My go-to Foundation: Estee Lauder Doublewear

I’ve probably been using this particular foundation for about 5 years now. The problem is, since I’ve got older, along with spending the last year in a pandemic, I don’t make anywhere near as much effort with my beauty regime as I used to. I’ll still apply my holy grail Cocoa Brown (read the review here) tan every Thursday, but before and after then, sometimes I just can’t face slapping on the instant tan to keep me looking half-alive.

Therefore I’ve had to introduce an array of shades into my base makeup depending on how I’m feeling that week. It may seem expensive to invest in at £30 a pop, but it does become cheaper long-term as I’m not continuously nailing the same one each day.

The shades

So here we have it. Three very different colours, all of which I use depending on the occasion.

4N1, Shell Beige is the darkest of the three. This one I love to use when I’m overnight tanned + instant tanned and needing a glamorous look for when I bother to venture “out out”.

3W1, Tawny is the middle shade, a go-to when I’m either overnight tanned or instant tanned, just not both. It matches a little bit of life in my skin, without being too dark, or too pale.

1W2, Sand is the lightest of the three. This one is the newest to my foundation collection, when I’m embracing my naturally super pale skin all the while not looking “ill”.

As you’ll note from the N for neutral and W for warm, you would assume my skin has warm undertones. I don’t; if anything I have very grey eye-bags, but also very pink cheeks from acne scarring. I try to counteract both with colour cancelling; a bit of red lipstick under the eyes to cancel out the blue-grey, and a green concealer stick over the acne scarring. The thing is, I try my hardest to look alive, so opting for the warmer foundation undertones has always worked for me. Plus, I know I’m no MUA, but I learnt from my many years of applying makeup that if it blends to your neck, then it’s match.

The coverage

Doublewear is a full coverage foundation. It’s not the kind of foundation you’re gonna chuck on for a quick visit to the supermarket. For me, it’s ideal for long days at work where you only want a quick powder once throughout the day, or for a night out where you don’t want to fear it sweating off (those were the days).

These days, I apply one layer and that’s enough for me. If I’m having a breakout, I sometimes opt for a base layer, powder and then a quick blot over the top just for safety.

Here’s the before and after of me testing out 1W2, Sand, plus a couple of examples of me wearing the darker shades. Note, there’s no filters. Apologies for my towel turban, I always do my hair last!