Hi!
It has been a while since my previous foundation review post HERE. Can’t believe that it has been almost 6 months! It’s time to be to revive this review series and post up more reviews on my foundations and bases! Today, I shall talk about Guerlain de Perle liquid foundation! I would be covering the 2 way powder foundation on another day.
Guerlain launches a whole new range of whitening skincare, replacing their previous whitening range, Pearly White.
Information is released by Guerlain:
“Texture: Fine, fluid and comfortable
Technology:
The Pearl:
- Smooths and conceals pores
- Acts like a source of light to reveal the inner radiance of the skin.
- Optimizes the skincare action
Balancing water:
- Control shine thanks to sebum absorbing powders
- Ensures a significant moisturzing action that lasts up to 6 hours after application”
Packaging: The white packaging is definitely very classy, together with the glass bottle. Although it is heavy, it certainly brings about the feeling of luxury. Although I have no qualms about the design, the only problem for me is that it is white. As I apply this foundation with my fingers, everytime I touch this bottle, it will leave finger marks with my foundation. I ended up having to clean the bottle every now and then.
Ingredients: Boy oh boy, I was so scared to try this foundation when I first saw the foundation list! There is alcohol and I know how alcohol does to my skin from past experiences. Hence, when I tried this foundation, I made sure I moisturize really well as alcohol dries out my skin. Luckily, alcohol is the fourth ingredient in the list which means there is lesser alcohol content compared to previous products that I used which have alcohol as the second ingredient.
Having sensitive skin, my skin did take a few days getting used to this foundation, alcohol in particular. For the first few days, I had red bumps on my cheeks but has soon subsided. That was probably because this foundation retains moisture, according to what it claims to do. Surprised? I was told by the Guerlain trainer that this foundation is not just a foundation but it is infused with skincare ingredients as well.
My skin does feel better after the continuous usage of this foundation. Smoother, plumper and more hydrated skin! But let’s not get too excited. It is impossible to reap the full benefits of the skincare ingredients in this foundation especially when you wear the foundation under the sun. That is because the skincare ingredients will lose its effectiveness when it react under the UV lights, even with the SPF factor of 20. Luckily for me, I am always under the shelter.
Value: For $84, it is definitely on the pricey side but this is Guerlain and the price is actually on par with other brands like Dior, By Terry etc. Moreover, this foundation has skincare infused in it, so I would say it is killing two birds with one stone.
Color range: Now, I am going to compare Blanc de Perle with other Guerlain foundatons. I do not have all the other foundations but hopefully these are sufficient. First, let’s compare the shades. For this new foundation, there are unfortunately only four miserable shades. And unfortunately, do not have shades for tanner skin tones (for eg. NC35 and above). So that is one thing i am disappointed with. I hope they produce more shades in the future!
Now, the shades are a little hard to infer from the numbers. Guerlain has two number series, one starting with 01, 02 and so on and another starts with 31, 32 etc. From what I understand, shades with the number 31 and above are more yellow toned compared with shades with 01 and above, which are pink based. You can see below that Blanc de Perle in 32 and Parure Aqua in 31 is much more yellow than Parure Pearly White in 02 (more pink).
I would say the shades of Balnc de Perle is fairly similar to Parure Aqua and not Parure Pearly White. Parure Pearly White in 02 looks more like Balnc de Perle in 03. The four shades available for Blanc de Perle are 01 Beige pale, 02 Beige clair, 03 Beige naturel, and 32 Amber clair.
For some photos below of me wearing the foundation, the shade I had on is 32. It is actually tanned on me and I would say that 32 suits NC25 in the mac shade. I exchanged my foundation for 01 and it fits much better although I would much prefer 31 because of the yellow base. For reference, I am NC15-20. You can clearly see in the photo below that 31 is much more yellow than 01. Blanc de Perle 01 actually looks very peach on my hand, but luckily blend into my skin well after patting the foundation into my skin.
Scent: The first scent I detect is the alcohol, followed by this nice floral scent? Okay, i am terribly bad with the scent but all I know that it is not overpowering although you can still smell the fragrance when you put on the foundation. It is not a rose scent for sure, and I quite like the scent in fact. It is quite soothing.
Texture and coverage: Because of the alcohol in the foundation, the foundation is much more light-weight and fluid. As compared to Pearly White and Parure Aqua, Blanc de Perle spreads out very easily. This makes our fingers the best tool for this foundation. I find that this foundation works best with my fingers. Although it can be lightweight, this foundation has pretty good coverage. I didn’t need any concealer and if I have certain pigmentation that I need to cover, I can just dap a little bit of foundation there as a concealer. There will not be any caking even for the second layer.
The finish of the foundation has been the best that I have come across. It is the perfect finish between matte and dewy, making your skin veyr natural. See how even shade 32 (the darker shade) looks okay in the photo below? The foundation actually kind of melts into your skin very fast. Some foundations takes an hour or more for it to set. You can still see a slight glow of my actual skin.
However, the only complain here is that this foundation is not very transfer-proof. Whenever I blot my skin, there will be foundations being transferred to my blotting paper. Fret not, even if it is not very transfer-proof, the foundation has already set into my skin so not all the foundation can be removed by just wiping a tissue over the face alone.
After 5 hours of wear.
Lasting power: From the photo above (wearing just foundation alone without setting powder), you can see that some redness in my skin is peeking through. As I have dry skin, some foundations do not last long on me because it can be drying. They tend to cake up and disappear off my skin. For this foundation, i was delighted to find this moisturizing despite its alcohol content, thus allowing me to wear this foundation throughout the day. Of course, this lasted so much better when I set the liquid foundation with my powder.
This is me wearing the liquid foundation and setting it with my Giorgio Armani Lasting Silk UV compact foundation. This photo was taken after 7 hours of wear. I did blot in the middle of the day, but only once! I must say this has fairly good oil control properties as my nose tends to oil up after a few hours of wear. I would say this foundation is suitable for dry, combination and oil skin.
Pros:
- Long lasting
- Very natural finish (between matte and dewy)
- Set into the skin very well
- Light-weight texture
- Medium coverage
- Retains moisture
- Has SPF 20
- Suitable for dry, combination and oil skin.
Cons:
- Contains alcohol
- Lack of variety of shades
- White bottle
- Transfers fairly easily
- Pretty hefty price tag
Will I repurchase again? If they come up with shade 31, definitely YES!
Thanks for reading ~
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