Tuesday 6 October 2015

Laura Mercier Silk Crème Foundation: A Rambly Review


Lately I’ve been on the hunt for a high-end foundation that would become my holy grail. I don’t know what it is, but my skin hasn’t been my skin lately. Normally I can attribute skin issues to a change in routine (which my skin seems to hate) or a lack of exfoliating, but if anything my life these past few months should render my skin flawless. For some reason, it’s been dry in places and oily-as-balls other places and nothing seems to be remedying it. No foundation has been working for me these days, and I’m not sure if I’m just being picky and expecting the impossible, but I’ve been buying and trying product after product and nothing has wowed me yet. So I decided to try the Laura Mercier Silk Crème Foundation.

Because I’ve been sifting through foundations just looking for that right one, I’ve been buying a lot of drugstore ones just to see what “type” of foundation my face needs. It might be because I’ve recently moved provinces and the climate here is quite different, but I don’t know if my skin wants matte, satin, dewy or what. WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?

I’ve bought and been using L’Oréal Tru Match Lumi (great product, but not so much for my matte-lovin-self), L’Oréal Infallible Pro-Matte (great, but it accentuates my skin’s dryness lately!) and I’ve also dug up my old ride-or-die, the Smashbox Studio Skin Hydrating 15H Wear. None of these amazing foundations have been doing it for me 100%, so I decided to go high-end. I did a little browsing around Sephora and in the end, I decided to give the Laura Mercier Silk Crème Mattifying foundation a try (I know, right? Late on the train, again...) I’ve heard nothing but good things, and when I swatched it in-store, it seemed like a product I would really enjoy.



Let me just start off by stating the things that have been bothering me lately about my skin, and the things I was hoping to remedy with this foundation. I’ve mentioned before that my skin-type tends to lean toward being dry/combination most of the time. I get dry around my cheeks and under my eyes, and quite oily around the creases of my nose and up toward my T-zone. I don’t have problematic skin, but I do get quite red and uneven, so I generally prefer normal to full coverage foundations. I’m still on the hunt for a good face powder that will combat my oiliness throughout the day, but I feel like my foundation should be doing most of the work so I don’t need to be powdering throughout the day… especially since I’m dry everywhere else and powdering constantly doesn’t help that. I've been trying out the Maybelline Fit Me Face Powder for oily skin lately, and it's been great so far.

I’ve been wearing the Laura Mercier Silk Crème in the shade ‘Cream Ivory’ every single day this week so far for about 6-9 hours each day, pairing it with the Fit Me face powder, and here are my thoughts:

The first impression
I really like this foundation. It is silky, it is creamy (so the name does it justice) and it covers my face beautifully without being too heavy. I’ve been applying it with my fingers and some sponges this past week because I feel like it applies best that way, but I really would like to see how it fares with using a fluffy foundation brush or a stippling brush. I can’t find my Real Techniques Stippling Brush, and don’t yet own a fluffy brush (leave me some recommendations?) so my fingers have been working just fine.

The wearability
Something that I really have been liking about this foundation is its wearability. I’ve noticed lately that while a lot of my foundations have been applying flawlessly, and I look good going out the door, I will look in the mirror 3-4 hours later and be horrified. Oily, dry… Not pretty! I’m impressed with the staying power of this foundation and I’m impressed with how well it looks after wearing it for a full day. I also have to say that it doesn’t start to look icky when I get oily. I haven’t found the cure to my nose and T-zone oiliness yet, but it always looks awful mid-way through the day. I’ve noticed, though, that when I’m wearing the silk crème, I just look shiny in those places as opposed to actually oily. My oil doesn’t seep through the foundation the way it does with others, and for that, I am grateful.

The price
I paid about $58.00 for this foundation, which isn’t out of the ordinary for high-end. It was a tossup between this one and the Makeup Forever HD, which retails for $50.00. I don’t mind paying a little through the teeth for a good foundation if it does everything I need it to do. I’m a frugal person, but there are some things you just can’t get the same quality out of with cheap alternatives. I feel like I get a good coverage with a small amount of product, so I’m hoping the foundation tube will last me a long time. At this point I'm thinking this is a product I will definitely re-purchase, but I still need to see how long the tube lasts me. Girl can't be shelling out this kinda dough too frequently. I got bills.



I thought about purchasing the Laura Mercier Translucent setting powder as well, since again, I’ve heard nothing but positive reviews, but powder is something I’m determined can be bought at the drugstore for the same kind of quality; however, if you’ve tried/if you own the translucent powder, please let me know what you think of it! Or, if you’re someone who has the same problem I do, what powder is your holy grail? Give me your recommendations!

Thanks for sticking through my rambly review, guys! I know this is most definitely not a new foundation, but you bet your bum if I’m spending money on it, I’m going to review it.

For anyone that has been thinking of trying out this foundation, I definitely recommend it. I honestly think it would work for all skin types and it’s very buildable if you prefer a heavier coverage. Because it’s got excellent wearability and it lasts all day without caking, I think that even if you’ve got problematic skin, this foundation will look great.



What did you think of the Silk Crème? If you haven’t tried it yet, will you pick it up next time you’re at Sephora?

C

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