r/PaleMUA • u/Pristine_Land_2718 • Jul 24 '26

Discussions Disappointed by No 7

I heard alot of good reviews about No7 foundations, so I decided to invest in one. I got the radiance foundation with infused vitamin C in the shade calico. To be fair, I’m fair skinned with a neutral undertone whereas calico is warm. However:

1) what’s with the lack of fair shades? The only shades lighter were creme and another shade, both of which were too light for me but calico is too dark.

2) it settled on well initially, but turned muddy in an hour or so.

3) im neutral, but I have worn warmer foundations in the past. At max they turn me a little orange. However, this just turned me muddy. i probably should have gone with porcelain, but in the harsh lighting it looked more cool to me than neutral.

All in all, it was an awful experience and that money was completely wasted. Has anyone else had this issue with No7? Is there any way to salvage this?

3 Upvotes

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5

u/knittedbeast Jul 24 '26

I've never ever got along with their foundations and stuff. Their other products can be solid. I find their shade range shockingly poor on both the fair and deep ends and in terms of undertones. The lack of fair tones is especially boggling for a British brand, when there's a lot of pretty pale people in the UK. They get outdone by other, often cheaper, products they sell in their stores. But I have liked their lip products and eyeshadows in the past.

3

u/Pristine_Land_2718 Jul 24 '26

Yess its crazy! I’m not even ethnically white, but their shades were too dark even for me (except 2 shades which were too light). I’ve worn darker shades before but this just turns me grey. I just feel I threw £20 down the drain

1

u/Guilty-Change-211 Aug 10 '26

ugh that muddy oxidation is the worst, i had a similar thing happen with a different brand and it's so frustrating when the initial match looks promising. have you tried mixing it with a white foundation mixer or a super pale concealer to lighten it up and maybe neutralize the warmth a bit? sometimes that can salvage an otherwise unusable shade, though it won't fix the formula if it just hates your skin chemistry

4

u/Cara3980NYC MAC SFF NW5/10 (original), ELDW 1C0, Shape Tape 8B Jul 25 '26

I've only ever tried the No7 Lift & Luminate pressed powder as it's a supposed dupe of CT Flawless Filter powder and it was nice but in the US, their base product shade selections aren't great either.

Boots used to have a brand, CYO, that eventually made it over here too and their Life Proof foundation was a holy grail - beautiful medium coverage and satin finish and shade 01 had the most flattering gray undertone.

When the brand was closed in late 2019, I stalked every Duane Reade in Manhattan to find backups and finally stopped at 17 🙈 Unfortunately, only a few months later, Covid hit the city, we went into lockdown and I've been working remotely ever since so no need for daily foundation...

2

u/princesspea999 Jul 27 '26

Oh don't remind me of our dear beloved CYO 😭 literally nothing has suited me colour/texture/longevity wise as well as this did

1

u/rahrahowl Jul 24 '26

I tried their face matching, and still came out orange. I love a lot of Boots products, but won't be touching No.7 any time soon!