I’ve been wanting to try out some items in the Bourjois range for so long so when I went to Boots for an Advantage Card event the other week, I bit the bullet and picked up their Healthy Mix Serum Foundation after hearing a lot of bloggers rave about it.
I picked it up in the lightest shade they had, shade 51 Vanille Clair. I swatched it out on my hand and it blended in perfectly, which I was so grateful for since I’m quite pale. I have used it quite a few times since purchasing it, combining it with different concealers, powders and primers and am ready to give a review.
The Good
This foundation feels incredibly lightweight on my skin, so much so that it doesn’t even feel like I am wearing any, which I think will be great during summer when it starts to get a bit hotter and I don’t want to wear heavy make-up.
It offers a light coverage, though I tend to use my Real Techniques sponge to build on the coverage in problem areas, such as my cheeks and forehead where my skin tone can be quite red.
A couple of the other aspects that I love about this foundation is that it feels very moisturising, doesn’t cling to any dry patches around my face and makes my skin look radiant and glowing. Plus, the foundation leaves a beautiful dewy (but not shiny) finish which, after a couple of minutes, feels as though it has already been set by a powder.
I think the packaging of this product looks so beautiful and makes the product seem a lot more expensive than it is - at £10.99 it’s not the cheapest drugstore alternative but it certainly isn’t expensive for the quality!
A lot of reviews I have read have commented on the scent of the product, which is a lovely, fruity smell. However, it’s not very strong at all and in fact, I don’t smell it when I am applying my foundation unless I purposely smell the back of my hand, but it is a nice added bonus.
The Bad
I am not completely impressed with the shading - first of all, there are only six shades of this foundation available and I thought I would be safe going for the lightest shade, which blended out nicely on my hand. However, when I first applied this on my face, I applied a few layers so I could build up the coverage and I found that it doesn’t completely suit my skin tone: this foundation has quite heavy yellow undertones to it, which initially I thought would counteract my skin’s natural redness. However, if I am not careful and apply too much, it makes me look quite yellow and unfortunately, I find that the foundation oxidises a little throughout the day. I have tried blending it with another foundation with more pink undertones which does help, however that is a lot of effort for daily application. Summarising, for me, this foundation looks best with a light application so is better for when I have good skin days and don’t need full coverage.
The Ugly
I did a foundation test immediately after I applied this foundation a couple of days ago and found that a little bit transferred and I was left with lines on my forehead of where I had pressed my fingers, though I will admit that I pressed down quite hard. I blended it out without a problem and not long afterwards, the foundation had a feel to it as though I had powdered it, adding to the natural finish of the foundation. However, I tested it a few times throughout the day and despite having a powdered-feel finish, the foundation still transferred, though not a lot; maybe this would have been different if I had powdered it.
I have also found that this foundation doesn’t want to cover dark circles! I can suffer with quite prominent dark circles and I find that I need to use copious amounts of this product to cover the circles under my eyes, whereas I can use one small swatch of concealer to do the same job.
Also, despite its claims, the foundation doesn’t last 16 hours. I’d say about 6-8 hours max, maybe longer with the reapplication of powder throughout the day.
Finally, I would like to comment on the consistency of the foundation. It claims to be a gel formula and I would agree with that statement - it pumps out like a liquid but isn’t as runny as other foundations and I love the fact that it doesn’t leave my skin looking shiny, even if I don't powder.
The foundation throughout the day.
In the first picture, I am not wearing any make-up. I have washed my face with the No7 Vitamin E Cream Cleanser and then applied the No7 Beautiful Skin Pore Minimising Serum and my Garnier Essentials Hydrating Day Care Moisturiser. As you can see, my skintone isn't very even, with redness around my cheeks and nose, and although the picture doesn't pick it up very well, my pores are quite prominent.
Second picture: I have applied the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation using my Real Techniques blending sponge. The true yellowness hasn't shown through very well on camera but I feel like I look quite washed out without any other colour on my face. Note, I have also used my Maybelline Age Rewind and my Collection Lasting Perfection concealers underneath my eyes. You can see that the foundation isn't shiny but rather has a more dewy look about it.
Third picture: with the rest of my face on! I have used my Body Shop Loose Powder over my face to set my foundation and also the Body Shop Double Action Powder (a pressed powder) underneath my eyes to set my concealer. On my face, I also have blusher and a little bit of contouring, combined with my Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick Palette in Raw Sugar over my eyelids and Bourjois Colour Boost in Plum Russian. I have also applied mascara, white eyeliner to my lower waterline, and pencil to my eyebrows to fill them in.
Fourth picture: after a day's hard work. The first three pictures were taken with the aid of natural light at 11am whereas this picture was taken completely with artificial light at about 9:30pm. I have a significant amount of shine on my face compared to when I first applied the make-up, however I hadn't reapplied powder throughout the day to control the shine. Some of my skin's natural redness is beginning to look noticeable as the foundation has started to slide around on my oily face (this picture doesn't show it too well) though a part of this is due to the fact that I had been touching my face quite a lot on that day so would have had some transfer. The foundation looks as though it has oxidised throughout the day as well, leaving me with a slightly darker face.
Quality: 7/10
Application: 7/10
Appearance: 9/10
Value: 7/10
Formula: 6.5/10 (an average of 8/10 for the consistency and blending ability and 3/10 for the yellow undertones)
Likelihood to buy again: 7/10 (I probably will buy again as I do like it but I don’t see this foundation as my holy grail unfortunately)
Overall: 7/10
- Taisie ♥ | Bloglovin ♥ Twitter ♥ Tumblr ♥ Pinterest ♥ Instagram
No comments:
Post a Comment