Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation Review & Swatches of Shades

Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay in Place Makeup 
(aka Liquid Foundation);

Price $37 for 1 ounce

Estee Lauder's Double Wear line has become a legend in the beauty world and having acquired a very consistent group of followers & die hard users.

Lauder has used the original Double Wear Makeup as inspiration to create a plethora of cosmetics including Double Wear Maximum Coverage Camouflage Makeup, Double Wear Light Makeup, Double Wear Stay in Place Concealer & Double Wear Stay in Place High Cover Concealer.

 The newest addition is the Double Wear BB Cream Beauty Balm, and of course, there are numerous eye & lip products as well, but what about the inspiration behind these products?

Needless to say, Double Wear has become a legend in the beauty world. Its one of the few foundations where you will often meet people who have been using it, religiously, for almost 20 years! It has been reformulated once or twice as new technology arises (of which Lauder's companies usually are some of the first to jump on), but for the most part customers have remained faithful.

Now, as the company has partially redirected their target customer, a new generation of women are discovering the appeal and mystique that is Estee Lauder.

Performance & Use:

Double Wear Stay-in-Place Makeup/Foundation claims that it will last an impressive 15 hours without peeling, caking or fading or changing color. For the most part, these claims all prove accurate. 

While most cosmetic companies do manufacture some form of a long-wearing foundation, it is painfully true that many have a horrible tendency to oxidize, are difficult to blend, or don't provide adequate coverage (be it too much or too little,) none of these common issues are present with Double Wear. 

Initially appearing as a thinner consistency liquid, it has just the right amount of slip to let you blend properly before setting to a demi-matte finish. It will provide medium coverage and is easily buildable to full. In many ways its genius is in its' simplicity- a long wearing foundation that works and is available in shades for every skin tone.

It's true that while this is a fabulous product, those who feel their life is dependent on it will be relieved to know that there are several, very similar, and just as effective products out there, since, as I mentioned, nearly every brand has their own version of a long-wearing foundation formula.

Double Wear Stay In Place Foundation is THE foundation Estee Lauder is known for- hands down. What is ironic, is the fact that Lauder is typically considered a brand which caters best to the middle aged, established in life, demographic, and this foundation would be best suited for younger individuals, or those who have oily skin.

It doesn't have a formula which is so drying it will exacerbate wrinkles severely, but it is about as far from a moisturizing formula as you can get, so those with dry skin beware and prep well. If you have normal-dry skin, you may find that this will work best as a summer foundation. I personally find that this type of matte finish works exceptionally well over a high SPF sunscreen as the matte neutralizes the sheen from the sunscreen very well.

90% of the time when I do use a product like this for my foundation, I will use a moisturizing concealer over it. The reason for this is, when the foundation begins to "crack" around my fine lines under my eyes, the concealer re-hydrates the foundation. The dry foundation also helps to set the concealer from beneath and often times it eliminates the need for any powder over the concealer.

 I find this application method to work much better than adding a long-wearing concealer to a long-wearing foundation since that is just piling on more of the same type of formula, although some of you with extremely oily skin may disagree and find it necessary to avoid any emollient properties all together.

If you look at the shades below, you will see that they do have quite an impressive array, with 31 shades in all. I was only able to swatch 29 of the 31 because one was out of stock and the other has just been re-released and hasn't been sent to all of Estee Lauder's distributors yet. (That shade is 1C0 Shell and is available on Estee Lauder's website. It is the lightest of all the shades in both Double Wear & Mac Pro Longwear Foundation  in case any porcelain princesses were curious...)

Mac Pro-Long Wear Foundation and Smashbox Studio Skin 15 Hour Foundations are almost exact dupes for Estee Lauder's version. The principal differences being the shade range & the SPF factor. Often times when these "similarities" pop up between parent companies, I will recommend going with one or the other because of a significant difference in price but in this case, the price point between Mac & Lauder is only a few dollars so it really would depend on which shade range you prefer.

(Mac's is more peachy, Lauder's more olivey, and  Smashbox Studio Skin Foundations is Cruelty Free.) 

Cool Shades              Neutral Shades           Warm Shades

1C0 Shell*

1C1 Cool Bone.       1N1 Ivory Nude.        1W1 Bone

                              1N2 Ecru.                   1W2 Sand

2C1 Pure Beige.      2N1 Desert Beige.      2W1 Dawn

2C3 Fresco.                                             2W2 Rattan

3C1 Dusk.              3N1 Ivory Beige.        3W1 Tawny

3C2 Pebble.            3N2 Wheat.                3W2 Cashew

4C3 Soft Tan.         4N1 Shell Beige.        4W1 Honey Bronze

                              4N2 Spiced Sand.       4W2 Toasty Toffee

5C1 Rich Chestnut* 5N1 Rich Ginger.       5W1 Bronze

                                                               5W2 Rich Caramel

6C1 Rich Cocoa      6N1 Truffle.                6W1 Sandalwood

6C2 Rich Mahogany                                    *not shown

You will have to imagine the picture rotated to the right 90 degrees to use the shade chart in a traditional Left-Right Manner. Sorry....

I did however try to place every shade name in its corresponding position when typing the list. (The one exception is 4C3 Soft Tan which is the one 4C shade.)

Cool Shades              Neutral Shades           Warm Shades

1C0 Shell*

1C1 Cool Bone.       1N1 Ivory Nude.        1W1 Bone

                              1N2 Ecru.                   1W2 Sand

2C1 Pure Beige.      2N1 Desert Beige.      2W1 Dawn

2C3 Fresco.                                             2W2 Rattan

3C1 Dusk.              3N1 Ivory Beige.        3W1 Tawny

3C2 Pebble.            3N2 Wheat.                3W2 Cashew

4C3 Soft Tan.         4N1 Shell Beige.        4W1 Honey Bronze

                              4N2 Spiced Sand.       4W2 Toasty Toffee

5C1 Rich Chestnut* 5N1 Rich Ginger.       5W1 Bronze

                                                               5W2 Rich Caramel

6C1 Rich Cocoa      6N1 Truffle.                6W1 Sandalwood

6C2 Rich Mahogany                                    *not shown

All in all, Estee Lauder Stay in Place Makeup/Foundation is a rare product in that it actually lives up to its claims. It has to get a certain amount of credit for that alone. It is a solid performer and has earned its followers, however, it is by no means the only product of its kind!

I took pictures when each swatch was wet and again when they were dry. While they did dry considerably darker than they applied, they did do a fabulous job of maintaining color purity once dry. Also keep in mind that these are heavy swatches so any peeling of dried drops is not a common issue.

Cool Shades              Neutral Shades           Warm Shades

1C0 Shell*

1C1 Cool Bone.       1N1 Ivory Nude.        1W1 Bone

                              1N2 Ecru.                   1W2 Sand

2C1 Pure Beige.      2N1 Desert Beige.      2W1 Dawn

2C3 Fresco.                                             2W2 Rattan

3C1 Dusk.              3N1 Ivory Beige.        3W1 Tawny

3C2 Pebble.            3N2 Wheat.                3W2 Cashew

4C3 Soft Tan.         4N1 Shell Beige.        4W1 Honey Bronze

                              4N2 Spiced Sand.       4W2 Toasty Toffee

5C1 Rich Chestnut* 5N1 Rich Ginger.       5W1 Bronze

                                                               5W2 Rich Caramel

6C1 Rich Cocoa      6N1 Truffle.                6W1 Sandalwood

6C2 Rich Mahogany                                    *not shown

You will have to imagine the picture rotated to the right 90 degrees to use the shade chart in a traditional Left-Right Manner. Sorry....

I did however try to place every shade name in its corresponding position when typing the list. (The one exception is 4C3 Soft Tan which is the one 4C shade.)