Neutrogena Face-to-Face Blind Foundation Challenge

 Press Sample Affiliate Link

Neutrogena Face-to-Face Blind Foundation Challenge:

Have you ever really wondered why you love a particular foundation? Sure, a lot has to do with coverage, finish, and wear...but, how much of it is brand identity and using products from brands that you are loyal to? What an interesting question! If we strip away all that we know about a foundation brand-wise, and just investigate aspects of the product itself, we really do get a truer picture of the product itself. 

I have to admit, I dig this entire idea. Really, I know how brand loyalty impacts me as a consumer. There are some brands that I really get excited about. We are talking fan-girl excited. Brands that I highly anticipate everything that they release. How much of that comes into play when I try their products? Lets all just admit...packaging and marketing does work. We do buy into brands that we already have a positive affinity with. So, if we strip all of the packaging and marketing and brand image away and just look at the actual product itself, how does it measure up? I know that I want to know!

The Challenge: Foundation A vs. Foundation B:

So...recently, I participated in this super fun challenge from Neutrogena. They wanted us to do a blind test of one of their foundations face-to-face with a leading competitor's foundation. The foundations arrived in bottles with all identifying information removed. They were simply labeled Foundation A and Foundation B. Now, as a Beauty Blogger with a vast foundation collection and knowledge of packaging...I will have to admit that I immediately recognized the bottles and was able to identify the brands based on the bare bottles. I mean, I already have both of these foundations in my collection. However, with that said, I didn't know if Neutrogena was maybe trying to "throw us off" with the bottles and maybe switched the formulas inside. So, even though I had a strong suspicion as to which was which, I still didn't really know.

So, I proceeded to test the products. First, I tested Foundation B for a few days (at least 2 consecutive days) and then I did the same with Foundation A. While testing, I kept in mind the coverage, the finish, and the overall wear of the foundation.

To find out more details about these foundations (including what they were!) and find out which I prefer, please click "read more" below! 

What did I discover?

Well, I have to tell you, I did enjoy testing both of these foundations. I was very pleased with coverage, finish, and wear of both. Both of these foundations made my skin look beautiful! However, comparing Face-to-Face, I did actually find that I ended up preferring Foundation A. I just felt like the finish looked more natural on my skin and just overall preferred the appearance of this product on my skin. I feel like Foundation B emphasized my pores too much (ugh). I did not have this problem with Foundation A. When worn with a primer, both formulas work well pore-wise. However, it is nice that I can skip a primer with Foundation A!!! Plus, I love that Foundation A left my skin looking naturally flawless and even somewhat luminous and dewy. I also like the "thin" feel of this foundation. It really does not feel like you are wearing foundation at all!

The Shades: 

I think that my only critique of both of these foundations is that the shade was not 100% a color match for my skin for both foundations. I am very hard to match since my skin is super duper fair. Plus, these products were selected for me by Neutrogena. They probably did not realize how fair I am. My skin really is practically porcelain in color. So, while these foundations were beautiful and I did end up preferring Foundation A, the color was just ever-so-slightly too dark on my skin. With that said, that shade difference is probably only noticeable to me. I totally made it work with good blending.

The Big Reveal: The foundations are...

So, are you ready for the big reveal? Foundation A was NEUTROGENA® Healthy Skin Liquid Makeup SPF 20 and Foundation B was NARS Sheer Glow!

What a fun challenge!!! It is interesting to me that branding aside, I totally preferred a good-value drugstore foundation over a higher-end counterpart! Have you tried both of these foundations? Do you consider the Neutrogena to be a dupe for the NARS or do you find them to be more different than alike? Which do you prefer? 

Affiliate Link