Review : Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua

Shade : B10 Beige Pastel

Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua is a love/hate product for me. It's a nice foundation, it has staying power - but I would rarely consider a foundation worthy of costing around £30+ - perhaps more because my budget never stretches that far when it comes to foundations! Price aside, I don't feel it's effects are phenomenal. Like I said, it's a good foundation for a variety of reasons, but it can certainly be rivaled by drugstore foundations which are more than half the price.

Vitalumiere Aqua gives a natural sheer coverage, and is neither dewy nor matte - but more of a 'satin' finish, which I find is a really nice balance between the two. It blends into the skin really well and is virtually undetectable (no caking at all!) However, if you suffer from very dry skin/patches of dryness, it is detectable. In my experience, it seems to stick to very dry areas in a chalky finish - a problem for me as I have combination skin. When reading up on it's ingredients, I found that is has high levels of alcohol and fragrance, meaning it can settle on dry skin and accentuate flakiness.

For me, I prefer a heavier coverage because I suffer from blemishes. Having said that, this is a lovely foundation to use if you only have minor skin issues (eg. mild discolouration, uneven skintone) but for people with acne, it's not really going to cut it. It does have an easy-to-build coverage though, so a heavier coverage could be achieved through layering - but nothing near estee lauder doublewear, for example. Another attribute of this foundation is the yellowy undertone (but not a simpsons yellow!) which works well with my skintone. In drugstore foundations it's nearly impossible to find a foundation that doesn't have pink/ashy undertones. It seems worth exploring high end foundations if you favour a more yellowy undertone.

Overall, I would say if you have fairly good-great skin with minimal dryness, this will suit you well. Also, oily skins could benefit from this foundation as it's not overly dewy and the staying power is good. I personally wouldn't repurchase it for the price, but I will enjoy using it up and still commend it for being a good all round sheer/natural foundation.