Just landed: Bourjois Paris 123 Perfect Foundation

Mon, 11 June 2012 10:44AM

You don’t have to be my best buddy to know I am insanely fussy when it comes to foundation. In this line of work, I’ve had the pleasure of trying more skin perfectors than you’ve had hot dinners and I (along with my oily, problem-prone skin) take the job of critiquing their formulas very seriously.

While Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation and MAC Face and Body will forever remain a cult classic, especially amongst professional makeup artists, there’s no denying that over the past few years, local supermarket and chemist-variety foundations have come along leaps and bounds. Case in point: Bourjois Paris sent pretty much every beauty editor I know  into a spin a few years back with the lunch of their Healthy Mix Foundation, $32. I also have a friend who is such a hippie, she doesn’t even like wearing deodorant let alone makeup and yet she practically bathes in the stuff. So, naturally when their latest offering, Bourjois Paris 123 Perfect, $32, landed on my desk recently I couldn’t wait to give it a whirl.

Here’s how it went down…

What they say: Based on the principle of the colour wheel, the foundation contains the three colour pigments: yellow, mauve and green that are used to conceal dark circles, dullness and redness respectively in the one go. As well as boasting a second-skin-like texture and SPF 10, it also claims to offer 24 hour hydration and coverage for up to 16 hours.

What we say: It’s worth buying for its fragrance alone, but the real hook is the finish. Although it’s got a relatively creamy consistency in the bottle, it glides on like a dream and settles with a near-powdery finish that’s so mattifying, it  virtually cancels out the need for using a translucent powder. And if you’re not in the market for a new foundation just yet, you owe it to yourself to try the concealer. Although concealer sticks are designed to have a thicker consistency in order to cover up one-off spots, they also tend to wear looking cakey and and dry, but not this one. It has a brilliant creamy finish that keeps the skin looking dewy and fresh, making it perfect for using on larger areas, like under the eyes as well as blemishes. Take your lunch from home tomorrow and buy this pocket rocket instead: Bourjois Paris Correcting Concealer Stick, $20.

Are you a fan of Healthy Mix?

What criteria do you look for in a new foundation?

Posted by: Eliza Ashe

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Tags: bourjois, Bourjois Paris, complexion, foundation, light-weight foundation, skin