Last week I went to the Illamasqua store on Beak Street as I really wanted to buy their new Skin Base Foundation. I'd just settled into a really nice foundation routine of using Estee Lauder Double Wear mixed with NARS Copacabana Illuminator applied with a BeautyBlender so I wasn't particularly looking for a new foundation but this product definitely intrigued me. BB creams are supposed to be the big new thing in cosmetics (even though they're not actually new) and the fact that this foundation was inspired by them made me want to try it out. Looking at the shades on the website it appeared that there was finally a foundation out there that might actually be pale enough for my skin. I thought I would be shade 02 so I was very happy when the MUA instore also matched me to that colour. She applied it with one of the Illamasqua blending brushes and after trying various methods I think that really working it into the skin with a stippling brush is definitely the best way to apply it. I'd previously tried Illamasqua's Rich Liquid foundation and was colour matched to shade 120 (this was before they brought out a couple of lighter shades in that range) and I hated it. I bought it because it looked nice under the shop lights and the MUA spent ages and ages buffing it into my skin. When I tried to apply it at home I realised how ridiculously orangey it was for me, how thick and cakey it looked & how horrible it smelled. Skin Base foundation is about a million times better than Rich Liquid. They've changed the smell of the new foundation and it blends effortlessly. It doesn't look like a mask on your skin like Rich Liquid does, it looks like your skin but better.
I really like this foundation because it kinda melts into your skin giving a flawless finish. It gives a medium coverage but its buildable. It manages to cover all my redness really easily but it does show off my freckles more which I'm not too fond of. One of the main reasons I wear such high coverage foundations such as Double Wear is to cover them. However they seem to disappear under flash photography. The thing I like best about this foundation is how beautifully it photographs. Everyone knows that foundations with SPF often give you a 'ghost face' when photographed. Its hard to find a good foundation that lacks it, the only other one I can think of is MAC's Face & Body. So the absence of SPF is definitely a major plus point.
Without Flash
With Flash
See what I mean? The lack of SPF makes this foundation ideal for nights out, weddings, modeling or any other occasion where you know you're going to be photographed. Its an achievement for a foundation to make it look like my face and neck are the same colour, so its pretty damn amazing when it can do this even with flash photography.
There are some things to consider if you're thinking about buying this product. Most people seem to be a mix between two colours eg. 02 & 05 so because one bottle costs £25, if you need to buy two to get your exact shade it can be a bit pricey shelling out 50 quid on foundation. Another thing is that many people will be interested in this product because they've heard its like a BB cream when its actually not. I don't think it works as a moisturiser, primer, concealer & foundation. So don't think of it as a BB cream, think of it as a really nice foundation that will photograph well. Skin Base is also supposed to be suitable for all skin types. It probably is but if you have dry skin I would use a very good moisturiser before applying this. I don't even have dry skin but my nose started to look a bit dry and flakey when I used my normal Dermalogica moisturiser. It applied like a dream over the Oilatum Natural Repair one which I'm sure many fellow Pixiwoo fans will own. My only other gripe with this product is that I find it really hard to squeeze out of the bottle! Am I just weak? When I've gotten through the bottle its gonna be so difficult to squeeze out the last remaining blobs of foundation because I can't even do it when the bottles full!
Overall while there are a few negatives about this foundation I think that the positives more than outweigh these. I recommend that you try and get some samples because its an expensive product to test out if you find you don't like it. I am a big fan of this foundation, its up there in my list of foundations I absolutely adore which so far only includes Double Wear & Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua. But if I know I'm going to be photographed somewhere, this is the one I will reach for.
