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Back in the mid-2000s, there was no such thing as TikTok or YouTube. You couldn't pull up a beauty vlogger tutorial to figure out how to match your foundation or apply it correctly; for one, dial-up internet would have made the process practically impossible and monolithically slow.
If you wanted to change up your face makeup, you either headed to a department store counter to get matched by a Clinique rep or something of the sort or tried your luck at the drugstore with a product like Maybelline's Dream Matte Mousse.
Dream Matte Mousse foundation, which is still available today, was a revolution at the time it launched, circa 2005. It had a unique spongy texture and came in a cute little pot, unlike the traditional pump or open-top bottle foundations. It was accessibly priced and easy to apply with your fingers, but perhaps the original iterations weren't the most advanced formulas of all time, as evidenced by some funny parody TikToks about the 2000s icon.
User isabelgalv posted a very relatable video for anyone who used the product back in the day, posing as her younger self hearing her mom say she needed to go upstairs and blend her foundation better. The original Dream Matte Mousse had a tendency to oxidize and turn orange on the skin, as clearly shown in her video. But a few TikTokers saw potential in the throwback video and wanted to know if they could make the foundation look good over a decade later.
One such trial video comes courtesy Kaitlin Brandon who shares that she hasn't used the product since eighth grade. Though Brandon noted the nostalgic smell of the foundation, she was pleasantly surprised with the final look after applying it.
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Another beauty guru getting their hands on the infamous product is Alyssa Lorraine, whose "Trying foundation I used in high school" shows off the unique texture of the mousse foundation, which she calls "fluffy and gooey." She applies it with her hands (and thankfully doesn't get any under her nails!) and finds that the final result "looks pretty good, actually." We can't argue with that!
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Makeup artist Rose Siard also tried reapplying the foundation, saying that to use Dream Matte Mousse successfully in 2022, you need to prep your skin with something better than the (now controversial) '00s mainstay St. Ives's apricot scrub.
Instead, she applies Squigs Beauty Double Shot Face Serum to her skin first for a tacky base, then adds foundation on the high points and warms it up with her fingers before blending it in with a brush. "Look! It matches and I'm not orange," she says. "It didn't look like this on me in 2006."
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We're fairly certain the new product has a different formula that doesn't turn neon orange the minute it hits your skin, but it's so fun to see how a 2000s icon gets the 2022 treatment with a few updated tips and tricks. My high school self would have been so thankful.
