Review: Laura Mercier Silk Crème Photo Finish Foundation - Oil Free and Moisturizing Formula

I completely forgot I had this sitting in my drafts waiting for me to finish labelling the photo. So without further ado...

OK, getting down to the nitty gritty. So I’ve got my Bamboo Beige samples – you can check out how my Swatch n Compare of some of the shades in the middle of the range went here. As I have normal skin the lovely sales assistant at Sephora Melbourne Central gave me a generous sample of both the Moisturizing and the Oil Free formulations since the foundation stand listed the Moisturizing as ‘Normal to Dry’ and the Oil Free as ‘Normal to Oily’. I road tested them over the space of a fairly warm week (still summer here) with a minimum of 10 hours wear time each day to see how it would hold up.

I used the same test conditions for each foundation – I first prime the centre of my face with the Inglot Under Makeup Base, then apply the foundation with a Real Techniques Buffing Brush and I tend to push rather than swirl the foundation on. I then conceal my under eye circles and the melasma high on my cheekbones with NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Custard and set only the concealer with the By Terry Hyaluronic Hydra-Powder. I deliberately left rest of the foundation as is to see how it would last without a setting powder to keep it in place. 

 

Laura Mercier Silk Crème Oil Free Photo Finish Foundation:

I’ve found over the years that I prefer a medium to higher coverage foundation that I can sheer out to suit my needs rather than layering coats of foundation – it sits so much nicer on my aging skin and doesn’t gather in my pores or fine lines. A thin layer of the Oil Free formula provides a medium coverage and evens out the skin tone easily which is a testament to the high pigmentation this foundation promises. I’ve heard that it takes a bit of work to blend it but I don’t find I spend any more time than usual in applying it. Having said that I like to really blend any foundation I wear so perhaps I’m not the best judge. The finish isn’t matte but it’s not overly glowy either, it’s a lovely skin-like satin finish with a subtle healthy glow. Four hours after application it still looked very natural and I’d have to say it’s probably the most natural looking higher coverage foundation I’ve worn to date.

 

At the hottest part of the day where I could feel my face was sweaty, I looked shinier than usual but the foundation didn’t break up as such and once I cooled down and the sweat evapourated the foundation still looked pretty smooth and untouched. By the 10 hour mark there was some fading on the apples of my cheeks where the red flush from the heat was really peeking through and it had mostly disappeared off my chin which is always the first place that eats up foundation but it didn’t look patchy and hadn’t settled into any lines. Also blowing my nose helped wipe some foundation off so it’s not budge-proof. Initially I thought it was too mask-like as I’m not used to seeing my skin so even in tone but once I took it off I actually missed the flawless look it gave my skin. And talking about taking it off, this requires a cleansing balm or oil to remove – makeup wipes, micellar water and regular cleansers weren’t enough to remove this properly, it really needed an oily emulsion to lift it all off.

 

The second day I wore it, I buffed it in rather than stipple it and it didn’t streak or simply wipe back off leaving my pores filled. It builds well too as I a second layer across my melasma and around my nose increased the coverage but still looked natural. I set my t-zone with the By Terry Hydra-Powder which did mattify the finish a little but didn’t make it look heavy or cakey in any way. Setting it increased the wear but by the end of the day it had still faded a little from my chin and the apples of my cheeks though nowhere as much as the day before. And the natural oils in my skin brought back the subtle healthy glow within a few hours but it never developed further than that which is impressive as it reached 29ºC that day and I was on the go the whole day. On the whole I was really impressed – I didn’t need to touch up, any fading happened smoothly and evenly so only I knew it didn’t look exactly the same as freshly applied, and the finish lasted the whole day.

 

Laura Mercier Silk Crème Moisturizing Photo Finish Foundation:

First impressions – when I opened the pot, I was a bit alarmed to see that the foundation had completely separated and there was a layer of oil floating on top. Clearly this one needs to be shaken before using. I can’t see any oil as such in the ingredient list but it does contain Shea Butter Ethyl Esters which may be the separating component. It mixed in easily enough but this texture would cause problems later in the day.

 

As with the Oil Free formula, I pushed it on in a thin layer the first day and didn’t set it. Again the coverage is easily medium – it covered the majority of my melasma - and the finish is also naturally radiant without actual shine. The two formulas look remarkably similar in finish. The temperature was only in the mid 20’s so no sweating this time. By the end of the day it had faded across my chin and cheeks and around my nose, and had migrated a little into my marionette lines beside my mouth but I really had to get up close to the mirror to see that. The second day I applied a second layer across my cheekbones and around my nose which I then set and again it added a little more coverage without caking or pooling into my pores. 

 

However, this time it disappeared completely from around my nose with a few nose-blows during the day, and more notably sweating in the 30ºC heat caused it to separate around my mouth, chin and along my jaw where I had only applied the one layer and that’s even after setting my t-zone. The noticeable crack marks looked like my whole mouth area had developed a heap of wrinkles and they didn’t meld back together once my skin had cooled down. It also gathered in a big way under the nose pads of my glasses and mysteriously disappeared from my cheeks almost entirely so I might need to set more than my t-zone if wearing this on days where I’m active. Again I had to use an oil-based cleansing balm to get this off properly.

 

Laura Mercier calls this a full coverage foundation and I don’t agree. Two thin layers and it was still a decent medium coverage but it didn’t cover everything as I would expect a true full coverage base to do. Both have a lovely finish and are very comfortable to wear. The Oil Free is supposed to be a ‘Natural Matte’ while the Moisturizing is supposed to be a ‘Luminous Matte’ but I only saw minimal differences in the initial finish on my normal skin for both formulas. Colour-wise the two ‘Bamboo Beige’ differ noticeably in the pot with the Oil Free having a lot more yellow in it but once they are blended out there is hardly any difference on the skin. Again I’ve included swatches alongside other foundations that have similar tones and depths of colour and warmth above.

1. IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream in Medium; 2.NARS Sheer Glow in Fiji; 3. Laura Mercier Silk Crème Moisturising Photo Edition in Bamboo Beige; 4. Laura Mercier Silk Crème Oil Free Photo Edition in Bamboo Beige; 5. Giorgio Armani Lasting Silk in 5.5; 6. Revlon Colorstay Whipped in 200 Sand Beige

I have to say I really liked the Oil Free foundation and will be picking up a tube in the near future for those days when I want to look extra polished or if I have a special night out planned – I didn’t test the ‘photo-ready’ claim but I haven’t heard any reports to the contrary. The Moisturizing might be OK for the winter but its tendency to separate on the skin on hot days isn’t something I’ve got time to correct through the day.