Essence Soft Touch Mousse Makeup – Review & swatches

Mousse foundation is a good option if you’re looking for feather-light coverage. Does Essence Soft Touch Mousse Makeup hold up to its claim? Read more to find that out.

Soft Touch Mousse Makeup
The Essence Soft Touch Mousse Makeup's super delicate mousse texture gives your face a smooth and natural-looking matt complexion while allowing your skin to breath freely. Available in 5 shades.

Essence Soft Touch Mousse Makeup

Essence Soft Touch Mousse Makeup

Essence Soft Touch Mousse Makeup 01 Matt Sand swatch. (note: it's my sisters hand; she has a lighter complexion)

Essence Soft Touch Mousse Makeup 01 Matt Sand (applied)

My thoughts
I’ve heard a lot of people complaining about Maybelline’s Dream Matte Mousse Foundation so I was curious to find out the reason why it’s clogs pores or cause breakouts. While I was looking for an answer, I discovered there are two types of mousse foundations; oil-based and water-based. How do you differentiate between the two on first look if there aren’t any ingredients mentioned? That’s easy! An oil-based formulation would look and feel greasy on application while water-based mousse sets to a silky matte finish with no shine to its appearance.

I checked the ingredients in the Mayebelline one and found that it has Hydrogenated Jojoba Oil and I read somewhere that bad quality jojoba oil is notorious for causing breakouts so I suppose that’s the glitch. The next thing, I googled for ingredients in Essence Mousse and found it’s neither oil nor water-based, it’s oil-free. Now I know it’s getting a little confusing but I have to share my findings with you. To put it simply, oil-free foundations substitute oils with other similar substances, such as silicones. The Essence one has a long list of silicones that we see in most of our primers and sun screens which clearly makes it unsuitable for skin allergic to silicone.

Now let’s focus on the product. This is my first encounter with mousse foundation. After lots of trial and error, I finally figured out the best way I could work with it. As the name says, it’s a mousse so it has a fluffy whipped cream texture. It comes in just five shades so getting your match depends on your luck. I got it in Matt Sand which looks like a complete different color in the jar; it gave me an impression that it might be touch dark for my NC 30 skin tone but on application, it wasn’t the case. Thankfully, it’s yellow-based so it appears pretty natural on me. Owing to its mousse properties, it provides a light to medium coverage and feels virtually weightless. It conceals some spots and blemishes but doesn’t cover them up completely so you can’t skip your concealer for a flawless look.

Talking about application, I say, it’s super easy. It goes on smoothly and turns to a matte powder-y finish after a while; it’s obvious that it’s not meant for dry skin type. It blends into the skin nicely however it tends to cake up if you build way TOO much so don’t attempt that if you’ve a combination skin. Also, it might settle down in expression lines or stick to dry patches if you don’t moisturize well. For oilies, the matte finish would last for up to three to four hours, but the good thing is that it won’t turn you into a greasy gloop by the end of the day. The longevity also depends on how oily your skin is. If it’s extremely oil, don’t forget to prime and set. I’ve used it a couple of times and I’ve noticed that it’s not transfer-proof. It rubs off my nose and T-zone so I definitely need to touch-up once in a day. In case you’re wondering, it hasn’t broken me out.

As I mentioned, it’s my first mousse experience so I wasn’t quite sure how to apply it. Finger application wasn’t an option as constantly dipping fingers in the jar contaminates the product so I used Sigma F80. F80, being dense, picked A LOT of product so that was a failed attempt. Then I used Duo Fiber F50 and it was a success. It picks just the right amount of product to work with.

Overall, for the price, it’s a nice product. It’s best suited for individuals looking for an even natural looking coverage with no-shine finish. If you want something handy and light coverage for daily wear or something quick while getting ready to work, this is something worth checking out.

You might like it if…

• You have combination to oily skin type.
• You expect a light to medium coverage.
• You want a foundation that feels light on the skin.
• You are looking for a foundation with matte finish.
• You expect an easy blending.
• You expect the matte finish to last for up to 3-4 hours.
• You want a pocket-friendly foundation.
• You want a foundation that doesn’t clog pores.

You might not like it if…

• You have dry to normal skin type.
• You think it looks cakey if built up too much.
• You expect it to be transfer-proof.
• You don’t find the jar hygienic.
• You can’t find your match.

My rating:

3.5/5

Essence Soft Touch Mousse Makeup comes with a price tag of PKR 590 and is available at Naheed, Chase up, Imtiaz III, Zam Zam and Vicky’s Cosmetic in Karachi. If you live in Lahore, you can find this at Enem and Al-Fatah (DHA, Liberty).

What do you think about it? Have you tried it?

PR sample(s) sent for review. This however has not affected my opinion at all. My loyalty is to my readers and being honest is my utmost responsibility. I have given my sincere opinion about the product(s) mentioned in the post. For more details, please go through my Disclosure Policy.

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