I was walking through the Shoppers Beauty Boutique I regularly go to when one of the sales associates came up to me and said "Hey! We have a brand new foundation in that will suit your skin tone! It works on my daughter and I know you have the same issues she does with foundations!". I of course had to immediately head over there. I was also of course holding an 18 inch pizza (because who DOESN'T have a massive pizza box with them at 730am?) making the shopping trip very awkward. But I was excited by the idea of a new foundation! And a foundation that only cost me $28? Awkward or not, I was trying this out!
Long story short, I bought this foundation. And I have NO IDEA if I like it or not. What they say about it:
Tested and approved by 97% of women,* the “new generation” foundation for a rested yet radiant complexion and a flawless, even result for up to 16hrs**
Its formula:
3 colour correcting pigments:
- Yellow pigments – conceals dark circles for a rested look
- Mauve pigments – corrects dullness for radiance
- Green pigments – neutralises redness for an even out the complexion
And it’s good for my skin!
- 24hr hydration**
- SPF 10
- Cotton Flower – hydration & anti-shine
- non comedogenic, lets skin breathe
As you an see, it leans a little yellow. Normally a first strike equivalent to three in my books. And normally an automatic pass.
But it sheers out nicely and doesn't look overly yellow on the skin.
Now here is how it looked on my in the store. Awful lighting throughout, but different awful lighting in every corner so I was able to get pics in all kinds of harsh and unforgiving lights.
And outdoors.
As you can see, the shade is a bit too dark for my skin as my neck is obviously a few shades lighter than my face. But not too bad.
PROS
- This is a really big pro. The colour correcting pigments WORK. Can I say this enough? I am wearing NO concealer, NO green foundation under this as I normally do (really, the Shiseido green foundation stick is a miracle worker) and I do not look red. It actually DOES cancel out all the red! And did quite a decent job on the dark circles as well, which is impressive as I have at this point in the day been up for 17 hours!
- While extremely pricey for a drugstore foundation (which is what Bourjois actually is), its a downright steal here in Canada compared to middle of the road brands such as Stila and Smashbox ($28)
- The wear seemed quite good. I had this on for only about 6 hours, but I did take a hot bath in that time and there was no wearing or patching off. And this was all with NO primer and NO moisturizer over top. No setting powder either. I am wearing the foundation and a benefit blush in these shots and no other anything.
- It feels completely light weight. It may be a medium to heavy coverage, but it feels more like a tinted moisturizer.
CONS
- Lousy shade selection. While they do have this very light shade (51) they only have 5 options. Meaning you are very unlikely to find your perfect shade. This is Light Vanilla and its a shade or two darker than it should be but manageable. But good luck with only 5 options!
- It ever so slightly oxidizes on the skin. The one who sold it to me was adamant it didnt, but it went from being the perfect shade on me to being about a shade in a half to two shades darker than my neck within 30 minutes.
- It leans yellow.
- Very limited availability within Canada. Only available in Canada at Shoppers Drug Mart as far as I know, and only 2 or 3 locations in my city have it. Making it slightly obnoxious to get if you aren't lucky enough to be close to a store that carries the line.
- Now this is a pro for many, a minus for me, but it DOES have SPF in it. Making it not ideal for any events or functions which might include photo ops.
Now, I am not sure where to put its packaging. I find it a plus, but many call a glass bottle a minus. I love the glass bottle, feels more sturdy and higher end, and I love that it comes in a pump.
Overall, I like it, I don't love it. I will wear it (though it looked better on my mom when I made her wear it this morning than it did on me) but I am not ready to sing its praises. Its............. fine? I have to give it a better shot, with primer and my own brushes and such. I do however LOVE its ability to hide redness and dark circles.
Let me know if you have tried this and if so, what do you think?