Illamasqua Matte Veil - review

Illamasqua Hydra Veil
Image coutesy of Illamasqua.com

Another review that has been a while coming, while I use (and absolutely love) the Illamasqua Hydra Veil (see review here), I don't tend to do many matte looks in the summertime, preferring minimum products and minimal finish to my skin in the warmer summer months.  As I wasn't sure about this one, I obtained a sample and have been trialling that the last week or so.

L -> R: Illamasqua Matte Veil, Illamasqua Hydra Veil
Image coutesy of Illamasqua.com

First-off, let's get this out of the way, I'm not going to get into comparing-and-contrasting the two Illamasqua Veil products (Matte Veil and Hydra Veil) - Illamasqua themselves have a great comparison post here if you're interested.

L -> R: Illamasqua Hydra Veil, Illamasqua Matte Veil

I will just say this: whereas Hydra Veil is a cooling gel that contributes to hydration in the skin, giving a slightly dewy glow to the skin, Matte Veil is more of a gel-cream, used to minimise oil, smooth-over pores and give a more matte finish to the skin.  They're intended to be used by all skin types, but if you have particularly oily skin, or parts of your skin which are oily, for example the T-Zone, then the Matte Veil would come into its own on those areas in particular.

To use it, just scoop out a pea-sized amount with the accompanying spatula (nice idea, but please please please put this into a tube Illamasqua!), apply it over the face with fingers or a brush (either or, both work fine), and presto, you've got a matte, and mattifying primer which I've personally found brilliant for my oilier patches, especially in the summer when my skin goes a bit nuts on the old oil front.

zoomed-in quite a bit... you can see that in the ringed section on the right, foundation is blended nicely (this took zero effort too, incidentally), whereas in the section on the left, the foundation is somewhat still sitting on the skin, and caught (and evident) in the hairs on the back of my arm

It really does lend a helping hand to makeup - foundation glides over this and blends far easier than if you were just applying directly to your skin, taking far less time to buff in, especially at the sides where your face is naturally covered in barely visible downy hair.  As with any good primer, make up lasts me longer (maybe a couple of hours longer), it applies easier, and I also find I'm using less foundation than I would without it (same as they Hydra Veil then).

It doesn't give you a dead matte finish, but I have tried it with a number of foundations (Illamasqua and other brands) and definitely have found that it dumbs-down any dewiness contained in those foundations - so yes, you can use it with other foundations, and yes, you'll get a slightly different finish with Matte Veil + Name Your Foundation than you would with just your "Name Your Foundation of Choice" and no Matte Veil.  Incidentally, I've also found that the Matte Veil will mattify your skin without eliminating any radiance/glow in the foundation you've pushed on top of it, so it'll eliminate any dewiness but not radiance.  Hence, not a dead finish.  Neat trick.

This is water-based, so will work better with water-based foundations, and it will also work with silicone foundations - but don't use it if your foundation is oil- or wax- based.  It doesn't contain any nasty ingredients (parabens) but it does seem to contain titanium dioxide, so watch out for flash-back.  I believe that £30 will net you a 30ml tub of this, same as the Hydra Veil.  Look here for my review of the Hydra Veil and here for more info on the Illamasqua site.