Chanel Vitalumière Aqua foundation

Time for another foundation review! My quest for the ultimate foundation continues, though a little less fervently than before. And if it hadn’t been for the fact that I could pick this up at a 30% discount, I doubt I’d have picked it up at all. For some time a high end drugstore held residence at my local train station, but they went bankrupt and so sold all their stock for cheap before they cleared out. When I found they still had this foundation in my shade, I decided to take it home. I heard so many great things about this foundation and at the discounted price it was worth giving it a try.

Chanel Vitalumière Aqua Ultra-Light Skin Perfecting Makeup 12 Beige Rosé

Picking the right shade of foundation is always a difficult thing to do and so I took a bit of a gamble with this one. There was no tester to try it, but knowing that number 12 would be one of the lightest shades available (I checked, there is only one shade lighter), I thought I’d be okay. The lady at the store explained, that on her, no. 10, the lightest shade in the range can come off darker than this one as it is more yellow toned and this one is more neutral. I trusted my gut and the lady’s advise and instead of paying the full price of €42.95, I got a 30% discount and paid around €28. That is still a lot for a foundation, but at least it’s a lot cheaper than it was before.

The box the foundation comes in has that typical Chanel chic vibe. The glossy black box with gold details and the words Chanel embossed on the front is always a promise of holding something magical inside. So the question is: does it?

Looking at the packaging I felt a little disappointed. Luckily I had seen this foundation before in pictures else I would have been a bit disappointed. I have a Dior foundation which comes in a fancy glass bottle, so to find this comes in a simple looking plastic bottle could have been a let down. Of course it’s about the product inside it that really counts, but still, if you’re paying this much money for a foundation the packaging could perhaps be a bit more enticing. One positive side of this packaging is that it’s small and handy. You can easily chuck this into a make up bag without worrying about it breaking or spilling all over the place. So from that stance, it’s definitely a plus.

So far I’ve mostly used foundations that come with a pump to dispense the product. this comes with a sprout, much like the MAC Face & Body foundation. It’s an easy way to get the product out but after a while it becomes quite messy. The lid has the classic double C Chanel logo embossed on the top and screws on nice and tight. this won’t just pop off and cause a disaster.

The claims made for this foundation are numerous: a soft and light texture that gives off a glowy and natural result. The texture should feel like water and be easy to blend and have a fluid to powder finish. But that powdered texture shouldn’t last too long: it should disappear leaving the skin looking like there’s nothing on there and able to breathe. Yet, the consistency should still be thick enough to cover blemishes and give off an even and flawless look. The foundation should smell nice and the ingredients should help the skin to be toned and radiant. The light reflecting pigments should do the rest. To top things off, this foundation has an SPF 15.

WOW! If that REALLY is the case, this is the foundation from heaven. Let’s have a look at what this looks like on my skin.

The texture is indeed very watery. You have to carefully shake this up before applying. The result is an even thin layer that blends like a dream. Yes, that last picture is the foundation blended into my skin. You can see a bit of the promised powdery texture, but other than that it’s completely gone. Yet, if you look at the blueness of the veins on my hand, you can see they aren’t as blue anymore so coverage wise this foundation should also be holding up that claim. Moreover, the color of this foundation seems to be spot on. The swatches are looking great. Moving on to the face.

no make up, only applied to left half of the face , full face

And there you have it: a natural, even finish that looks like second skin. As promised. This foundation feels great on. It’s lightweight texture makes you forget that it’s on and because of the powdery finish you hardly need any additional powder to set this. This color is a spot on and I think it will still work in a few months as well as I get a little paler during winter. It doesn’t manage to cover my dark under eye bags, but it does even out the redness in my face and makes me look refreshed and awake. I think this may be the first foundation I’ve come across that I feel I could wear as is and skip concealer all together.

In the final result my skin looks more radiant and glowy. It’s almost as if this foundation simply puts a veil over those bits you don’t like and highlights those bits you do like. It is easy to use, blends with ease and covers everything I want to cover on my face. Mind you, I have hardly any blemishes, just a great deal of redness in the center of my face, so I think that if you have acne prone skin, you may want to go for something with a heavier coverage. This foundation doesn’t seem to clog up my pores and I have not had an allergic reaction, despite the fact that it has some perfume added to it.

Full face with finished make up look

Many people compare this foundation to the cheaper Bourjois Healthy Mix and L’Oreal Nude Magique Eau de Teint foundations. I have both and like them, but I do have to say that Chanel Vitalumière Aqua works differently to these two. For one, I like this color match better than the Bourjois one and the coverage is better than the L’Oreal one. Is it my favorite foundation? I think it’s a toss between this one, my Diorskin Nude, MAC Face & Body or the Bourjois Healthy Mix.

To sum things up, I think this is a fabulous foundation. It holds up to its claims, and comes in a shade that is light enough for my pale skin. Unfortunately, the price tag is grant and thus I am unsure whether I would repurchase this once it runs out. Mainly because by the time I do, a new foundation will be out that I will want to try and by the time this runs out, I may have found a great drugstore foundation that does as great a job. So many foundations, so little time to try them all!

What is your opinion of the Chanel Vitalumière Aqua foundation?