Review: Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundation

Update - I have now posted an updated review of this foundation with new pictures HERE.

Hi Everyone,

As promised here's my review of the Chanel vitalumiere aqua foundation. I was desperate to try this foundation out after the amount of internet buzz this had created. I've never spent £31 on a foundation so expected nothing but the best when spending that much! There's only 1 make-up item I would ever consider spending that much on and that is foundation. 

On a day out to Leeds with my Mum we were browsing around all the shops and I still hadn't made a substantial purchase. I'd never been into a Harvey Nichols before as we don't have one where I live, so we thought we would have a look at the poshness! After coming out of there we realised that we had been in most of the shops and still had a few hours until our train back home. I thought about maybe going to the Chanel counter to have them try out a foundation on me. I immediately had the Vitalumiere aqua in mind. I went into the Chanel in Debenhams as I really didn't like the atmosphere in Harvey Nichols. My only complaint about the women who served me was that when I said I was looking at buying this foundation she expected me to buy it without being colour matched or even seeing if it suited my skin type! I had to ask her if she could put it on me. After this little hiccup she was lovely and did make me feel very comfortable. Anyway onto the foundation!

I was matched to shade 20 Beige which is perfect! This is another reason why I think spending more money on foundation is worth it. The amount of times I've bought foundation from Superdrug or Boots and the colour hasn't matched is ridiculous. I absolutely LOVE the packaging for this foundation, It's so classy and not to mention practical. In terms of coverage I would say it depends largely on how much you apply. I have used a tiny pea-sized amount on my whole face and got light coverage. However when I use a pea sized amount on each part of my face, i.e each cheek, forehead, then I achieve medium coverage. I use a Sigma F60 from my "Make me cool" brush kit to apply this foundation. Before I post before and after pictures I'll tell you a bit about my skin type. I have very spot-prone skin which I would describe as dry-combination. I do have quite a few acne scars and also I usually have between 1-3 active breakouts on a daily basis which is a MASSIVE improvement on a few months ago, (I will be doing a post on my skincare routine which has improved my skin more than anything I have ever been prescibed from the doctors!). Anyway on to the photos which make my skin look worse than it actually is! Ahh the beauty of HD cameras!

Before

After

After 13 hours of wear  without primer or powder

As you can see the foundation is light-medium coverage. Most people, including me, who have scarring and breakouts like to cover everything up but just recently I do like to look more natural and don't mind the odd scar showing through. It does something very mysterious on my skin and I can't put my finger on how it does it but I find that even though my spots/scars are showing through slightly it draws all attention away from them and to the clear skinned parts of my face!  I do have a high/full coverage foundation (Clinique anti-blemish solutions foundation) that I wear on days when my skin is particularly bad or when I don't sleep all night. The flash on my camera made my skin look oiler than it was at the end of the day but in the mirror it didn't look as bad. I had had it on for 13 hours without any primer or powder all day and the coverage was still near perfect as to how I had put it on that morning. Overall I would buy this foundation again as it doesn't stick to my dry patches and has a nice finish which is perfect for my dull skin. I would say however that I couldn't just have this foundation on it's own in my collection as I don't find it's enough for my bad skin days. I like to have the choice of a high and a low-medium coverage foundation for all situations. Needless to say I do love this foundation and it is something I have never experienced in a foundation before which makes it very unique and worth the money. 

Cya for the next post,

Sophie. <3