Covergirl Outlast Extreme Wear Pressed Powder: What Exactly Is It?

After a year of minimal mask-friendly and at-home makeup looks, low maintenance and easy-to-apply products have been in demand. One way I’m seeing brands answer that demand: full coverage powder foundations. They’re quick to swipe on and blend out, and their formulas have evolved so that you can actually expect decent coverage and long wear from them now.

The newest to drop at drugstores: the Covergirl Outlast Extreme Wear Pressed Powder.

Now straight off the bat, I’m going to admit that this product did confuse me a bit. It’s not labelled as a foundation, but a “Full Coverage” powder that can last up to 16 hours with a transfer-resistant, flawless finish with no caking or cracking. It sounds like a product you’d wear on its own, no? But the brand actually recommends:

Apply pressed powder over your matching shade of COVERGIRL Outlast Extreme Wear Concealer to set your look, or pair with COVERGIRL Outlast Extreme Wear Foundation for a life-proof look.

So… is it a foundation or a setting powder? Why would I put a full coverage powder over other products that are giving me coverage? The marketing definitely leaves room for confusion on how it was really intended to be used, but I tested it by itself to see if it could deliver on its claims without the support of other products.

I picked up the shade Natural Beige, which is the third from lightest in the range of eight options total. It was slightly warm on me, but not too far off. As far as coverage goes, I really wouldn’t classify this as full— you could definitely still see blemishes and even lighter discoloration/hyperpigmentation spots on my cheeks. I had to layer it up to get solid medium coverage, and using the included sponge worked better than my dense Real Techniques Expert Face Brush to pack on the product.

For a powder, the coverage was decent all things considered and it left me with a very smooth, matte finish. I did feel like I needed to layer it up to reach the same level as the L’Oreal Infallible Powder Foundation, though I could get equivalent coverage.

Watch the video at the top of the page to see how it performs throughout the day!

Throughout the day, I was extremely happy with how the powder was wearing. Just like it claims, there was absolutely zero cracking or creasing— even in my deeper expression lines on my forehead and my laugh lines.

The powder stayed flexible on the skin which extended that smooth look all the way through the ten hours I wore it. While my t-zone did get oily throughout the day, it didn’t seem to actually disturb the powder. I didn’t get any breakdown or separation though some shininess was visible.

This powder claims to be transfer-resistant, and while transfer was absolutely minimal, I did get a bit on the inside of my mask near the nose wire.

Now despite the finish staying smooth and the coverage only fading slightly, there was one thing I noticed while checking my makeup throughout the day that could pose a problem. The shade of this powder seems to get warmer after it’s applied.

Above you can see two swatches: the left swatch was applied 20 minutes before taking the photo, and the one on the right is fresh. As time goes on, the powder appears to have a much stronger orange/yellow undertone that is really obvious. So whether you use this as a foundation or a setting powder, you’ll want to keep the tone change in mind when choosing your shade.

Overall, I think this product could be used two ways: as a powder foundation when you don’t have a ton to cover (despite it claiming full coverage), or as a setting powder for foundations when you want a slight boost of coverage and a really natural-yet-mattified finish that lasts.

You can find the Covergirl Outlast Extreme Wear Pressed Powder at Walmart for $10.

Have you tried the Extreme Wear Pressed Powder, and how do you use it in your routine?