We once discussed what the most important product of a beauty regime is; what is worth splurging on and what would we truly struggle without, simultaneously settling on foundation (runners up: mascara (J) and concealer (N)). Flawless skin really is the ultimate goal for any Bella, isn’t it? While this is achievable via the use of bronzers, blushes, contouring, highlighter and a hundred other products – it all starts, and we believe lays, with the perfect base.
In our Desert Island Must Haves, we touched on the divineness that is Giorgio Armani’s Luminous Silk Foundation and below, have shared some of our other favourites. Being the creepy friends that we are, we both swear by the same combination of GA’s Luminous Silk with YSL’s Le Teint Touche Eclat as day-time coverage perfection, for the reasons below…
N&J // Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk + YSL Le Teint Touch Eclat (aka, perfection)
The lightweight YSL Touché Éclat foundation is the foundation equivalent of the cult Touché Éclat highlighting pen. The Touché Éclat, as the name suggests (bright touch from high-school French memory), totally delivers with dreamy illuminated and truly glowing skin. Love !! Upon wear, with our combination t-zones, we did note that while the YSL does even out skin tone and provide an incredibly dewy finish, this foundation isn’t made for those crazy busy work days or long wear from day-to-night. The glow it provides in the morning is gorgeous, but it just requires a little too much touching up during the day to prevent an oily t-zone from shining through. Perfect for a lunch or half a day wear, but after 5-6+ hours, patchiness and OTT shine is very apparent.
As we both fell in love with the amazing glow of this foundation, we combined a pump of the YSL with a pump of the GA Luminous Silk (our ‘desert island’ HG foundation) and the results were absolute perfection! The YSL provides the luminosity we all love while the GA gives us the longevity we all crave in a foundation, and makes sure that our pesky T-Zones are kept in check. The real brilliance of the ‘made to measure’ foundation is that we can control the finish every time. So, if we’re having a great skin day and only out for a lunch date, we’ll add a little more YSL, or if we know we’ll be staying out late after work, we’ll add an extra pump of the GA to ensure flawless, longer-lasting coverage. This truly is the go-to combo for the girl who wants a long wearing glow… who’d have thought it was possible !!
Other favourites:
J // Mac Face and Body Foundation
The sole reason behind this foundation purchase many years ago was my beauty muse, Lara Bingle, and her equally as fab ex makeup artist, Max May, recommending it as a must-have. Hilariously, when I went to purchase, the MAC assistant strongly recommended going with Studio Fix, dissing the Face & Body as ‘useless’ in coverage. Alas, Lara and Max did not use Studio Fix and nor would I. Although strange that an SA would talk badly of her own product (seriously, this chick did not want me to buy the stuff), I’m glad I stood by my muse’s words as I think Face & Body is fantastic.
Of course, this is not a full coverage foundation but that’s not the look Lara Bingle is famous for… it’s all about bronzed, natural skin and pending you’re not looking to cover up too much, this is a lovely light, water-based formula with a dewy finish. Due to the sheen, translucent powder is a must – especially in the t zone – but this isn’t a massive problem.
I used Face & Body during my first year at Uni and loved it. Previously, I’d used Nars Sheer Glow Foundation that I found a wee heavy and guess I went to the other extreme of Face & Body that I eventually found too light. It was only after I started using the GA Luminous Silk, and then, the HG combo of Luminous Silk plus Le Teint Touch Eclat that I discovered the perfect glowy, not too sheer, not too heavy foundation base. But for younger girls not needing as much coverage or the days that your skin is on point, Face & Body is perfect to even things up and make your skin look perfectly dewy. I’ll always keep a bottle in my makeup stash for summer, when all you want is something light with a fresh finish. Mmm, summer…
For those days when you think you’re having a great skin day, or you just want to embrace your inner Parisian ‘less-is-more’ femme, this is the go-to. A light or medium coverage foundation (depending upon application) the team at Chanel have developed a lovely skin-like flawless finish.
I prefer to dot the prod over the areas I need to cover the redness (generally the centre of the face) and smooth the product out with my fingers. Then any remaining product I blend towards the outer areas of my face for seamless and undetectable coverage.
Lately I have been applying the Chanel Les Beiges All-In-One Healthy Glow Fluid (in 20) before foundation. It adds radiance and the peachy undertone perfects the skin – definitely helpful as some most days I fall a short of flawless Parisian so I’ll take all the help I can get 😉
