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Make Up For Ever – one of my favorite brands – recently released a new foundation, the Pro Finish Multi-Use Powder Foundation, and I was very excited to get to try it out.  Pro-Finish foundation is can be used either wet (for less coverage) or dry (for more coverage).

An important note about using it wet: when I spoke to a MUFE artist (at The Makeup Show), she said that when using it wet, it’s important to get the entire surface of the compact wet & completely emulsify the product – if you just dampen your sponge, the product will not apply properly.   I was still nervous about getting the powder wet, but I can now confirm that it will dry back to the original consistency – getting it wet doesn’t harm it at all.

I really like the packaging of the powder; as you can see, it’s all set up to use on the go and includes a mirror and a sponge.  The sponge has a separate compartment that has air holes so it will dry quickly.

Most of the year, my match in MUFE HD foundation is 120, though in the depths of winter I mix 117 and 120.  MUFE Pro Finish runs darker, so 117 is a perfect match for me.  Note that when applied wet, the color looks a bit darker, but it dries down to the original color.

I found that dry, Pro Finish has a really lovely texture; smooth and silky. Wet, it has a tendency to streak a little bit, but the streaks can easily be buffed away once it’s dry.  The foundation looked great – very natural – on the majority of my face, but I noticed some flakiness and dry patches near the corners of my nose and on other dry patches; I think my skin is a little too dry at this time of year for this foundation (or any powder foundation) to work well on those areas.  I expect that this would work best on normal to oily skin, though I of course do not know how well it controls oil.

So, at this point in the review this foundation seems like a solid choice; best for me during summer, perhaps, but a really nice foundation.  And that’s what I thought midway through my testing.  But, then I put two and two together, and came up with a problem.  My eyes had been stinging and hurting for a couple nights in a row after I removed my makeup – I had assumed it was contact related, but after getting this foundation in my eye, I realized that it has an ingredient that irritates my eyes very badly.  When I was removing my makeup at night, I was getting foundation in my eyes & irritating them.  I normally apply all foundations right up to my lashline, because I usually don’t wear undereye concealer – just foundation. I’ve probably tested dozens of foundations, and never had a problem before. So, I took a look at the ingredients (& asked some friends who know more about cosmetic ingredients generally):

Ingredients: Talc, Mica, CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), Diethylhexyl Succinate, Silica, Nylon-12, Zinc Stearate, Polyethylene, CI 77492 (Iron Oxides), Hydrogenated Lecithin, Trimyristin, CI 77491 (Iron Oxides), Ximenia Americana Seed Oil, Aluminum Hydroxide, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Caprylyl Glycol, CI 77499 (Iron Oxides), Tocopherol, Aqua (Water), Stearic Acid, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice Powder, Sodium Hyaluronate, Silica Dimethyl Silylate

I know it’s not anything that’s found in several other foundations I wear without irritation, I know it’s not anything in my daily sunscreen (this one by Josie Maran, which I wear in the eye area as it’s all physical), I know it’s not anything found in most eyeshadow — so we figured out that it’s almost certainly the Ximenia Americana Seed Oil, which is an unusual ingredient.

Let me be clear: There is nothing wrong with MUFE Pro Finish Foundation’s ingredients; I’ve read many reviews where other bloggers used it without problems. I just happen to (probably) have a sensitivity to this one ingredient.

I debated for a while whether to blog about this foundation at all; ultimately I decided that I tested out the foundation enough to write review it aside from the eye irritation issue. And, I wanted to blog about the eye irritation issue too, so if someone else experiences it, this pops up as a result if they search, and helps them figure out what the irritant is.

So, overall (and perhaps surprisingly), I would actually recommend this foundation to those with normal to oily skin – it looks very natural, is long lasting, and has a fantastic color range.   No, I won’t be using mine, but it is a really nice product.

*I was given the Pro Finish foundation courtesy of Make Up For Ever and The Makeup Show.   This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.