blush. I thought the foundation would take care of the texture, but evidently not! I also felt like the formula wasn't as long-wearing as it claimed as even with setting powder and setting spray, I could see the foundation breaking down around my nose. I have normal/dry skin and I get oily in that area after a couple of hours, but having used long-wearing formulas like those from MAKE UP FOR EVER and Giorgio Armani, I was expecting more from Tom Ford. I seem to be one of the few who feel this way especially when looking at reviews on the Sephora website which makes me think it's just my skin and the conditions my skin is under at work. It also could be that I need to build up my foundation even more which is something I do not want to do.

Final verdict: I wanted to love this foundation more than I did starting with the fact that I found the plastic bottle a bit cheap feeling. I cannot imagine paying $115 for a bottle that is not glass! The formula itself was indeed very light and comfortable so I can see why people enjoy wearing it. I liked the finish as well as my skin looked so soft and pillowy so I will still continue to use this foundation as I don't like waste, but I might just wear it on shorter days or just live with a little bit of breakdown by the end of the work day. I do not plan on repurchasing this unless I find some way of making the formula work a little more long term for me. 

Edit: I used a stippling brush to apply this foundation and yes, it can be built up fairly quickly to high coverage, but it still did not have the lasting power I thought it should!

You can find the Tom Ford Traceless Soft Matte Foundation at www.sephora.com and where Tom Ford Beauty is sold.