Wednesday 27 July 2011

Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation

As a fan of the old formula of the liquid light foundation, I had high hopes for the new Skin Base foundation. The shade range is impressive, and the company have put a lot of work in helping the customer pick out their ideal shade with colour comparisons against other brands. I went with shade #2 (£25), its a spot on match for my pale, cool toned skin.
The foundation is inspired by the cult Asian market Beauty Balm creams, although I’ve not yet tried a BB cream, from what I can tell I would class this as a foundation as on me its does not contain a lot of the common attributes of a BB cream such as priming the skin, providing SPF and giving skin care benefits such as brightening and moisturising.

The texture is a medium consistency and feels smooth, it blends quite well and does not settle into pores. It gives medium coverage with a small amount of product. I’d say the finish is neither matte nor luminous, just natural.

Swatches below:Illamasqua on Left, MAC NC15 on right:

They are a few reasons this is not working for me, firstly its not moisturising enough on my dry skin and it really does accentuate dry areas. Secondly its not long lasting, by mid day its really faded and thirdly I do have skin issues every time I use this (I have to mention that my skin is hugely acne prone).
Ingredients:
Even though I have a very poor foundation success rate with most brands, I do feel this product just didn’t perform.

I bought this from www.illamasqua.com

7 comments:

  1. So glad I can skip this! Pity though since Illamasqua has such a great shade range. No matter. I can't get it in Canada anyways LOL

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  2. This doesn't do much for me either. I was surprised you said this doesn't settle in your pores. This is certainly a problem for me and it makes my skin quite greasy feeling. The plus points are that it makes my skin look good on camera and it has a wide range of lighter shades.

    I do sincerely think this a product that would appeal more to a makeup artist rather than a general makeup wearer.
    Jane x

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  3. Too bad! I have dry skin too so I'll avoid it. Everyone always seems to love Illamasqua products.

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  4. There seems to be a consensus now that perhaps this product might be having a few issues. I am so glad I decided to wait for the reviews before investing...I absolutely hate it when I get it wrong with a foundation, and not just because of the usually high price.
    It just seems like a totally wasted purchase, as I generally am wary of mixing it with any other product (ie another foundation or moisturiser) and it just ends up in the bin.
    Nina x

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  5. Thanks for this review! I'd been hearing a lot of press about this one, but it seems most reviewers aren't giving it much love. I'll abstain until they get some kinks worked out and pull together a better formula.

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  6. Wasn't impressed with it either, first couple of applications were okay but after that I noticed it just sat on my skin and looked mask like.

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  7. Hi PerilouslyPale,
    Yes, I think its one you can walk away from, like you say it is a shame as I have always thought their shade range impressive.

    Hi Jane,
    My pores showing is a problem for me but I do think my Snowberry cream creates a better base so foundations apply better, so that might be why I didn't have that problem with it?
    Your right, it is greasy as well, I had read great reviews before I bought it, but the not so good ones seem to surface after I have it, typical ;) x

    Hi Vintage Makeup,
    I was expecting great thinks from this, I do like a lot of Illamasqua products but this was a no go for me.

    Hi Nina,
    I wish I had waited for more reviews, but as you know I'm not so good with that!
    I know what you mean I've had to get rid of a lot of foundations, although if ones are too dark I always give them to my Mum, she has a load of my cast offs x

    Hi Shannon (Lipstick Musings),
    I do like the idea of it so it would be good if they improved the formula at some point, although probably won't be for a while ;)

    Hi PinkSparkle84,
    Yes, it just wasn't what I was expecting, I think I need to do a bit more research in future when getting foundations :)

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