Putting the new Maybelline Urban Cover Foundation to the test to discover if it’s well and truly a dupe for the  famous IT Cosmetics CC Cream. Survey says…?

Hello there, dreamers! If you’re into makeup at all, you’ve more than likely heard a thing or two about the IT Cosmetics CC Cream. It has a cult following and – rightly so. High SPF, full coverage, super strength lasting power. Seriously, it’s a tried and true favorite with good reason.

So when I spotted the new Maybelline Dream Urban Cover foundation online, I was instantly intrigued. By design, it read and appeared like a potential dupe for arguably the world’s most famous CC cream by IT Cosmetics. I promptly snatched this up off the Ulta website and have been putting it to the test for two weeks now.

Maybelline Urban Cover Foundation = IT Cosmetics Dupe?

Straight off the bat, I want to say: No. The Maybelline Urban Cover Foundation is not a dupe for It Cosmetics’ CC Cream.

While it’s very likely that Maybelline was hopeful it would qualify as a dupe…it’s safe to say in my book that it’s not.

All that said, I don’t want you to feel like you should totally write off this new foundation from Maybelline because it is quite good.

In fact, it’s pretty great.

So before you walk away from this new drugstore foundation completely, I hope I can keep you around for just a few moments more to share some of the product’s strengths. In the end, you might find that the Maybelline Urban Cover foundation is worth a try in your world. It’s definitely an affordable option with a boatload of SPF in it.

Keep on reading for the FULL scoop!

Maybelline Dream BB –> With Improved Coverage and SPF

If you’ve been a reader on Dream in Lace before, you might have caught me raving a time or two about the Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream. While I never really got along well with the Fit Me and other Maybelline foundations, this tinted moisturizer has become an absolute staple in my makeup routine and I honestly don’t know what I’d do without it.

It’s what I turn to on days when I want to even out my skin tone but not go the full foundation route. It’s incredibly light-weight and virtually undetectable on the skin. Add to that a very long wear-time and I’m basically over the moon in love with it.

So when I tell you that the Maybelline Urban Cover Foundation is essentially the same thing – but with an improved SPF and better coverage? You better believe I’m telling you that with a smile. I love the way the foundation kicks things up a notch, but maintains that light-weight feeling I so love about the Dream Fresh BB product. Not to mention, when worn with a primer it wears for comfortably for an impressively long time.

Medium Coverage? Yes.

Full Coverage? No.

Here’s where I get a little confused by Maybelline and start to think their marketing team did their very best to present the Dream Urban Cover foundation as an It Cosmetics CC Cream dupe…even thought it’s not.

The foundation is blatantly marketed to be “full-coverage” when that just simply isn’t the case.

Instead, I’d say this is a light-to-medium coverage product. It definitely will do a great job at evening out any redness and can be built to cover blemishes, but there’s still going to be a fair amount of your real skin shining through. All-in-all, that is not a bad thing by any means…but to say this is a full-coverage foundation is pretty laughable.

(Psst, if you’re looking for a true full-coverage foundation, check out this review!)

SPF 50 and Great for Summer

I obviously can’t speak for everyone, but in my work situation — I have to jet around quite a bit in the summer months. There’s a fair amount of time spent outdoors in the summer heat. There’s also a lot of bouncing around throughout the workday. As such, an SPF is absolutely essential in my summer makeup routine and I really appreciate Maybelline stock-piling the Dream Urban Cover foundation with an impressive SPF 50.

Obviously that won’t protect your skin through an entire workday. You’ll need to follow up with more product or top off with additional SPF as you make your way through the day…but it’s a great step above the SPF 30 included in Maybelline’s Dream BB that I love so much.

How Does it Look and Feel On the Skin?

Maybelline’s Dream Urban Cover foundation has such a beautiful, natural finish. It both looks and feels like real skin – which is a definite plus in these hot muggy months. After all, no one wants to walk around in the sweltering heat feeling like they’ve got clown makeup on. No thank you!

The foundation formula is incredibly light and it applies very easily with a beauty sponge or blending brush. I’ve been topping it off with the Maybelline Fit Me concealer followed by a translucent setting powder (usually ELF or Laura Mercier’s) and everything stays looking and feeling great throughout a full day. Thank goodness!

Shade Range: 16

Currently, the Maybelline Urban Cover foundation is available in 16 shades. That’s actually four more than that IT Cosmetics CC Cream, which has twelve shades at the moment.

Unfortunately, it seems those with lighter skintones will have a much easier time finding a true color match than those with deeper toned skin. The lighter shades come in a variety of undertones and shade variations – where there are just a select number of darker options.

Frankly, I’m getting really tired of seeing this happen again and again. There is no excuse for it in 2019 and I sincerely hope Maybelline expands the color range in the near future!

Ingredients:

Active: Homosalate 10.0%, Octisalate 5.0%, Octocrylen E 4.0%. Inactive: Water, Dimethicone, Propanediol, Alcohol Denat., Niacinamide, Vinyl Dimethicone/Methicone Silsesquioxane Crosspolymer, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, PEG-30 Dipolyhydroxystearate, Tocopherol, Caffeine, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Polyglyceryl-4 Diisostearate/Polyhydroxystearate/Sebacate, Magnesium Sulfate, Phenoxyethanol, Disodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract, Aluminum Hydroxide, Fragrance, Limonene, Benzyl Salicylate, Citral. May Contain: Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides.

Maybelline Urban Cover Foundation Rundown

• Widely available at drugstores, supermarkets, Target, Walmart, Ulta and of course Maybelline directly
• Price ranges from $10.98 to $12.99, depending on retailer
• 16 shades available
• Medium coverage
• Lightweight, breathable formula
• Tube packaging
• SPF 50
• Contains dimethicone for smoothing over imperfections

The Pros

• • Incredibly, almost impossibly, lightweight
  • Impressive amount of protection from the sun with SPF 50
  • Applies very easily and blends smoothly
  • Strong lasting power, requiring little to no touch-ups
  • Tube packaging will limit waste of product
  • Widely available and affordably priced!

The Cons

• Contains a fragrance. It’s mild and unoffensive, but pointless nonetheless
• Poor color selection for deeper skin-tones
• Absolutely not full coverage, as advertised

Overall Grade: A-

All-in-all, I REALLY enjoy the Maybelline Urban Cover foundation. Yes, the marketing team totally LIED about the foundation being full-coverage…but in the end I really do love this. Probably most of all, I love that this is a foundation that absolutely does not feel like a foundation at all. Quite the opposite, really. I feel as though I’m applying a tinted moisturizer, but with much better coverage!

If I were Maybelline? I would have squashed the attempt to model the product as a dupe for IT Cosmetics CC cream. As a totally failed dupe, it’s diminishing how wonderful the product they have on hand actually is!

Maybelline, hire me. I’m happy to develop a much more honest marketing plan that celebrates what the product really delivers! *wink wink*

Interested in more drugstore makeup info? Read my round-up of Humidity-Proof Drugstore Makeup that’s perfect for the summer season, here

SHOP THE POST

Maybelline Dream Urban Cover Foundation

Maybelline Website  *  Target  *  Ulta  *  Walmart

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Kelly

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