Wordiest title ever but also the most descriptive.
I’ll be honest with you: I could have sworn I did this post a month and a half ago. No, seriously, SWORN. Why? Because I had plans to review that Glamoflauge one, so sure I had posted swatches. Same with my CoverGirl Stay Fabulous- I’ve had that one for a while. I was going through old pictures on my phone (deleting the ridiculous # of selfies I take for these posts) and saw the swatch pictures and thought “Oh, I forgot I did this.” And then when I went to check to make sure they were up (before deleting the swatches and needing to totally redo them), I quickly found out they were not on the blog. Hrm.
But no fear: despite being taken in May, I’ll share them anyway, because I really don’t want to bother swatching any more. Also, sorry, I didn’t label these because they’re mobile pictures.
The foundations I have for you today are all “lightest shades” in a foundation line- and all drugstore. Par usual, these are in natural light via a window and then with flash (on the right). I list these top to bottom from wrist swatches, and from ear to chin on jaw and collarbone swatches (as I start swatching near my ear). In order, they are:
- Hard Candy Glamoflauge in 930 Porcelain. This is the lightest shade and looks warm-toned/yellow-toned. I know this isn’t called Ivory, but it’s even lighter than Ivory!
- Hard Candy Glamoflauge in 932 Ivory. Second lightest shade, but still lighter than most drugstore foundations. This is pinker in tone.
- Almay TLC in 120 Ivory. Possibly the darkest shade in the set, but the lightest shade from this line. Undertones are kind of harder to pick up for me. It’s cooler in tone but idk, it’s kinda peachy too.
- CoverGirl Outlast Stay Fabulous in 805 Ivory. Slightly more peachy-pink.
- Revlon ColorStay Whipped in 110 Ivory. To me this actually looks more neutral, although it’s been heralded as cool-toned. It’s lighter than the Almay and CoverGirl, actually.
Lucy Does Things 
I realize you made this post a while ago, but I was doing a search and your swatches came up (: I am, like everone else, on my lifelong mission to find the perfect foundation. I love the Covergirl 3 in 1 in 805. It’s the closest color match I’ve ever found..but I want to try something different. I have combo skin and would like to try things in different ranges of coverage. You seem to have quite the collection, so if you have any suggestions, I’m all ears.
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Hi Cheyenne! We have pretty different skin, so what works for me and what works for you will probably be quite different. Out of the ones swatched here, the closest match is the Almay TLC… which I have not reviewed (although I swear I have done a test… probably forgot to document!). This one I have needed to mix with an oil and did not like how it sat, so I’m unsure if it would be suitable for combo skin because it just felt… heavy. And you usually do not want heavy when you get oily in places!
Now, moving on to other drugstore ones:
The Hard Candy in 932/Ivory could actually work well for you, because it was too dry on my skin. They’re quite inexpensive, so that’s nice, too.
L’oreal makes some matte ones that could be okay, but their 101/301 colors are very pink, so the undertones could look off. CoverGirl 805 is more neutral, IMO. Their Super Blendable line is not very fair-friendly; C1 will most likely be too dark, W1 is too warm/yellow, and N1 is a bit too dark and saturated on me (so it might look quite orange on you, too- we might have similar skin tones!). You might like the formula, though, if you want to mix/lighten.
I really liked the color of Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless in 112, but the formula was too drying… on combo skin it might sit very nicely, so it’s worth a try.
Revlon ColorStay 110 might be too pink, but they may be worth a try if you find you’re slightly pinker than Maybelline 112 but not quite as pink as L’oreal Pro Matte 101 😛 Their new shade (Porcelain; 130) is yellower and I haven’t swatch compared them, but if you’re on the yellow side… maybe? I have their Whipped and their Dry/Normal variation, and the Dry/Normal would be better if you tend towards dry at all because even that is fairly matte on me.
You can also try the NYX HD foundation in Nude. I use it on days I don’t need a ton of coverage, but not only do I use it on my very dry skin, but a good friend of mine uses it, too, and her skin is more normal.
Now… K-beauty:
The Missha BB creams are some that I recommend to everybody because I find it sits quite nicely (and wears off well) from my dry patches, and if I happen to get oily for whatever reason (it HAS happened when I over-exfoliate my face- dehydrated and a bit oily), it still looks fine. I use their Perfect Cover, and I find I like it a bit more than their Signature Real, but I’d read more reviews of both before picking one out- you’d want shade #13!
For higher-end, I haven’t tried as much, and most have been really poor matches. I think KVD Lock It in 42 would be a bit too light and too pink (it also has terrible flashback on me). The Koh Gen Do stuff might work in 012, but I’m still iffy on those shade-wise. Tarte’s Amazonian Clay and the MUFE Ultra HD might be two foundation formulas to look in to, but I haven’t had enough experience with either one shade-wise to make a recommendation there either, but typically I”d say start at Ivory for the Tarte and possible Y215 or R220/230 for the MUFE one. NARS formulas most likely won’t have a shade for you (Siberia is VERY yellow; Mont Blanc always looks a bit dark to me).
And now that I’ve run my fingers off… sage advice here: if you have a formula that is good enough, learn to accept good enough. It’s okay to branch out, try new things here and there, etc… but do not buy several foundations at once trying to find a perfect one. Get Sephora samples if possible, or buy one at a time at the drugstore. Swatch things, really take time to understand how colors work AND how the formula works, and be prepared to research. But hold onto the “good enough,” because you will need a tried-and-true foundation in your life- at least until you find one better, and then you can switch out 😉
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