Have you ever felt personally victimized by a brand’s ads on Instagram or TikTok? In my case, the brand is IL MAKIAGE. These days, I can’t scroll through my feed without seeing yet another video or photo calling me to try one of their products.
What’s been their pull in, lately? Helping you find your exact match for their signature WOKE UP LIKE THIS foundation ($45.00) based on their perfected questionnaire. Their ads have been all over my feed for years, but it wasn’t until recently that I finally gave in.
The PowerMatch Quiz
The first step is to take their infamous PowerMatch quiz. It asks all the common questions: what is your skin type, what kind of coverage you are looking for, and the finish you want from a foundation. But when it comes to picking what tone your skin is , the quiz goes a bit further by providing three slides of pictures, allowing you to pick exactly which skin tone you most closely resemble.
Next up is undertones. If you don’t know your undertones, don’t worry. They walk you through the process of figuring out exactly what it is by asking you unique questions about which jewelry looks better on you, what color your veins are, and if you burn easily—all to figure out the exact color you need.
But, the quiz doesn’t stop there. Next, it asks you about how you apply foundation, how you prep your skin, how often you wear foundation, what brand you are currently using, what your skin concerns are, and your age. This is done all in the name of finding a foundation that matches both your skin and your habits/routines.
Is It Really the Perfect Match?
Once you finish the lengthy quiz, you receive your results (after putting in your email, of course!). I was matched with shade #20 of the WOKE UP LIKE THIS foundation and #2.5 in the F*CK IM FLAWLESS concealer. After experiencing a bit of a shipping situation, in which their customer service was very quick and super helpful, I finally received my product. The entire time they made sure that I understood what was happening via email. In my experience, customer service was a 10/10.
The absolute best thing about IL MAKIAGE is that they let you test out their products for 14 days, free of charge. If you send the products back within the trial period, then you don’t get charged. Whatever products you decide to keep, you get charged for those products only.
I automatically started wearing the foundation and concealer every day in order to really test it out before the trial period ended. The shade #20 was not an exact match for my skintone, but it was pretty close. I was able to wear it without looking crazy, and the first couple of days I really liked how it looked. I thought I had found my new IT product.
Unfortunately, about three days into trying the foundation and concealer out, I broke out in a slight rash on my forehead. Now, I will note that I had tried a few new products that week so I wasn’t exactly sure that it was the IL MAKIAGE products. However, I took a pause on all makeup products to give my skin some love. After the rash had pretty much gone away, I retested out the products.
While I did not break out again, I did start to notice that the formula did not love my skin. I have dry skin to begin with, however, the foundation started to wear off strangely, looking patchy and orange. It made my skin look drier than it already is. While the product skin match wasn’t terrible, the reality is that the formula was not well-suited for my skin.
The Final Verdict
With that all said, I decided to return my products. Thankfully, the return process was super easy. You simply go to your confirmation email and click return. From there, it walks you through the whole process.
While IL MAKIAGE’s foundation didn’t work out for me, I 100% recommend trying the PowerMatch process out. It’s no harm, no foul. If you don’t love your products, you can simply return them without being charged. And, who knows, maybe you will find the perfect product for you! I wish that more brands offered trial periods for their products like IL MAKIAGE. If they did, I would definitely be more inclined to try new products out!
What other beauty brands do you get targeted ads for on social media? Let us know on our Instagram (@readthetease) and maybe we will try it so you don’t have to!
