CHANEL Les Beiges Healthy Glow Foundation, my review

I was waiting so eagerly for the launch of the new foundation CHANEL Les Beiges you would have thought it was the messiah. Like, really.

The beauty British bloggers I follow declared that it’s probably the best fondation launch of the beginning of the year. I mean, that’s the kind of statement that makes you curious, isn’t it? Well, at least, it makes ME super curious! bigsmile So when I saw it in the airport duty-free last January, I literally jumped on it.
On this matter, if you have a tip to help me to avoid buying all the makeup every time I’m in a duty-free, I’m all ears. I can’t help it, as if the purchases made in duty-free counted for nothing, especially when it’s in a different currency to mine… Please tell me I’m not the only one? (My husband strongly thinks I am) ;P

Unfortunately, when I wanted to try it a few days later I was suffering from a skin allergy (probably due to a face cleanser that obviously doesn’t suit me at all uneasy ) and my skin was in a terrible state, which made the foundation test a bit tricky…

Usually, my skin is combination to oily but with this allergy, I got a glimpse of what this foundation looked like on a super dry and peeling skin. In a way, it was a blessing in disguise! wink

CHANEL Les Beiges Fond De Teint Belle Mine Naturelle, presentation:

What the brand says about it:

An invisible foundation that creates a natural healthy glow by giving skin the radiance of a day spent outdoors, while protecting it from harsh environmental conditions. 14 shades in a compact travel-friendly bottle for easy application with fingertips.
The perfection of a natural glow.

With a range of subtle, easy-to-wear beiges, HEALTHY GLOW FOUNDATION frees women from their fears of using foundation and gives every skin tone a lasting healthy glow. The soft and comfortable texture glides over the skin and melts away. It adapts to the shape of the face and invisibly follows its every movement. The texture becomes imperceptible and allows the skin to breathe freely, while protecting it from harsh environmental conditions. The complexion is evened-out and enhanced with a sheer finish.
As if revived, it displays the freshness and radiance of beautiful skin in the great outdoors.

It’s a liquid foundation, from the same range of Les Beiges products I already mentioned a while back in my best of bronzer makeup post.
The Les Beiges foundation promises a natural and effortless healthy glow. Last year, the brand had released a CC cream if I’m not mistaken, but it didn’t tempt me. But a foundation that provides a “beautiful and fresh radiant complexion”, it seems perfect for spring, doesn’t it? wink

However, because of the marketing discourse of this product, I had some doubts about the fact that this foundation would suit my skin type… Usually, I avoid base products that are too luminous, the ones which can be perfect for dry skin but for an oily skin like mine, it can just mean looking like an oily mess after 2 hours.
But here, this luminous effect is obtained with mineral pigments paired with soft focus effect powders to help even out the skin tone and sublimate while preserving the skin transparency. No greasy ingredients! #winning

The finish of this foundation is semi-matte while remaining very luminous on the skin. It’s also rather long-lasting, which is always nice especially for a $55 foundation.

CHANEL Les Beiges Fond De Teint Belle Mine Naturelle, my test and thoughts:

– Formula: the formula is enriched with protective skincare ingredients (like moisturizing hyaluronic acid, antioxidant kalanchoe extract) and well, you already know what I think. For me, a foundation cannot really have a true “skincare effect” on the skin as it’s supposed to remain on the surface. Anyway, that being said, if it doesn’t dry out the skin and protects against pollution, it’s still nice!
It also contains a SPF 25 (which is not bad at all, not really enough for the summer which is nearly here Dubai, but it’s still better than nothing).

– Color Range: 14 shades from the lightest to the darkest, pretty good for a high-end brand! I have the color N°20, a neutral beige, with a very slightly yellow undertone, perfect for my skin tone (I am a NC 20-25 in MAC if it can help you).

– Scent: the formula is perfumed, as in most of CHANEL products. This is a floral and elegant fragrance, not too strong. It just gives an other little touch of luxury to the product, much appreciated.

– Packaging: the bottle of 30 ml is very nice, convenient (it has a pump!), super chic and elegant, like you would expect with a CHANEL product. It’s quite compact but I don’t know if I can say that it’s the best to travel with since it’s a glass bottle. So, quite fragile and which could break in your makeup bag…

– Application: I’ve tried several ways to apply it using my Beauty Blender, a brush or my finger tips, and the product is quite easy to apply with every technique. I also want to share with you my crush for my Marc Jacobs foundation brush, the Face III which is so great! It really helps to achieve a flawless application and blends the foundation with the skin seamlessly. It’s so much easier to wash than my Beauty Blender! However, it’s quite expensive… I guess no one is perfect. wink
Regarding the quantity of foundation that I use, I generally apply 1 or 2 pumps.

– Pigmentation and Coverage: it has a medium coverage. It doesn’t totally cover imperfections but in my case, I always prefer to use a concealer on the areas I want to correct, it’s more precise.

– Finish: the finish is very pretty and quite natural. It’s a semi-matte finish, which is rather surprising given the product name. I expected a lot more glowy finish and less “dry”, so for my combination skin, it works pretty well!
It doesn’t emphasizes the pores. But about the dry patches, thatt’s another story. When I had my skin ravaged by the allergy, the result was too dry and it wasn’t a pretty finish at all. uneasy
The feeling on the skin is very nice though, it’s super light weight. You can feel that the skin is still able to “breathe”. And when the temperatures begin to climb, it’s a nice feeling!

– Lasting-Power: it lasts pretty well on the skin. After several hours, the finish is not as perfect and a little shiny, obviously, but I would still describe it as long lasting.

– Value For Money: it’s not cheap at all ($55). When I look at the price of the competitors (Dior, YSL…), I don’t see a lot of difference though… But still, it’s quite expensive!

Finally, here is a swatch:

As you can see in the pictures, it’s quite creamy at first but it remains rather fluid and blends very easily on the skin.

And on me:

On this photo, I used the shade N°20 (2 pumps) that I applied with my Marc Jacobs foundation brush. You can enlarge the image by clicking on it if you want to see the results closely.
And on my lips, it’s the Ofra Cosmetics Pasadena liquid lipstick. And yes, I know, the Ofra Cosmetics liquid lipsticks’ review is long overdue! It will come soon, I promise! wink

So, in summary:

[wprs-pros][wprs-cons]

This is a good foundation, that delivers a perfect skin effect while remaining super lightweight. Personally, I think I found my Spring foundation! wink

The CHANEL Les Beiges foundation is available on the brand e-shop for $55.

And you, did you tried the CHANEL Les Beiges foundation? If not, what is your favorite foundation at the moment?

Photo credit: bonnie-garner.com