Finding the prefect foundation is a neverending quest. After trying the L’Oreal True Match, I decided I liked it, but the pump disposes a tad too much product. So my quest went on. I heard great things about the Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation, but I was under the impression that Bourjois foundations in The Netherlands aren’t available in the lightest shade. However, I stopped by my drugstore, found out that they did and decided to give it a whirl.
Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation 51 Light Vanilla
Like I said, I bought the lightest shade: 51 Vanille Clair/ Light Vanilla. In The Netherlands this foundation retails for €14.95. That’s around the same price as for a L’Oreal one, which puts it on the higher end of the drugstore foundation price range. The reason why this foundation peaked my interest, wasn’t just the rave reviews of many beautygurus. Apparantly Bourjois owns Chanel make up and so many of their products emulate the much more expensive Chanel brand. The same goes for L’Oreal by the way, they own YSL and Armani for instance. So what I’ve heard is that the Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation is a cheaper alternative to the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua. I have not tried that one, but I thought it would be interesting to try out nonetheless.
The packaging is a sturdy glass bottle with a red plastic pump and a lid. Very similar to most foundation packaging, and nothing too spectacular. It is practical and gets the job done. The drugstore I bought it at, decided to add a lovely layer of scotch tape around the top lid. Which is great for hygiene purposes, but not so much for good picture taking. Oh well!
The ingredient list starts with water and silicones. Very standard for many foundations. It contains fragrance, but also apple, melon and apricot fruit extracts. Here’s what Bourjois says:
Give your skin a radiance boost and leave it looking flawless for up to 16 hours! Bourjois’ new Radiance Reveal Healthy Mix foundation is enriched with a fruit therapy formula to enhance your complexion.
- Apricot for radiance
- Melon for hydration
- Apple to protect your youth
It is also enriched with crystalline pigments to even out the complexion while letting in the natural light for that healthy looking glow. Its soft, fresh texture easily blends onto the skin for a comfortable flawless finish leaving you with beautiful, radiant and hydrated skin for 8 hours***.
Some hefty claims there. Looking at the ingredient list, you will indeed find the fruit extracts roughly halfway through the list. The foundation should make your skin look glowy, be easy to blend, wear comfortably and hydrate your skin. Let’s find out whether that’s the case!
My first thought looking at this foundation was that it looked a tad yellow. Be as it may, a yellow foundation is better no matter what undertone your skin has. Mine is rosy pink, but I find that a slightly yellow tint works better at cancelling that out. The dollup of product disposed by the pump is spot on. It’s got a wet, but not runny texture to it. When blending it out, you can see that the foundation looks very yellow against my skin. But when it’s fully blended out, you can barely see anything on my skin. My first impression: this looks very promising.
bare skin – foundation applied to the left – full face
side of my face – with other make up
The real test of any foundation is on the skin. As usual, my face looks quite red and needs mostly some evening out of the skin tone. And that’s exactly what this foundation does. The coverage is light but buildable and I find this foundation easy to blend into my skin. The end result is very natural and glowy looking. It covers my redness without looking cakey. The color is spot on for my skin tone and I never got any allergic reactions to it. Healthy Mix foundation covers some of my dark circles, but with this foundation I would like to use a bit of under eye concealer just to make sure there is no trace of them left. The lasting power of this is good, but this foundation will not wear for 16 hours as Bourjois promises. I find that after 6 – 8 hours this foundation can use a bit of extra powder to take away some of the shine on my t-zone.
Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation is a great every day foundation if you have dry to normal skin. I like using this with little powder to ensure the glowy effect stays, especially on some of my drier areas. It has okay lasting powder, the color is nice and light and gives you a natural, glowy effect. So far, this is my favorite drugstore foundation.
What is your opinion on Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation?