ByTerry Éclat Opulent Nutri-Lifting Foundation - review

By Terry Éclat Opulent Nutri-Lifting Foundation

The jury's out on this one.  I love it, and I think it's meh, and I love it, and I think it's, well, only ok.  I'm not really its target demographic (it purports to be a wrinkle-filling, lifting, anti-ageing formula, so it's aimed at more mature skins), but sure let's take a look at what this (rather stupidly expensive) foundation looks like, under the hood, as it were...

Coverage

Sheer-to-just-about medium.  That's all it's claiming to be though.  If you already need concealers or correctors (I do, for both hyper-pigmentation and some redness from minor rosacea and the occasional blemish), then you're still going to need concealers and correctors.  This blurs your skin reasonably, but you'll still need to correct the more major issues you either have when you're a teeenager, or when you're a bit older.  It doesn't build, particularly (you are not going to get full coverage out of this, no matter how hard you try).  If you have reasonable skin though, and no major concerns, then you'll get away with this on its own.

Finish

This is a very natural, glowing just-off satin finish.  The finish is quite beautiful, actually;  this is its crowning glory - the finish.  By Terry call it a "bare skin effect" and they're not far off.  It's just that I'm not sufficiently excited about this product overall to warrant the price tag.   But the finish, yes, it's elegant.  Think glowing and rested.  Think healthy.  Think soft-focus.  Think "not really wearing much".  Think all sorts of good things.  But you can get "glowing and rested" from a bunch of foundations, you don't need to spend this kind of cash.  Sorry to keep bringing it back to that, but it's for me the defining point about this foundation.  The stupidly expensive price-tag.

Wear

It's a standard more-or-less eight hour wear foundation.  You'll get slightly further with it if you powder and use a finishing spray (as per usual).  You'll need to powder oilier areas (as per usual).  You won't need a primer;  there's enough silicones in this thing to give you a facelift on its own.  Yes I am being very facetious - it won't literally give you an actual facelift.  That's a figurative* facelift, on the basis of the volume of silicones in the ingredients listing :-)

* Don't get me started in on figurative versus literal.  I'll start to bore you, and my blood pressure will rise :-)

Shades & Undertones

By Terry Éclat Opulent Nutri-Lifting Foundation - shades

There are three shades available - I got #01/Natural Radiance.  #10/Nude Radiance and #100/Warm Radiance are also available (different undertones - 10 is far more pinky-, 100 is far more amber- undertone).  This is one of those "one size fits all" foundations - supposedly, it matches to your own skintone.  I have a healthy dose of skepticism about these kind of claims, but in my experience, for all that, the more expensive brands tend to pull it off.

#01 is an apricot-peach-pink shade, more pink than I'm happy with, but it's no more than a minute on my face before it's pretty spot-on my "normal" colour.  I haven't found it to oxidise.

Formulation/Skincare

Reading the ingredients listing, it's a water-based with a shed-load of silicones, then glycerin, then switches to a bunch of chemical ingredients, then flips to parabens, silica, talc (hmmm), one token seed extract, more chemicals and parabens, hyaluronic acid, more silicones, more chemicals, and a bunch of oxides.  It feels more like a volatile oil-based foundation than a silicone-y one on your skin (think Giorgio Armani Maestro, if you know what I mean).  It's supposed to be an instant miracle "wrinkle filler" foundation (with that many silicones I'm not surprised, you're just trowelling them on really, kinda like an invisible spackle).  I don't see much evidence from the ingredient listing that it's particularly great for your skin.  Cosmetic value, sure, skincare value, not so sure.

Best Suited To

Supposedly all skin types - but given the volume of silicones, it's not going to suit either very dry or very oily skin types.  I'm starting to see that when a cosmetic company (lets face it, any/all of 'em) say "all skin types", this really means "all skin types from slightly dry through combination through normal through slightly oily" and forget about the extremes.  In terms of skin type with respect to skin age, I could see this better suiting more mature skin.  With the caveat that you're still going to need your concealers and correctors first/afterwards, as previously mentioned.

Best Applied With

Hands down, definitely, a flat paddle brush (fingers work too, as does a sponge or a (natural) buffing brush.  It's a bit too sheer for my liking for a duo-fibre brush - but a standard flat, paddle, foundation brush is best).

SPF, Price, Recommended?

We've come full circle and are back to stupidly expensive.  At around €110 for a 30ml jar, yes, that's right, pick your jaw up off the ground, this is a bit daft and I don't think I can justify (or afford) its price tag.  Despite the claims of the on-counter SA (a lovely lady who seriously knew her products) that I'd soon be using this for everyone, I just can't see it replacing the standard foundations in my arsenal.

Lookit, if you're maybe 60+, and have this kind of disposable income, and/or are looking for a new foundation "just for the hell of it", or fancy seeing what a stupidly expensive foundation looks/feels like, then sure, go ahead, take if out for a test drive.  Honestly though, I'd reach for better skincare first, and I'd probably reach for one of my other lovely foundations first - maybe Chatecaille Future Skin (also expensive but not as much as this one).  Or MAC Face & Body (nowhere near as expensive, factors less in fact, and a brilliant workhorse foundation).  Or YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat foundation (YSL's gorgeous followup foundation to their legendary Touche Eclat highlighter pen - lovely stuff altogether).  Or Armani Maestro Fusion foundation (I thought it was beyond stunning but then again, it doesn't suit everyone).

You'll find By Terry online and at Harvey Nichols (Space NK).  Truly, they do some gorgeous stuff, but I can't say that this one is as stunning as I'd expect the price tag might suggest.  Look here for more information if you're interested.