Cosmetics à la Carte Skin Tint Foundation

Cosmetics à la Carte
Skin Tint Foundation

It has been a while since I've done a foundation review, and I wouldn't mind but I have a bunch of them queued up, almost ready to go.  Today I'm looking at one of the two Cosmetics à la Carte foundations that I've been trying out for the last couple of weeks.  I'll edit and post the other review next week.

The Foundation

This one is their anti-ageing foundation, containing "plumping peptides for a dewy youthful glow".   Apparently Freida Pinto wore this perfecting makeup base in the movie Slumdog Milionaire.

Coverage

This has a great coverage - around about a low-end medium coverage, but it's buildable and provides enough coverage to hide red veins and hyperpigmentation.  It is an unusual foundation in that it feels and appears quite lightweight (think: a step up from a tinted moisturiser), but it provides decent coverage without having to resort to concealers for minor skin issues, which is impressive in itself.

Finish

This foundation imparts a beautiful glow and is a slightly dewy finish formula, but nowhere in the same dewy region as Chanel Vitalumière for example; I'd compare it to Illamasqua Skin Base foundation in terms of both coverage and finish (however Illamasqua Skin Base colours are a nightmare to match to - this really it works best as a makeup artists' foundation).

Shades

Some of the pre-mixed shades available

This comes in twelve pre-mixed colours however one of the main selling points behind Cosmetics à la Carte is the bespoke nature of their products - you can have a custom foundation made up in whatever shade (and finish) that suits you and your skin.

I've used a mix of Sand (a golden-toned pale beige) and Vanilla (a quite pale pink undertone) to custom mix my perfect shade at the moment (My this-year-it's-paler-than-ever Winter skin is roughly MAC NC20).

Best Applied With

Fingers, brushes, sponges - all work perfectly fine with this foundation.  I'm personally loving my Shu Uemura #18 foundation brush to apply it and then the heat of my hands to melt it into my skin.

This purports to be a long-lasting foundation, and I have certainly found that it lasts all day.  It does need powdering especially if you have combination skin.

Formulation

This is a water-based thick liquid foundation.  It applies beautifully and blends well into the skin.  It contains mica and small amount of silicones (enough to smooth-out the surface of the skin but not so much that it feels slippy, in the way that silicone-based foundations sometimes can), micro-collagen, plumping peptides, minerals and silicates.  Lots of good things, as I've come to expect from Cosmetics à la Carte.

Best Suited To

Dryer skins will categorically benefit from this foundation.  It also works beautifully on more mature skins.  This one just won't work on oilier skins, but normal up to combination skins can certainly wear it.

This feels lightweight on the skin.  I haven't found it to settle into lines or crease over the day, however I have found that it can transfer, if not set properly.

Flashback, SPF, Price

This one contains titanium dioxide so watch it for flashback.  It retails at £36 for 30g in one of the pre-mixed colours, which is comparable to most high-end foundation prices.  For £48 you can available of a "My Mix" bespoke hand-blended foundation - when you consider that you can have your very own custom-mixed foundation exactly suited to your own skin type and shade, that never goes out of production, that's kept on file, that can be reordered whenever you want, and that ships with a free handbag-sized pump of your own "MyMix" foundation... well, that's not too bad either!

Look here for more information on this foundation.

Please note that a sample size of this foundation was sent to me for consideration by the brand, that said I have used it and would definitely recommend.