Until recently, my foundation posts have been swept away into an abyss due to the overwhelming presence of my beautiful Estee Lauder Double Wear. Since discovering this beauty I haven't had eyes for any other foundation, convinced nothing could beat my holy grail.
However, prior to my trip to Portugal last month I finally decided I needed to buy myself a cheaper foundation - I was that girl who decided to get a spray tan before she went on holiday (I absolutely don't tan a single bit), and needed to buy a foundation that was 2/3 shades darker - knowing full well that I'd only wear it after a spray tan, which happens a maximum of once or twice a year.
I did a bit of blog scouring and found that the Revlon Colorstay foundation seemed to be popular, especially with people wanting a long wear, medium-heavy coverage which matched my Double Wear. Unfortunately I accidentally bought the version for Normal/Dry skin instead of the Combination/Oily that I was planning to, but I ended up amazed by the results it gave and have repurchased in my usual close-to-white skin colour! As the two are so similar, I thought it would be useful to do a little comparison - Expensive vs. Drugstore, and see which I prefer!
Price
Starting simple, the Double Wear costs £28.50 for 30ml, and Colorstay costs £12.49 for the same amount.
Packaging
Both foundations come in glass bottles - the Double Wear (shown above) has frosted glass which adds a certain touch of expense to the bottle and shows that it's a cut above the usual drugstore products. I've had to add a MAC pump (see my post here) in order to dispense the product better so not to waste any, but this also has a shut mode so acts as a lid.
The Colorstay also has no pump but I haven't found a pump that fits this bottle so I do feel like quite a bit of product is wasted when I use it. To be honest though in all other ways this packaging looks a lot more high end than it's £12 price tag and I think the glass bottle gives it a definite edge above plastic bottled foundations.
Skin Irritation
One of my big things about foundation is whether or not it's going to set my skin off - I'm extremely prone to breakouts and any kind of change can mess up my skin balance, so I have to pick my foundations carefully. I have to say though, neither of these foundations caused any kind of effect on my blemishes so my skin is obviously in favour of both!
Coverage
Another factor for me is the coverage - because of my past trouble with blemishes I have a lot of those awful red marks that lots of teenage girls will be familiar with - the hyper-pigmentation left after a blemish that can take up to a year to fade. This means I tend to wear full coverage foundations, but because the rest of my skin is improving I've started to experiment with medium coverage as well. I would say the Colorstay is a medium, maybe medium-full depending on what you're used to. It won't cover hyper-pigmentation completely but will only need a tad of concealer to back it up - whereas the Double Wear is without a doubt full coverage - my skin still has a way to go before it hits perfect and this means I have practically zero need for concealer! Neither has a cakey tendency and will look fairly natural as long as you don't over apply - both can look dodgy if you pack it on (which I guess is common sense really..) so just go minimal and you can always add more!
Staying Power
The last comparison I wanted to make was the staying power - the Colorstay has a rather unbelievable claim of 'up to 24 hours wear' and the Double Wear is obviously famous for it's staying power. The Double Wear is definitely superior for stay - it lasts a full day from wake up to bed with almost no movement whatsoever, meaning absolutely no need for top up. The Colorstay does last the day but there's a noticeable difference between wake up and bed - for a flawless look, a top up of concealer would be needed half way through the day. Despite this, it lasted a surprising amount of time and far outdoes any other drugstore foundation I've tried!
In conclusion, the Double Wear is clearly the better foundation - that's to be expected from a foundation £16 more than the Colorstay. However, the Colorstay still holds its own in the battle of foundations and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a cheaper, medium-full coverage foundation as a Double Wear dupe with a little less coverage!
