Anyhow, if you follow me on Instagram (btw, my username is annsleyw), you'd probably know that I posted a photo of the Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation awhile ago.
And here's a story to go with it.
The reason why I did that was because I got asked by a Makeup Artist (from a high end brand) what foundation I was using whilst I was out shopping! How awesome is that?! I was just browsing her counter at Myers and she came up to ask me whether I needed help. I said that I was happy browsing and would let her know if I needed any help. She hestitated for a moment before bursting out with her question: "What foundation are you wearing? It looks so good and natural on you!".
After that, I could not help being smiley faced afterwards. I told her it was the Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation and we sort of had a little chat about the foundation. It made me feel so chuffed about it that I couldn't help posting a picture of the foundation on Instagram! For the record, I expressed to her that I had made a slight detour while doing my errands so I was not out for leisure shopping. She was still very friendly and helpful when I did ask her about her brand's products even though I was not there to shop! I can really get used to good customer service!
Now, for the product review. This product is inspired by the BB Cream aka Beauty Balm trend where you use the foundation to obtain flawless natural looking skin. Whoever wrote the write up was spot on! This foundation is a medium to full coverage foundation. Despite it being medium to full coverage, it gives the illusion of perfect natural skin. It will hide most of your flaws without accentuating it- it is as if someone photoshopped you without you piling on the makeup!
As with natural looking skin, the finish is not matte. However, it is not super glowy either. Think of it as naturally radiant skin. I like to use it with the Caudalie Beauty Elixir (more on that another day) because this combination gives the best effects for a day-long makeup. Generally, I'm the sort of girl who only does her makeup at home. Out of home, the most I do is to re-apply my lip balm, gloss or lipstick (whatever I am wearing that day). I don't mess with my face too much so I usually get oily in my T-zone after awhile. With this combination, I don't have any problems with looking oily at the end of the day. No touch-ups too!
And now that my Caudalie Beauty Elixir is completed depleted, I still enjoy using this foundation with the Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Translucent.
The packaging is a squeezy plastic tube so you can control how much product you want. The plastic packaging makes it very travel-friendly too. Highly recommended for butter fingers and frequent travellers! ;) It comes in 24 different shades so it is easier for you to get a more accurate colour match. I use 8.5 which is described as "Olive Yellow Undertone". The colour matches me pretty well and I'm glad that they have such a wide range to cater to the wide demographics of consumers. There is nothing worse than to share a good product with someone to find out that there isn't a size or colour etc. for them. I'm usually the recipient of such luck so I can commiserate with others who feel like that. :S
I squeezed out roughly a pea-sized amount of foundation onto my hand and tried to let it slide on my hand to show how runny or thick it is. As you can see from the picture above, this foundation is not the runniest or thickest formula out there in the market. I would say that you may find this foundation hard to work with if you use a regular foundation brush. It is not the easiest foundation to blend and buff out and you may find yourself using more product than you care to use on a daily basis.
Well, the good news is... You really don't need a lot of product if you are just after a nice even skintone on a daily basis. A little goes a long way especially when it provides such decent amount of coverage. The trick is: USE WATER. Users of the Beauty Blender will find that they don't have such problems and how I do it is to use my Eau Thermale Avene Spray! After squeezing a small amount of foundation (roughly a pea-sized amount), I dot the foundation around my face (forehead, left and right cheek, nose, around my nose and chin). Then I use the Avene Spray to spray onto my Real Techniques Buffing Brush or Sigma F88 Flat Angled Brush, and I buff and blend away! It works a treat and there you go!
The foundation is meant to work on all skin types and I have combination-oily skin. I will definitely recommend it for those on the lookout for natural-looking foundations that have medium-full coverage since most natural-looking foundations tend to have low or low-medium coverage. It costs 27 pounds and is available on www.illamasqua.com which offers international shipping. Alternatively, Australian consumers can purchase it at AUD$41 at www.myer.com.au or Myer stores in Melbourne or Sydney. Unfortunately, there are no Illamasqua counters at Myer stores in Western Australia.
Hopefully there will be more foundation reviews coming up! Though I haven't posted up new materials, I have been trying a lot of products that I can't wait to share with you all!
Thank you to my new and regular subscribers (Blog and YouTube) for the love!
Many hugs and kisses,
annsleyw :)
