In this review I’m going to compare L’Oreal True Match foundation and L’Oreal Infallible 24hr foundation. If you’re reading this, I imagine you’re doing what I did two days ago; standing in front of the L’Oreal counter trying to decide between two different products. When there are no testers in some countries still because of Covid, the decision is even harder than it ever used to be.

I have bought L’Oreal True Match in the past, so I already knew that my perfect shade in L’Oreal foundations is Ivory (the palest neutral shade they offer). This made life a lot easier for me and meant I was able to confidently choose the right shade of both products to do this review comparison.

If you want to know whether to buy L’Oreal True Match or L’Oreal Infallible 24 hour foundation, read on to find out which is right for you.

What it looks like

Here’s the front:

The back showing the description:

The top showing the shade and shade numbers (the same colour has different numbers on different foundations; the True Match Ivory is 1.N and the 24 Hour Infallible Fresh Wear Ivory is 20:

SPF

Both foundations had some SPF which was good. The L’Oreal True Match has SPF 17, which will work if you use a day cream with an SPF but probably isn’t enough to be ideal by itself. The L’Oreal Infallible 24 Hr Fresh Wear has SPF 25 which is a respectable amount that most people could safely wear on its own in a British or Irish summer.

Claims on the packaging

The L’Oreal True Match claimed it had hyalauronic acid as one of the ingredients, which should have made my skin look better after I applied it. The L’Oreal Infallible 24 Hr Fresh Wear claimed to have “oxygen technology” but I don’t really understand what that’s supposed to mean and it didn’t elaborate anywhere on the bottle. The obvious interpretation would be that skin could breathe through the product, and I definitely didn’t feel like it was clogging my pores or sinking into the lines on my face (although it did sink into the lines on my fingers).

Ease of use

Both foundations were easy to use and packaged in identical push-top pump bottles with plastic lids. The packaging has been redesigned compared to my last bottle of L’Oreal True Match in 2016 which had a huge lid that cracked one day, causing foundation to fill my bag while I was in class.

The improved packaging doesn’t look stronger, but a smaller lid means that the glass bottle is doing more to protect the foundation, as well as meaning the product’s plastic footprint is reduced.

Next I’m going to talk about the pros and cons of each foundation separately, before I bring all my thoughts together at the end.

L’Oreal True Match

What it looked like on my face

What it’s good for

L’Oreal True Match is good if you want a product that blends into your skin tone to achieve a flawless transition from your neck to your face. It’s still as good today at tone-matching as it was when I first bought it in 2014. It’s also got quite good coverage and made my skin discoloration disappear quite well, so if you have freckles, rosacea or blue circles this will help. If you have greasy skin or younger skin than mine, this is the one for you. If you struggle to find a foundation to match your skin tone, this is perfect. My husband said there was no visible difference between my face and neck  in natural light and asked if I’d blended it better (I half-assed the blending if I’m honest about it).

What it’s not good for

L’Oreal True Match is not good for enlarged pores, as it cakes around the edges of them, and the same is true of spots. I have really clear skin but this foundation left me looking like I was having a minor breakout around the side of one nostril because of the way it caked around my pores in that area.

It’s also not great for women with mature skin. I’m 35 and I don’t like the way that L’Oreal True Match settled into my lines and made me look 5 years older than I usually look.  It also seemed to sit on the surface of my skin, making it look caked and dried out. I dread to think what it would have looked like if I’d used a full pump instead of half. You might find these effects less noticeable if you have darker skin than me as the shadows will not be as high-contrast.

L’Oreal Infallible 24 hr Fresh Wear

What it looks like on my face

What it’s good for

L’Oreal Infallible 24hr Fresh Wear is good if you want a product that goes everywhere you go. What I mean is, if you go out in the rain, L’Oreal Infallible will cover you. At the gym? Sorted. A busy day chasing two under three? This is for you. The staying power is phenomenal and my make up still looked as fresh at the end of the day as it did in the morning. I didn’t notice any caking with this product and it didn’t dry out on the surface or settle into my lines too much over the course of the day. If I had to do a blind test I would have guessed this was the product that contained hyalauronic acid (it doesn’t) because my skin looked fresh and hydrated. If you want a dewy finish, L’Oreal Infallible 24hr Fresh Wear is fabulous. If you prefer a matte finish, I’d lightly dust a powder over the top or use the powder-to-cream version (which I haven’t bought or reviewed).

What it’s not good for

Ironically, everything the L’Oreal True Match does well, the Infallible 24hr Fresh Wear does badly on my face. So I definitely needed to work hard to blend the Infallible 24hr Fresh Wear from my face to my neck and it never fully blended. It also is not for you if you’re doing something e.g. a lot of makeup reviews in one day and need to remove/reapply your makeup fast. Its strength is that it doesn’t budge. I wouldn’t use this one when you want to take it off and put it on again repeatedly.

The bottom line

Ultimately, it depends on your skin type, activity level and age as to which of these L’Oreal foundations is right for you. L’Oreal True Match is perfect if you’re under 30 and don’t have many fine lines to worry about, and it’s excellent if you’re short of time for blending your neckline because you won’t really need to. L’Oreal Infallible 24hr Fresh Wear is ideal if you’re age 30 to 40 and need a hard-wearing foundation that can keep up with your busy schedule. Both foundations had excellent coverage and I’d recommend both of them if you need a full-coverage foundation, but my preference, based on my age and skin type, was for the L’Oreal Infallible 24hr Fresh Wear.

Not sure these are right for you? Check out these two K-beauty BB creams if you prefer lighter coverage.

Need help figuring out your foundation shade? This explains it all.