My favorite foundation(s)

I made a post a while back also about some foundations. I want to make a new one again with updated info. Currently I have two favorite foundations, both by Chanel: Lift Lumiere and Perfection Lumiere. One of my previous favorite foundations was Dior’s Diorskin Nude. However I find that, in the category of natural-looking foundations Chanel’s Perfection Lumiere clearly edges out Diorskin Nude in terms of lasting power, i.e. it has excellent lasting ability over many hours. For a look that is still quite natural but a little more polished, I go with Lift Lumiere. Lift Lumiere is more rich and has serum built in to it. If I have a day where my skin is tired, Lift Lumiere can work wonders.

Sometimes as a base I like to use a new product from Dior which is actually quite amazing: Dreamskin. Dreamskin is unlike any other product before. It has intense smoothing, illuminating, and evening-out features and it can be used by itself (after applying serum and moisturizer), or as a base for foundation.

Some products I tried recently which I didn’t like:

Chanel’s new CC Cream looks too greasy. This is probably by design because of the broad spectrum SPF sunscreen. If its a summer day and one is not going for a glam look but more something to cover the skin while playing volleyball at the beach it might be good. But I found it too greasy and glisteny for something I would want as a light alternative to a full-fledged foundation. In fact, if I’m concerned about sunblocking, I’d prefer to use regular foundation and Chanel’s excellent UV Essentiel.

Recently I also gave some natural cosmetics a go, including Gabriel Cosmetics’ ZuZu Luxe Oil-Free Liquid Foundation and Suki Skincare’s Tinted Active Moisturizer. I’m glad to see companies trying to make more natural alternatives to cosmetics. I found that both of these products look great when applied initially. However they simply don’t have the lasting ability that products like Lift Lumiere or Perfection Lumiere have. In order to be able to maintain the same flawless look throughout the course of a day – which may last up to 12 hours – I would have to cleanse and reapply these products multiple times. Obviously this is not something I am going to do. And while they look good for the time after they are initially applied, when they enter the breakdown stage as the product reacts with sweat and salt on the skin and with the environment, they actually look worse. So its not just that they stop looking great after the initial phase, they actually have to be taken often eventually.

Unfortunately too I haven’t found any natural concealers that come remotely close to what a concealer like what Chanel’s Correcteur Perfection can do.

I did not mention the Dr. Hauschka foundations here because I find that their colors are simply too off. I cannot find a shade that is close to my skin. Perhaps this is because the products are designed for northern European caucasians’ skin where the level and intensity of sunlight is very different than the lower latitude (37.8 degrees) where I live.