TSABD Edit: NEW DARKER Shades of Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless & Fit Me Loose Finishing Powder w/ Demo

So I’ve already reviewed the Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless foundation so if you’re looking for my thoughts on that, make sure you check out this post and this post where I swatched more of the darker shades. Today I’m just going over the new deeper shades the brand recently launched in the formula.

With the addition of the new shades, Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless is now a 40 shade range foundation. But of course anyone who peruses drugstore makeup aisles often enough knows that there just isn’t room for all 40 shades of a brand’s foundation to fit in the displays. Nor will it make sense to have all the shades at every store. The process of a brand making shades and a particular store ordering specific shades for sale isn’t really a collaborative effort from what I understand. In speaking to many people who work for mass market brands, they can’t tell a store which shades to stock. But I’m always left baffled sometimes while perusing drugstores in my area because it’s like, “um, whoever is ordering the shades—are you taking a second to actually LOOK at the people who come in your store?” I tell this story all the time, I live in a predominantly Black neighborhood and while one drugstore does a better job than the other, there’s one store that only ever seems to stock the lighter shades. I’m talking not even something that might match Beyoncé. Yeah, they have a small selection of Black Radiance and Black Opal but it seems they don’t care to restock or even try to order the newer items. But the big brands like Maybelline, Covergirl, Revlon, etc? BARELY any dark shades if even. There is a store about a mile or two away that does carry a good selection of darker shades and it’s in a neighborhood that’s even less Black than over here. It baffles my mind.

I wound up buying these shades from Walmart.com’s buy online, pickup in store service. This made it less frustrating than having to roll up in there and only find a few shades and then having to try to drive to another store. They were $5.94 each and I may have also received a small discount for buying online and picking up in store (I say may have because I was ordering quite a few other things besides makeup and I know SOMETHING was discounted…lol).

Anyway, Maybelline is owned by L’Oreal which to me made a very disappointing decision to fire transgendered model Munroe Bergdorf after she spoke out against white supremacy and racism. If you’re not aware of the story, you can google it and read up. Munroe is also on social media so you can read her direct comments on the matter which she posted during the firing. You can obviously make your own decision about whether you will continue to support the brand or not, but for me it’s complicated as a blogger whose content caters to women with deeper skin tones. It’s like “wow, here’s a brand with a good foundation that costs $6 that has new shades that can work for a good percentage of my audience” on one hand but on the other hand it’s “but lawd, the brand is owned by a company that in their firing of Munroe Bergdorf seems to want diversity to increase profits but not really stand for the people they’re trying to market to.” I’ve written before about being even more conscious of the brands I support (read it here), and that of course has not changed for me. I said then it was complicated and it still is. Ultimately, I decided to show the swatches and will allow you to decide if you want to buy it or not (which is basically any review anyway…lol). A $6 drugstore foundation with various options for darker skin is definitely something this blog needs to show and it’s so complicated. It’s like if no one buys it will another mass market brand also come in and create a shade range like this? (rhetorical question)

There’s just so much involved here.

There is a Foundation Finder on the Maybelline site. I matched myself to 360 Mocha when I reviewed it in March of 2014. I could also rock with 365 Nutmeg (there’s a slight nuance in shade—365 has a teeny bit more red in it but sometimes I can take a foundation with a bit of red in it although my undertones are neutral). 365 might be an even better match for me as I can sometimes get a bit more red in undertone when I tan. It’s great to have two shades that can work for me during different times of the year from a drugstore brand. You can see the other foundation shades I wear here.

Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Shade 360 Demo

(there’s no sound so feel free to watch this almost anywhere)

Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation Demo Dark Skin from Danielle Gray on Vimeo.

I didn’t do a demo on shade 365 because at the time of filming, I hadn’t realized that 365 could be a viable option for me since I already knew 360 was.

There aren’t undertone descriptions for the shades on the Maybelline site, but I used the Foundation Finder to figure out which ones lean more cool, neutral, or warm. I usually examine foundations myself to figure out the undertones, but #aintnobodygottime…lol.

356 Warm Coconut (Warm)
358 Latte (Warm)
362 Truffle (Warm)
365 Nutmeg (Neutral)
368 Deep Golden (Warm)
370 Deep Bronze (Cool)
375 Java (Warm)
380 Espresso (Cool)

(and here’s how I got these undertones from the Foundation Finder)
COOL

NEUTRAL

WARM

I do find the shade range to be impressive especially for a mass market brand, but I do think there is room for more shades on the deeper end of the spectrum. I do appreciate that I have two shades I could possibly wear, but I would like the same for those who are darker than me.

P.S. If you prefer a dewy finish, check out the Maybelline Fit Me Dewy + Smooth foundation although as of now it doesn’t have as many shades as the Matte + Poreless.

P.P.S. I’ve already reviewed the formula for the Fit Me Matte + Poreless foundation so make sure you check it out here and see swatches of some of the other deeper shades here.

Bottom line: Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless is a nice performing matte finish foundation with an impressive shade range (there of course could be more shades on the deeper spectrum). If your makeup budget is tight, this would be an option to look at if you like liquid foundation with a matte finish. You might want to buy a separate pump device though because if you get a little overzealous, this one could spill out.

Price and where to buy: MSRP $7.99 (it’s $5.94 at Walmart). Head to maybelline.com for store locations as well as where to buy it online.

Maybelline Fit Me Loose Finishing Powder

I also picked up the three deepest shades in the Fit Me Loose Finishing Powder. I was actually surprised to see this kind of packaging in a drugstore powder. It almost looks luxe! The square shape may feel kind of awkward, but it’s sturdy and the top stays on so you don’t go spilling powder all over the place.

Official description:

Now fit happens from start to finish! This silky lightweight finishing powder has a hint of color for a seamless natural look. Fit Me® Loose Finishing Powder is a mineral-based formula designed to help control shine and smooth skin’s texture with a hint of color. This mineral powder provides the perfect finishing touch to your makeup base.

I really liked these powders—they’re not as finely milled as my current fave Laura Mercier Translucent Powder in Medium/Deep, but shoot, I paid maybe $6 for each of them and they performed well enough. I bought shade 30 Medium/Deep to set my highlight—I definitely wouldn’t bake with it because it came out super light, but a light dusting wasn’t so bad. Shade 35 Deep was the closest match for a regular setting powder for me. It worked out okay as well and performed well, but it’s not going to replace my current fave. I was happy to see that shade 40 Dark is dark enough to use to set with deeper skin tones that might wear the 370, 375, and 380 shades in the Fit Me Matte + Poreless foundation. Sometimes brands skip a deeper setting powder so I was happy to see this.

(I didn’t bother swatching these on my arm because when I did you couldn’t really see the colors—you see the colors better in the picture above)

These powders are nice and a great option on the drugstore level. I also love the Black Opal loose setting powders as well on the drugstore level.

Price and where to buy: MSRP $7.99 ($5.94 at Walmart). Head to maybelline.com for store locations as well as where to buy it online.

Have you tried Fit Me? If you now have a shade match, would you buy it? Tell me in the comments!