Josie Maran Argan Matchmaker Serum Foundation

Today is the final post from my Josie Maran hauls at Sephora and my least favorite product of the group, I have found that the skincare products from this line are much nicer than the color products.  I liked the Coconut Watercolor Cheek Gelee but it wasn't my favorite cream blush formula and the foundation formula follows much the same pattern.  The foundation and the blush are nice formulas but the skincare products are stellar, this line could easily get rid of the color products without detracting from the overall line.  The Argan Matchmaker Serum Foundation is a fair foundation formula but not one of the better ones that I have used and my least favorite product from this brand.

The Sephora website provides the following description of this foundation formula.  "A serum foundation formulated with chameleon pigments, an innovative color-match technology that goes on white and instantly adjusts to match your unique and changing natural skintone as it balances and nourishes the skin.  This is the only foundation you'll need year-round to provide age-defying undetectable coverage. The breakthrough serum foundation suspends over fine lines and wrinkles to smooth and correct visible signs of aging. The one-of-a-kind Organic Argan Oil infused formula strengthens and balances your skin while keeping oily areas shine-free, and dry spots naturally moisturized for totally flawless, younger looking skin.This serum works with whatever range of coloring that you fall into, either light/medium or medium/dark. The foundation starts out white and then changes color to match to your skin."

Unlike most foundations, this formula is only available in three shades.  I was lucky enough that the palest shade worked well for me however I am sure there are quite a few skintones that will not work with any of these three shades and this product will prove unworkable for.  I understand that this formula is designed to be "color-matching" but I cannot see how only three shades will work for the whole range of skintones.

The three shades are...

- Fair/ Light Shade Range: for the fairest porcelain skin with pink undertones to light skin with pink undertones
- Light/ Medium Shade Range: for the lightest skin with yellow-olive undertones to medium skin with yellow-olive undertones
- Medium/ Dark Shade Range: for medium tan skin all the way to the deepest skin tones

I use the Fair/Light Shade Range in this product.  Two drops of this foundation were what I needed for light to medium coverage with this product, it does come out of the bottle white and then began to change color as I was doting it all over my face.  Working it into my skin with a foundation sponge developed the color more fully and applied it evenly all over my face.  The product feels nice and light going on and I do enjoy the texture of the Argan Matchmaker Serum Foundation.  It glides over my dry patches and doesn't settle into the dry patches on my cheeks, I use this with a primer underneath and this makes application very smooth and simple.

I am not a big fan of the pump bottle, I see this clumping in the nozzle and I believe that I will need to start opening the bottle and applying it to my skin with a Q-Tip.  Not my favorite way to apply this product...

This formula is a nice light coverage foundation, it never works up to much more than light-to-medium coverage and I needed a separate concealer on my red areas.  I tried building the coverage up with a second coat in target areas but this only made the product streak and look much worse.  This foundation is basically a glorified tinted moisturizer and I should have just bought the tinted moisturizer formula from this company instead.  I was looking for a medium coverage foundation and this product did not live up to my expectations, it is nice formula as a light coverage foundation and performs more like a tinted moisturizer than a full foundation.

I doubt that I would repurchase this product again as I could just purchase a tinted moisturizer and get the exact same coverage from it.  I was hoping for a product with better coverage and this one just did not live up to what I needed from it.

photo courtesy of Sephora