Hi ladies,
It’s Friday and it’s a 3 day weekend…woohoo!
This evening I wanted to write a short blog-post about choosing your foundation. These days we are all glued to our favourite bloggers and you-tube tutorials and we feel we ‘need’ to have the foundation they recommend. Of course, hands up, I am as guilty as the rest and I am as easily led, but I have to say I am a little bit more cautious about just running out and buying the latest ‘must-have’ one!
Consider a few of the below points before you buy a new foundation…
Age: Are you the same age as the person promoting the foundation? I remember when I was in my 20’s I could slap any type of foundation on my skin and it looked flawless (well I thought it did anyway). As we get older our skin changes and we may be looking for a different type of coverage (gone are the days of the Max Factor pan-stick rolled all over our faces!! Oh the good old ‘Nouveau Beige’!).
Skin type: Remember different foundations are suitable for different skin types so just because it suits one person, it may not suit you. Any beautician will carry out a skin analysis for you, so just ask the next time you are in a salon.
Marketing: Lots of bloggers, make-up artists and tv programmes are paid to promote a specific foundation they receive from PR companies. Now that’s not necessarily a bad thing as they are just another marketing tool that companies use, similar to placing an advert in a glossy magazine, but more effective these days. I would suggest that you follow this person’s blog for a little longer and see if they continue to use the product and then you will see the transparency. Is it just an advertising campaign they are paid to do or a product they genuinely do love?
So the reason I am writing this blog is because I recently purchased the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation – of course it’s constantly mentioned by all the top bloggers and make-up artists and that’s how it came on my radar a few months ago. But I did my research on it and I do see alot of beauty bloggers continuously wearing it, so I thought I’d give it a whirl! (If it’s good enough for Pippa, Marissa Carter, Triona McCarthy, but to name a few, it’s worth a try)
Since I mentioned I got it though, I have had so many people asking me what it’s like, saying they are going to buy it and asking me what shade I bought as they will buy the same!! Eh, hang onto your purse for a minute…we are not all clones of me!! God help us all if we were! 😂
Before you fork out your well- earned cash I’ve listed a a few tips on ‘how to buy foundation’ and this applies to all brands and budgets!
- Decide firstly if the foundation you are going to buy will be an every-day foundation . At this price (€45 for Giorgio Armani) it won’t be for me! I wear make-up every single day and I couldn’t justify the price of replacing it frequently. That’s a very important factor to consider – the price!
- If it’s a night-time/occasion-wear only foundation, you could likely be wearing tan too, so remember that when choosing your shade. Now, you don’t want a big dark head but maybe a half shade or one shade darker than your day-time make-up.
- I NEVER test foundation on my arm/wrist/back of my hand….sure why would I? I don’t wear foundation there? Do you? And your skin tone and texture is totally different. If testing foundation on yourself, put a small amount along your jaw-line.
- If you don’t already know this, you can book a full make-up application at most of the department stores make-up counters which is free with the purchase of 2 products. So if you are going to an event why don’t you do that? Then you get the face done and you can buy the foundation and maybe the lippy to top up during the day/night. It will cost a bit more than getting a make-up application done in a beauty salon, but you do leave with 2 products.
- Alternatively, you can ask for a small amount to be put on your face and then maybe go off for an hour and review how it looks before you buy. If you don’t have time to do this, most make-up counters give out samples so don’t be afraid to ask…’try before you buy!’ I can’t stress how important it is to check out your foundation in natural daylight. Department store/pharmacy lighting can either be dimmed down/too bright so after application you should walk towards the door with a mirror – the girls on the counter will give you one!
Finally, this is my top tip and what I did when buying my foundation. I brought the foundations I currently use into the Giorgio Armani counter to do a colour match. These are ones I always use and re-purchase, so I know I am happy with the colour. My every-day foundation is the L’oreal Colour Match and my ‘going out’ foundation is the Lancome Visionnaire (hard to beat, I might add). The make-up artist popped a blob of each of my foundations on a make-up pallet and then we colour matched the most suitable Armani Luminous Silk shade to those and then I popped it on my face to confirm I was happy with it. Turns out my colour is 3.5 and it’s perfect for me.
I have to say so far I am loving it. It has buildable natural -looking coverage and while I can’t say it has a ‘dewy’ finish on my dry skin it certainly is ‘glowy’! You would know upon application it is a higher-end brand as it applies seamlessly and moves easily on the skin. I wore it last Sunday during the day (on a very tired head, so it was hard to review it then) and I did wear it one of the days this week to work to see how long lasting it was, and I must say I was very impressed. It was roughly slopped on at 6.15am and still looked pretty good at 7pm (without any top-up). I have a few night’s out planned for May so it’ll be well road-tested then!
Remember you don’t have to spend the world on your foundation – find one that suits your needs, your budget and your skin type and always try before you buy!
Have a fabulous weekend x
T 💖 x 
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