11 Sept 2014

Estée Lauder Perfectionist Youth Infusing Makeup SPF25 - review


Today is the turn of the new kid on the block, Estée Lauder's Perfectionist Youth Infusing foundation.  Given MontyC's positive experience with the serum, and given my liking of Estée Lauder foundations in general (Double Wear Light is probably the best foundation for medium coverage for oilier skintypes - it's the one I've been using a lot of this year on brides), I was looking forward to trying this one out...

Estée Lauder Perfectionist Youth Infusing Makeup SPF25 foundation
Ivory Beige swatches; left - splodged;  right - blended

Coverage

This is described as a medium coverage foundation and it is bang-on, precisely that.  Slightly more than medium, if I'm being hugely pedantic, but nothing close to "full".  There's not a lot to say about it otherwise.  It feels like a medium coverage foundation, it looks like a medium coverage foundation, it applies like a medium coverage foundation.  I haven't found that this layers particularly well.  Like most good foundations these days, it's chock-full of optical and blurring trickery, and if your skin is reasonably calm, then you may find that you don't need to wear concealer (or at least as much concealer as usual).


Finish

This is a satin finish, per Estée Lauder.  This is precisely how I'd define it, so they're right on the money again.  Satin-veering-towards-velvet.  It's supposed to give you a radiant glow, but I've found that very little of this claimed "glow" is evident on application or wear, however, given that it has a bunch of skincare ingredients, it could be that the serum ingredients at the heart of the foundation will contribute to a bit of a glow with repeated use.  Could.  Perhaps.  I wore it for a week and didn't notice a difference in that respect.


Best Suited To

Supposedly will suit all skin types - I can't see why not, but I can't comment with any absolute definitive categorical confirmation as to this either way (I only got around to trying this out on me, myself and I).  I can say that the wear and the look of this over the course of the day (and days) was precisely the same on dryer areas and oilier areas.  So that's promising.


Wearability

This lasted me around ten hours - so around two or three more than usual.  It wore evenly, didn't skip or patch in any way.  It did rub off a little so powdering is a good idea.  I didn't particularly find that primer extended its lastability.


Shades & Undertones


This is where it's a real winner.  There are twenty two shades available in this foundation, divided into warm (pink-based), neutral and cool (yellow-based) tones (note for anyone who is used to MAC's way of specifying W, C, N - this is opposite to this), and a decent spread of shades from light to reasonably dark.  This suggests to me that it's aiming itself at both makeup artists and the public equally.

I've been wearing 3N1/Ivory Beige all week and it is a perfect match.  My skin is around MAC NC23ish at the moment, but the neutral tone in this foundation suited me better than the yellow or pink tones, which are a little bit "very pink" or "very yellow".


Formulation

This is a creamy fluid foundation, with the Perfectionist Serum ingredients and a lot of silicones.  I found it a little gritty (likely that's the silicones) and a little thick - like a thinner foundation that wasn't shaken properly, or had a thickener added.  Difficult to describe, but (for me) not a formulation of which I'm hugely fond.


Best Applied With

I've found that either a synthetic paddle brush or a slightly dense natural bristle brush works equally well.  Fingers, just as well.  Sponges, not so much (although if you like a more sheer version, bouncing this onto the skin with a slightly dampened beauty blender-type sponge worked wonders).  Estée Lauder have launched a brush (with a combination of both natural and synthetic bristles) designed to be used with this but honestly, it's not necessary.  It's a little too thick for stippling brushes (in my humble opinion).


SPF, Skincare, Price

MontyC reviewed the serum whose skincare ingredients sit at the heart of this foundation.  She is still using it and still loves it (the serum).  This product claims to have the same benefits as the serum, so if you like that, then you could, maybe, perhaps, buy this on its own, and you've got two-products-for-one right there.  Price-wise €46 will net you a 30ml of the foundaion (in a glass bottle with a pump, hygienic but there's always just that little bit at the bottom you can't quite reach).  It contains a broad-spectrum mechanical (titanium dioxide) SPF25 and it does flash back (pity).

Look here for more info if interested.  The combination of the "precisely satin" and "precisely medium coverage" finish, along with the ten-or-so-hours wear combine to give a great work-a-day foundation, however personally I won't be re-purchasing.  Not because it's a bad foundation, it's not, but honestly, I have lots that do the same thing, and I'm happy enough (again, personal choice) to have any skincare I want in separate products to my foundation (including my SPF), and have my foundation just do what it's supposed to do - cosmetic cover.  In addition, after five days' usage, I couldn't honestly say that my skin looked any less glowy or any less wrinkledy :-)

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