Rimmel Bases - Which Is Best?

Which Rimmel base product is better - Wake Me Up or Match Perfection? I have an extensive collection of foundation and concealer. I like to have a choice as to what kind of coverage, effect, wear-time and feel I have on my skin and I change it up regularly. With that in mind, it is no surprise that I have two of the base products (with the matching concealers) from Rimmel's range. I asked myself one morning last week which I actually preferred whilst deliberating as to which I wanted to wear for the day, while both are great foundations, they excel at different things.

Wake Me Up

The Wake Me Up foundation (£8.99) is promoted as being great for awakening the skin and giving a healthy, wide awake glow and radiance to the skin. I bought this purely due to this marketing if I am totally honest. Being very pale with large dark circles means that if I am remotely tired, my skin is the first place that shows it. So this sounded like the perfect product for me. 

Where this foundation does give the skin added radiance and makes the complexion look dewy and youthful, the level of coverage is minimal, so dark circles and redness definitely need a helping hand from another product. I tend to reach for this when my skin is having a good day and I want a light-weight foundation that just makes me look like I have great, hydrated and clear skin when I need just a little help in evening out my skin tone. 

As for the concealer (£5.49) boasts to be an anti-fatigue effect concealer which is full-coverage. I don't agree with the description of this quite as much. Yes, it works well and making the eye area appear more awake, but it isn't what I would describe as being 'full-coverage'. I add this on top of a full-coverage concealer to illuminate around the eye area for the anti-fatigue effect, or I'll wear it on its own when my dark circles seem to even out (which doesn't happen that often in all honesty, but it's lovely when you wake up, look in the mirror and think 'hey, I actually don't look exhausted!').  

Match Perfection
Match Perfection (£6.99) deemed by Rimmel to provide 'traceless coverage' with the aim to produce 'a perfectly flawless you, no matter what the light.'. Big claim, Rimmel. Big claim. But does it deliver? In a word, yes. This blends into absolute perfection on the skin, you cannot tell that it has been applied once it has been buffed into the skin and it most definitely evens out the skin tone and helps to conceal any flaws. It does also provide a radiance boost to the skin, however not quite as much as Wake Me Up does. This is the one I reach for when my skin is not having a particularly good day and I need some extra help.
The Match Perfection Illuminating concealer  (£5.99) is a tough one for me. It claims to be a 2-in-1 concealer and highlighter, which I do agree with as it is good at concealing and illuminating around the eye. It is a higher coverage than the Wake Me Up concealer which on days where my dark circles need serious covering, works well. The thing I don't quite like? The applicator. I despise the integrated brush. It is so horrible for applying and it is really messy. I just don't like it. I have ended up applying it to the back of my hand and then patting it on to wherever needs concealed. I would really love it if it were in the same tube with the doe-foot applicator that Wake Me Up is in. Rimmel, if you're reading - it would make this concealer perfect. Just saying.

The Verdict
Both are great for different things. Wake Me Up is best when you need minimal coverage and just need a little bit of a boost, and Match Perfection is brilliant for flawless coverage when you need more help. If I were pushed to choose a favourite I would say Match Perfection for foundation because it blends into nothing and looks like you just have really good skin. However Wake Me Up wins for concealer purely on the basis that I much prefer the applicator and I would rather use two products to give more coverage than use the one product with that horrible integrated brush.

Have you tried either of these? Which do you prefer?