Finding My New Foundation - Part 1 & Intro

Foreword: Apologies about there being no posts last week, my flight home was stuffed up and I had exams.

It's about time I invested in a good high end foundation again. My last big one was Illamasqua's Skin Base in 003, which set me back around $50AUD and did me well for about 2 years with great coverage. I've dabbled with professional type foundations (the likes of Kryolan and Ben Nye), but found them to wear too heavy and not feel nice on the skin, especially for everyday type of wear, even though they offered the coverage I was after. Drugstore and budget brands do not make my shade at all, and the ones that do are not Cruelty Free. I just want one product that I don't have to mix with anything to match my skin tone, one that will also offer good coverage, and I want a quality product that will be worth the money.

Porcelain Princess can no longer get a tan.

After narrowing it down, I've requested a few samples/applications to test for colour, coverage, wear, feel and all the important things before I drop my dollars on a product.


The first foundation I tried was when I visited the Napoleon Perdis store in South Yarra with my friend Simon. After stating what I wanted in terms of coverage and how I like to wear my foundation now days (no powder!), I was recommended the product Stroke of Genius Liquid Cashmere Foundation in the shade Look 1. I had this product applied in store, where I had to keep running outside to check the match as I was not keen on the lighting available indoors, which in retrospect, you should never trust, always test in natural (or close to) natural white light.

Image Credit: http://napoleonperdis.com/aus/stroke-of-genius-foundation.html

The analysis of this foundation is as follows.

Coverage: Medium

Colour match: Excellent

Undertone: Neutral leaning towards yellow
Finish: Semi-Matte

Wear: At least 6 hours.

 Other: SPF 20. Recommended to be set with powder. 

Price: $65AUD

Pros:

Coverage and colour match were second to none. I'm glad that there is a foundation that matches my pasty neck without being too dark.

Cons:

The added sunscreen made it feel a bit greasy, and it needed to be set with powder. I have dry skin, so powder is almost a no-go for me. I feel like this foundation unfortunately made me look "old". I didn't like how it looked on my skin. To be fair, if I had added blush and lipstick, this would have given a much better view of what I'd be expecting. I'd also rather put my sunscreen on before my foundation, I don't need sun protection at night.

Chapel Street Selfie.

Stay tuned for all the other samples to get tested!