#43 The Beauty of Colour: Foundations

I don’t know about you guys, but for me finding the right foundation has always been a bit like looking for the Holy Grail, essentially impossible to find. I can never seem to find the right colour or the right tone that doesn’t end up looking grey, ashy, mask like or change colour halfway through. The other problem that tends to occur is that, I hear about some new foundation that apparently works wonders and I usually trot off down to the store only to find that the selection seems to stop at some pale peachy skin tone that doesn’t do ethnic skin types any justice. Or when they do offer darker shades, it sometimes feels like it’s a bit of a token gesture and there are usually just two shades in the range – the lovely honey caramel shade that is Beyonce or the dark beautiful mahogany shade that is Alek Wek. This means that me, who is somewhere in between these two is usually left scratching my head and wailing, what about me!! In all my time of wearing makeup, I have never really found a foundation that I was completely happy with….well until now that is (yes my prayers have been answered)

Now then before I start expanding on about my new loves, let me explain what prompted my decision to go foundation hunting in the first place. I came across some information from Bobbi Brown who recently conducted a survey into the trials and tribulations concerning women and foundation. For women of colour they found the following stats, see below – I personally found myself nodding in agreement on every point

Survey Results for Women with Brown/Black (Dark) Skin

1) 54.5% have bought on average 8 different foundations trying to find their perfect one.
2) 62.5% spend £125 on the wrong foundations
3) With 34.6% saying the makeup of choice they would splash their cash on would be foundation
4) 45.5% said their biggest beauty nightmare is mask like foundation that differs in colour from jaw to neck line

When I saw this, I decided it was time for a bit of research to see what else was on the market and what would hopefully work for me or for others – here are some of the foundations I tried out and my thoughts below

Giorgio Armani – Luminous Silk Foundation in 11

They don’t have a wide selection for darker tones and this shade seemed to be the darkest one available, which thankfully was right for my skin tone. Initially when I tried this, it actually looked a bit grey and I thought, Oh No! This is not working but then strangely enough, about an hour after applying it – it seemed to settle down well with my skin and provided a nice glow. I found that you need to be careful with how you apply it and build up your colour slowly. I also found that less is more when applying your moisturiser/sun protector beforehand, otherwise unless you have the driest of skins you might end up looking shiny rather than dewy, When applied properly though – its dewy, smooth and luminous and gives a lovely finish to the skin. It retails at £30 and is available from Giorgio Armani retail counters

K by Beverley Knight – Light Coverage Warm Mocha

You might remember me posting about the K by Beverley Knight range of makeup that was launching for women of colour. What I love about this is that Beverley decided to create this brand out of her own frustration at not being able to find a range that provided the full range of colours that she needed. The K by Beverley Knight has 10 shades for dark skin tones (black and asian skins), providing for colours across the spectrum ranging from a light dark to a deep dark. I tried out the Light Coverage Oil Free Foundation in Warm Mocha which gave a nice soft natural finish. The coverage really is in the description as it’s quite subtle so you need to build it up to get more of a medium coverage but it provides a good lift to your skin minus the heavy feeling of foundation. For my skin I found I did need to use concealer to help out with some scarring as the coverage is quite sheer– but if your skin is blemish free this would work well for giving your skin a nice boost and for that she has nice skin, I wonder if she is wearing any makeup look? The Light Coverage Oil Free Foundation retails at £22 from Selfridges and John Lewis and is also available on the website http://www.kbybeverleyknightcosmetics.com/


The following two foundations I totally loved! Simply because they just worked perfectly for my skin in that when I used them, they looked like my own skin, but only better!

Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation SPF 15 in Almond

This foundation really blended with my natural skin tone and I love that although it’s sheer it provided the right amount of coverage while still looking natural. It had a smooth finish to it and I found it covered my pores and really evened out my skin tone whilst also hydrating and softening my skin. The only thing I wasn’t entirely happy with is that after a few hours it starts to wear off a little and you would need to blot/powder it down to stay put. Overall though I really liked what it did to my skin and found it did exactly what it described on the packaging which was to look like my skin but with the added bonus of looking luminous, smooth and with the right amount of coverage. It retails at £27.50 and is available from Bobbi Brown counters and on their website http://www.bobbibrown.co.uk/

Nars Sheer Matte and Glow Foundation in Benares

I tried out the new Nars Sheer Matte and Glow Foundations in my perfect shade Benares and found that it delivered beautiful coverage and radiance to my skin. The coverage was light to medium (but covered all my blemishes) and it glides on really lightly without a heavy foundation feel or look. The Matte is perfect if you are looking for a more sheer matt look – I found this works really well for me in the daytime when I’m out and about, as it stayed quite matt on my face, but I loved that it still looked really soft on me rather than powdered down. The Glow on the other hand is just perfect for evenings and I think it will also work well for me in winter when my skin tends to get a bit drier. It has a dewy look to it and gave my skin a nice satin and glowy finish. What I also love about the foundations is that Nars have widened their range to 20 shades which includes a wide selection of undertones to suit every skin type. It retails at £29 and is available from Nars counters and from the website http://www.narscosmetics.com/

I hope this helps anyone who is still looking for their holy grail in foundation, if you are still looking, go out to the counters, try out some foundations and walk around to see how it feels, looks and settles on your skin.

Xoxo