I am a full face makeup kind of girl. I never leave the house without my face on, never. I was even doing my makeup in labor with my daughters so I wasn't leaving the house without it to go give birth. Might sound extreme, but I just feel more comfortable and put together with at least a little foundation and some lip gloss on. Not only do I feel more comfortable with it, I love to play with new makeup and try new looks. Most of the time, I go for neutral looks that can go with everything, and while I do wear a full face of foundation, powder, mascara, a little eye shadow and lip gloss, I can get it done in less than ten minutes (unless you ask my kids and husband, I'm sure they'd say I take forEVER, haha!). I strongly feel that if you're going to wear makeup, your foundation has to be good. It needs to match your skin tone, and wear nicely. I've had a staple foundation brand and color that I've been wearing for the past ten years or so, but I do like to experiment with other brands every now and then, because with all of the new products out on the market every day, you just never know when you're going to find something that might work even better for you.
I've been trying out Laura Mercier's Suprême Oil Free Foundation lately. As someone who wears foundation almost every day, I was thrilled to be able to sample this and share my thoughts with you all. This foundation is available in twelve shades, ranging from porcelain ivory to rich sienna. I'm incredibly pale, so I opted for the Porcelain Ivory, the lightest shade available.
This foundation retails for about $42 per 1 oz/29 ml bottle.
I was happy to see that this foundation comes in a pump top bottle. I use a sponge to apply my foundation and it's so easy to just pump a little on to the sponge this way. Not to mention it's much my hygienic no matter what you use to apply your makeup. This way there is nothing to contaminate the entire bottle. I also feel that a pump is less messy. I don't know about you, but there have been times I've been a little clumsy and knocked over a full bottle of my favorite foundation while the cap was still off, or since I use a sponge, gone to shake a near empty bottle to get some out onto my sponge, only to have it fly out of my hand and a trail of foundation go flying across the room and making a huge mess. Pumps, are so much nicer!
The key ingredients in this foundation are Aloe Bardadens, to soothe and refresh skin, Green Tea Leaf Extract to act as an antioxidant and for it's astringent properties, Vitamin E for moisturization, Vitamin A as an antioxidant and moisturizer, and for helping to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines. Pantenol is included as a hydrating agent to help improve your skin's natural moisture balance, and silica to absorb oils and smooth out the appearance of the skin. All in all I'd say these ingredients work well together and this is a wonderful foundation. It applies smoothly to my skin, and I can feel the soothing ingredients immediately upon application. I have acne and blemish prone skin, so I appreciate the soothing and the moisturizing as I often end up with dry skin as well.
This is a full coverage foundation, which is something I appreciate as well. You can apply it lightly or layer it for more heavy coverage. As I mentioned, I personally use a sponge, but you could also use your fingertips or brushes as well.
You can see a small pump of the Porcelain Ivory on the back of my hand here. I did find that this foundation is a bit more of the yellow side, at least in this particular shade. It was a bit too yellow for the skin on my face. I am wondering if perhaps I need the next shade up which is Blush Ivory, as my skin tone tends to be more pink than yellow. The yellow does neutralize redness though, just a bit too much in my case so that it doesn't match for me. I wonder if mixing the two would work for my face? It might be worth a shot!
Other than the shade being a bit off for my skin, I absolutely love this foundation. The finish is soft and matte. The coverage is fantastic, it is long wearing (lasts all day for me!), I love the soothing feeling it leaves on my skin, and how smoothly it applies. I have found myself reaching for this and using it more as a concealer since the yellow tones down redness where I need it, but then using my regular foundation as well.
*I received one or more of the products mentioned above for the purposes of this review through the above mentioned company or representing PR agency. In the event of a giveaway, the prize is shipped by the sponsor and I hold no responsibility. Thank you for reading!
