Hello my lovelies,
I happened to be in London for work the other week and so found myself drawn to Selfridges Beauty Hall on my way home with my friend Geo as both of us happened to be looking for a new foundation.
At first, we ended up at MAC (of course), mainly because Geo had never bought anything by MAC before and wanted to test out some concealers and foundations. However, for some reason neither of us were overly tempted by what was on offer, me because I already own Studio Fix Fluid, Geo because she couldn't find anything that matched her idea of the perfect foundation. So...I suggested heading over to the Ilamasqua counter, because there isn't one anywhere near me (um hi Lakeside, fancy opening a store? Yes? Please?) and also because I was extremely intrigued by the new Skin Base foundation.
There have been umpteen blogger reviews of this foundation so you've probably heard it all before - based on BB creams, has a million shades, developed for over 3 years - and to be honest you could pop over to the
Ilamasqua site to satisfy your thirst for information as it is more than helpful.
Having read millions of these press releases and reviews, I went over and hovered in front of the foundation display for approximately 30 seconds before catching the eye of a lovely shop assistant, Kirin. She was immediately helpful without being pushy, really easy to talk to, and before long we were happily discussing Skin Base and what I'd read about it as though we had known each other for years. Kirin was honest, which in itself is unusual for an SA in my experience, as she answered all my questions without fail and even told me that she personally finds it needs to be set with powder in order to last all day (whereas other SAs have told me a foundation is infallible only for it to slide off my face after two hours' wear) as well as revealing that she feels it requires concealer to achieve full coverage.
She was also incredibly knowledgeable about the shades and their undertones, and most impressively did not try to force a darker shade on me when I told her specifically I preferred lighter shades on my face (whereas other SAs *cough*Chanel*cough* have matched me to terracotta shades more suited to, say, my Indian dad). Following this, she swatched the foundation on both of us and gave us umpteen tips on application, ranging from her preferred application style to others that would suit different skin types.
I was just so impressed by her approachability and honesty as it was so pleasantly unexpected after my previous counter experiences, although she did tell us that they no longer work on commission so perhaps this allows them to be more objective?! In all honesty I was sold on the foundation probably before even approaching the counter as I'd read so many reviews, but Geo was completely new to the brand and we both purchased a bottle. Since then I've been compiling our separate reactions and thoughts on the foundation and will write a post on all these in detail after we've used the foundation for about a month or so.
I can however tell you that the colour is spot on - they range by tone rather than shade and I picked a perfect neutral, contrasting with my pinky Estee Lauder and yellowy Studio Fix - and the consistency is lovely, not too heavy, not too greasy. I do need to experiment with different application techniques, as I find it does not apply at all well with a regular flat foundation brush. I probably need to purchase a good stippling brush - maybe ELF? - because so far I've been applying with fingers but feel it needs a bit more to look absolutely flawless.
Here are two (horrifically scary, massive) photos of me wearing Skin Base - as you can see, freckles are still visible but it's good for evening out skin tone. I do need extra concealer on top to cover blemishes, as you can see in the second picture!
For reference I am a MAC NW20!
What do you think of Skin Base, if you own it? Any recommendations for good application/brushes etc?
xoxo
