Makeup by Mario’s SurrealSkin is a great foundation for people looking for a dewy, lightweight foundation that offers buildable, medium-to-full coverage. It’s easy to apply and blend, and a little goes a long way, which is a bonus given how expensive this foundation is.
Its shade range isn’t quite as good as NARS, Fenty Beauty, or MAC but it’s not far off, with 30 shades. This includes a decent selection of seven shades at the darkest end of the spectrum.
Finish-wise, this foundation can leave the skin looking a little flat but because it has a hydrating, flexible formula that moves with your skin’s natural creases, this isn’t as bad as it could be. It also plays really well with all the cream and powder makeup products we’ve layered on top, so the flatness is easily remedied.
Due to all the oil and hydrating ingredients, this foundation didn’t last long on my oily skin. As the day went on, it melted off and left the skin feeling slightly greasy to the point where redness started to appear again. On the plus side, this makes the foundation perfect for dry skin and a number of our followers on TikTok have raved to us about how well it sits and lasts on the skin for hours.
It is slightly problematic that the brand wants to be inclusive and accessible, yet its prices put the products out of reach for many people. This isn’t unique to Makeup by Mario of course, but it is worth pointing out.
We should add though that despite all this, we have continued to use this foundation even after the review period finished. It’s still our go-to foundation, especially when we’re going out, and if we touch it up during the day with powder, the great coverage we love so much on the first application lasts much longer. For us, this is a sacrifice we’re willing to make.
Buy from Sephora 3 July| Sephora (from 3 July) | £35 |
In our Makeup By Mario Foundation UK review, we test its coverage, finish and staying power to see if it lives up to the hype and is worth the high price tag
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How we tested Makeup By Mario SurrealSkin Foundation
Makeup by Mario Foundation UK Formula
If you haven’t heard of the Makeup by Mario brand yet, it’s a collection created by world-renowned celebrity makeup artist, Mario Dedivanovic.
Mario has worked with some of the biggest names in show business, including Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, and Rihanna.
In fact, it was his contouring technique made famous by Kim Kardashian that thrust him into public view for many of us.
Dedivanovic reportedly started working on the brand three years before launch in 2020 and he said at the time that he wanted to create a line of makeup that was high-quality, easy to use, and accessible.
The brand’s first, and bestselling product was the SurrealSkin Foundation but it’s taken until now – July 2023 – for it to finally go on sale in the UK.
This is despite the majority of the rest of the range – powders, bronzers, highlighters, eyeshadows, lipsticks, and more – being readily available at Sephora UK.
But is SurrealSkin really worth the hype, and its high price tag? Keep reading our Makeup by Mario foundation review to find out.
We recently started a major foundation group test in the hunt for the best foundation – you can see the current rankings here.
Buy from Sephora 3 July
mamabella | mamabella There are eight Face products in the Makeup by Mario range currently available in the UK. In addition to the SurrealSkin foundation, these include:
The brand recently launched a new cream blush called Soft Pop Plumping Blush Veil. It’s a cream blush balm that contains hyaluronic acid to hydrate and plump skin with a “veil” of colour. This is yet to launch in the UK, although we’re hoping it will launch on 3 July at the same time as the SurrealSkin foundation.
Prices across the Makeup By Mario collection range from £26 to £55, although the majority of Face products cost in the region of £30 each.
Buy from Sephora 3 July
mamabella | mamabella What is Makeup By Mario SurrealSkin Foundation? Makeup by Mario’s SurrealSkin Foundation is a buildable, medium-to-full coverage foundation designed to look like skin. It is formulated with something the brand calls MoistureGrip technology, which helps to hydrate the skin and prevent it from drying out.
Makeup by Mario Foundation UK price: £35 (30ml)
Shade range: 30
Base: Oil
Coverage: Medium, buildable
Finish: Natural
Who should use Makeup by Mario Foundation? Suitable for all skin types, including sensitive skin, but is particularly good for dry, and mature skin.
Where to buy: Available from Sephora on 3 July
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mamabella | mamabella For our Makeup by Mario foundation review, we used it as our go-to foundation for six weeks. Anytime we wore makeup, which is about three times a week, we used the SurrealSkin foundation alongside our regular makeup routine faves.
Our current routine consists of the Oui Cherie Hydrating Gripping Primer, Beauty Pie’s Pure Ceramides eye gel, the Makeup by Mario Sculpting Stick, and Skin Enhancer, and The Beauty Crop concealer.
By swapping in just the Makeup by Mario foundation and not changing anything else, we could more easily identify how our base changed, in terms of coverage, oiliness, finish, and more, when using this foundation.
As part of this test, we monitored the SurrealSkin foundation’s staying power i.e how the coverage and finish lasted throughout the day, what our skin looked like in the morning versus the evening, and how easy it is to remove.
By testing this foundation for a month, and not changing anything else, we could also see what impact it had on our skin and if it caused spots or similar.
mamabella | mamabella We took the Makeup by Mario online shade finder and were recommended shade 5N, which is at the top end of the Light shade category. On first application, the colour looked too light but as you can see in the before and after image below, as well as our review video here, it blends out well and is a much closer match to our skin tone than many other foundations we’ve tried.
Its consistency isn’t too thick, or too thin. This not only means it feels lightweight but it almost melts into the skin, and a little goes a really long way.
Seriously, one pump is more than enough for our face. It doesn’t leave the skin feeling dry, not greasy, or oily. It feels hydrating and moves well with the skin, especially with the fine lines around our eyes and lips.
We’ve tried a number of ways to apply this foundation and the best results came when we brushed it on lightly, using a stippling foundation brush before pressing it into the skin with a damp beauty blender. It has a tendency to streak a little when applied with a flat foundation brush, but it buffs out beautifully with a fluffy foundation brush.
The still image below shows how the Makeup by Mario Foundation looks before and after application, and how it photographs on the skin.
mamabella Coverage-wise, this foundation errs on the medium to full side. Even if you use a tiny amount. This will be great if, like us, you need extra coverage for redness and uneven skin tone, but not too much because of our wrinkles and fine lines. However, if you’re after a sheer, natural-looking foundation, SurrealSkin may not be for you.
The benefit of all this is that the foundation provides an even base. It does have a slight tendency to make the complexion look a little flat, but adding a bit of bronzer or blush immediately lifted it so this is a minor point.
Sadly, the finish didn’t last very long on our oily skin though. Within a couple of hours, it started to melt off and feel a bit greasy and by the end of the day, the coverage was all but gone. Even when set with powder and setting spray. This is also despite the fact the foundation’s formula contains silica, which usually helps products mattify skin.
That said, followers on TikTok have raved about how well this foundation lasts on dry skin, and how hydrating it is.
If you’re looking for the best foundation for oily skin, click here.
WANT MORE FOUNDATION REVIEWS? Il Makiage foundation review | MAC Studio Fix Foundation review | IT Cosmetics foundation review | Estée Lauder Double Wear review | TLM foundation review | We’ve ranked Boots No7 foundations from worst to best | We’ve reviewed and ranked the best Charlotte Tilbury foundations
Makeup by Mario’s SurrealSkin is a great foundation for people looking for a dewy, lightweight foundation that offers buildable, medium-to-full coverage. It’s easy to apply and blend, and a little goes a long way, which is a bonus given how expensive this foundation is.
Its shade range isn’t quite as good as NARS, Fenty Beauty, or MAC but it’s not far off, with 30 shades across five categories – Light, Light Medium, Medium, Medium-Dark, Dark. This includes a decent selection of seven shades at the darkest end of the spectrum.
Finish-wise, this foundation can leave the skin looking a little flat but because it has a hydrating, flexible formula that moves with your skin’s natural creases, this isn’t as bad as it could be. It also plays really well with all the cream and powder makeup products we’ve layered on top, so the flatness is also easily remedied.
Due to all the oil and hydrating ingredients, this foundation didn’t last long on my oily skin. As the day went on, it melted off and left the skin feeling slightly greasy to the point where redness started to appear again. On the plus side, this makes the foundation perfect for dry skin and a number of our followers on TikTok have raved to us about how well it sits and lasts on the skin for hours.
It is slightly problematic that the brand wants to be inclusive and accessible, yet its prices put the products out of reach for many people. This isn’t unique to Makeup by Mario of course, but it is worth pointing out.
We should add though that despite all this, we have continued to use this foundation even after the review period finished. It’s still our go-to foundation, especially when we’re going out, and if we touch it up during the day with powder, the great coverage we love so much on the first application lasts much longer. For us, this is a sacrifice we’re willing to make.
Want more foundation reviews? Estee Lauder Double Wear review | MAC Studio Fix review | Giorgio Armani foundation review | NARS Light Reflecting review | Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin foundation review | Huda Beauty foundation review
Buy from Sephora 3 July
@victoria_woolly_web 🛍️ 3rd JULY PEOPLE 🛍️ I’ve been so keen to try the Makeup by Mario SurrealSkin foundation but it’s not officially in the UK yet and shipping it over or buying from a third-party was 🤑🤑🤑 so THANKFULLY I’ve now tried it 🥳 it’s really nice – good coverage, radiant, lightweight. Did gather a bit in my dry patches but lasted all day 9/10. Not an ad but was gifted #mamabella #makeupbymario #surrealskinfoundation #foundationreview #makeupbymariouk #oilyskinmakeup #makeuptiktok @makeupbymario ♬ Strong Woman
The Makeup by Mario foundation makeup formula is ram-packed full of ingredients designed to hydrate the skin. Firstly, it’s an oil-based foundation that suits dry skin because dry skin is lacking in oils. Secondly, it contains squalane, grape seed oil, sunflower seed oil, glycerin, and coconut alkanes. All are well-known moisturisers.
There aren’t any ingredients that stand out as being too problematic – although if you have oily skin, the amount of extra oil in this foundation may give you cause for concern. As may coconut alkanes.
In some formulas, and sadly it depends on the formula as a whole rather than individual ingredients, coconut alkanes have been shown to be comedogenic. This means it can cause clogged pores and this can lead to spots. In our time testing this foundation, we haven’t experienced any more breakouts than we normally would.
Buy from Sephora
The following list of ingredients is taken from the INCI Decoder website. You can hover over each ingredient to find out more about it.
The numbers next to each ingredient represent its Irritation Rating (the number to the left of the comma), and then Comedogenic Rating (to the right of the comma).
Both ratings are scored out of five and the higher the number, the higher the chance of it causing irritation, or comedones (spots). Green means it has a low rating so is less likely to cause problems. Yellow and red numbers represent high ratings and are more likely to cause problems.
sii|h 0 0, Disteardimonium Hectorite vc, Boron Nitride, Dimethicone emo 0 1, Sodium Chloride vc, Glyceryl Caprylate pres, Silica vc, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate emo, Sodium Dehydroacetate pres, Levulinic Acid perf, Sodium Levulinate, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Tocopherol 
aox 0–3 0–3, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil aox|emo, Squalane sii|emo 0 1, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil emo 0 0, Sodium Phytate chelHover the mouse / tap over an ingredient for short explanation. Read more on INCIDecoder.
Victoria is founder and editor-in-chief of mamabella, freelance journalist and Mum. She has a passion for empowering people to feel beautiful whatever their age, size, skin type and budget
