“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is how the old adage goes, and for many longtime fans of the original Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Foundation, the full-coverage formula wasn’t broken. That includes our editor in chief, Jessica Cruel. “It’s my top pick when I have to be on stage, whether that be at a speaking engagement or on live television. The original formula was a fail-safe for flawless, full coverage that could stand up to HD and 4K cameras.” It also includes one of my best friends, Emy, who has worn Double Wear for nearly eight years. “It’s long-lasting, it doesn’t transfer onto my clothes, and it’s full coverage without looking cake-y,” she says. But the reality is that Double Wear launched in 1997. Cosmetic chemistry has improved exponentially since then, and very few formulas have remained unchanged for this long. For Estée Lauder, it was time for an update.
The brand had a long checklist when developing Double Wear 2.0: a more fluid, spreadable, and layerable texture; a more dimensional, skin-like finish; and more stable and true-to-skin shades. Ultimately, the goal was to create a new formula that would attract people who weren’t fans of Double Wear in the past. As a longtime fan, my friend Emy loves the full-coverage formula and instant matte coverage, but there’s a cohort of people who found it to be too much (myself included). “Double Wear is not my everyday pick; it’s best when you need a formula that will last,” adds Jessica. “This reformulation is an attempt to bring more makeup wearers into the Double Wear family, including those who left the product when they felt it settled into fine lines and wrinkles.”
At the Los Angeles-based launch party for the foundation, the brand shared that the update has been in the works for a while. And while Estée Lauder also explained that the reformulation wasn’t due to changes in EU ingredient regulations, it’s interesting to note that the new formula no longer contains cyclopentasiloxane, an ingredient now banned in Europe, and the reason other major brands have had to reformulate recently.
I asked cosmetic chemist Amanda Lam to review the ingredient list of both the original and reformulated Double Wear versions. “You are right, they did get rid of the cyclopentasiloxane formula and replaced it with a blend of other silicones (dimethicone, methyl trimethicone),” she says. “I also noticed they removed their water thickeners (xanthan gum and cellulose gum), and this may be due to the addition of sodium hyaluronate, which not only hydrates the skin, but also thickens in water and may be able to replace the previous thickeners.”
The brand also added to the formula. First, there’s the “polymer mesh matrix technology,” which Estée Lauder describes as a “breathable polymer system that acts like an invisible net,” allowing the foundation to move with the skin. The second is a complex they call “AlgaNiacin,” which Lam describes as “a proprietary blend that combines brown algae and niacinamide to decrease sebum production for a more matte and oily-skin-friendly story.”
