Cosmetics à la Carte Skin Velvet Foundation

Cosmetics à la Carte
Skin Velvet Foundation

The Foundation

Another Cosmetics à la Carte foundation - today is the turn of their Skin Velvet foundation.  According to Cosmetics à la Carte, this is a "good coverage, silky foundation for a long lasting, demi-matte finish".

Coverage

This has a particularly great coverage - somewhere between a medium to an almost-full coverage, I have found that it doesn't build very well however and can crease somewhat on reapplication.

Finish

This foundation has a demi-matte finish; actually it manages to be somewhere between a velvet and a satin finish but it has a lovely glow to it, not a dewiness, but a definite glow which lights up the skin, which is quite an interesting achievement for a demi-matte finish.  The only other foundation I have found to do this is Chanel's Perfection Lumière (which is very much a full-matte).

Shades

The pre-mixed shades...

This comes in thirteen pre-mixed colours however one of the main selling points behind Cosmetics à la Carte, as I've mentioned before, 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 a perfect shade for my winter skin (approximately MAC NC20 at the moment).

Best Applied With

Fingers, brushes, sponges - all work perfectly fine with this foundation.  Personally I like to apply this one with a dampened sponge (my Beauty Blender equivalent).

This claims to be a long-lasting foundation, and I have certainly found that it lasts all day.  It benefits from a primer if your skin is on the dryer side of normal.  Beware however - it categorically does need powdering especially if your skin is combination or oily.

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), hyaluronic acid to plump the skin, minerals and silicates.

Best Suited To

Normal, combination and oily skins will benefit the most from this formulation.  I have found that it can cling to dryer areas of my skin so I don't recommend for dry skin types.  This is not a lightweight foundation - I was somewhat aware of it.  I haven't found it to settle into lines but I have definitely found that it can crease over the day if not set properly.  I've used it on more mature skin and it has worked fine, providing there's a good moisturiser/primer base used first.

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, or compare with Cosmetics à la Carte Skin Tint foundation, reviewed here.

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