Hi guys, today I’m back with a foundation review and I’m pretty excited about this one. I’ve been the biggest fan of Laura Mercier foundations for about as long as I can remember now. I try all of them and buy most of them, so I have pretty high expectations for them. Their last foundation launch, the Flawless Fusion Foundation*, was a huge success and made it into my Favourite Foundations for Dry Skin post last year. When I heard the new Laura Mercier Flawless Lumière Foundation* was launching, I couldn’t wait to try it. It’s the new dewy sister foundation to Flawless Fusion. As much as I love Flawless Fusion, I do have dry skin and a dewy version sounded perfect.  

This one launched in America in December, has been available here in the UK since early January and I picked mine up mid January. So, this is a full review having had it for around a month.

Brand Overview 

I always include this section in my foundation review posts but I don’t think it’s necessary today. Everyone has heard of Laura Mercier. The brand is most famous these days for their translucent powder, but the ‘Flawless Face’ has been a big thing in their branding for many years. Translation: the base products are better than anything else they sell.  

Product Overview 

In the UK, this retails for £36 and comes in 30 shades. It claims to be a medium to full coverage, offering 15 hours of moisturisation to make skin visibly softer and smoother. They claim this looks luminous in any light. And this foundation contains vitamin C, which they claim will reduce dark spots and make your skin better without foundation over time. 

Shades  

Flawless Lumiere comes in 30 shades, by 2019 standards I think that’s acceptable but obviously not the best. The way Laura Mercier foundation shades work is number, letter, number. The first number is for depth of shade, the letter is for the undertone and the second number is for how light/ dark the shade is within that category.  

Historically, I’ve always worn the shade Crème 1N1, lightest shade bracket, neutral undertone, lightest shade within that bracket. Last year when I got Flawless Fusion, I noticed a new lighter shade, Cameo 1C0. 1N1 has always been too dark for me, but it has the most perfect undertone for my skin so I didn’t want to risk 1C0 being too pink and got the shade I’ve always bought.  

This time, I was feeling braver. Laura Mercier foundations always run a bit yellow anyway, the neutral undertones match my neutral-warm/ olive skin perfectly. On this basis, I hoped that 1C0 would be more neutral than cool and I could still wear it without worrying about mixing it with something else/ wearing a high neck top. In an ideal world, 1N0 would be the most perfect match ever, but that shade doesn’t exist.  

The 30 shades available vary from 1C0 to 6N2 in this foundation. 

Cameo vs Crème   

When this foundation arrived, I thought I’d made the biggest mistake ever. In the bottle, Cameo looks so pink and somehow looked darker than Crème. I took it upstairs and held the bottle next to some of my others, trying to decide whether I should return it and buy my usual 1N1 instead. Holding it up next to my Coloupop No Filter (which I’m still loving), they looked like they were for two different people.  

For some reason, I decided to try it anyway and I’m glad I did. Despite looking much darker in the bottle, it’s definitely lighter than Crème. And although the bottle looked horribly pink, it’s definitely more neutral than cool. I’ve never had a shade look so different on the skin compared to the bottle before. Now, I still believe that 1N0 would be my perfect match if they ever decide to make it, but this one is still very close. No high necks or shade mixing necessary, result.

I’m sorry to those of you who regularly read my foundation reviews and have seen me say this a dozen times already, but my hands are a lot darker than my face, neck and chest. If I’m swatching shades on my hand, I’m looking for something that matches them in tone but looks too pale in order for it to be a good match for my face. I swatched Crème, Cameo and the Coloupop No Filter 05 as an example. Crème, clearly darker than even my hand, Crème blended into my hand so well you can barely see it and the Colourpop is visibly lighter than my hands.

 

Application 

This blends like it was made for my skin, it’s so smooth and flawlessly melts in. I used this with a brush the first time and loved it so much that I haven’t bothered to try it with a beauty blender. One thing that I really love about this one is that it blends out really well even if you don’t use much product. It doesn’t cling to any dry bits and you can make a little go a long way. 

Coverage  

I’ve worn this a few times with just half a pump on days that I’ve wanted a lighter finish and it never looks patchy on me. It covers what it needs to without looking heavy or cakey. Depending on how good my skin is, it takes a pump to a pump and a half to give me the kind of coverage it claims to have. I do have a small head. It definitely isn’t full coverage, but I’d say it falls comfortably at the fuller end of medium.  

Wear  

No complaints here. I get a full day from this without it looking cakey, oily, or dry. I find that having dry skin is sometimes a guessing game. Some foundations go on looking natural and healthy, then start to crack and peel after a few hours and others can go on looking a little dry but become more dewy after they’ve sat on the skin for a while. Obviously, I’ve only tried this in winter on very dry skin, but this one goes on looking skin like and very natural and gets slightly more radiant throughout the day, but never gets too greasy. That’s on very dry skin or dry skin, I don’t think this would hold up that well on oily skin.  

I haven’t noticed the coverage fading much throughout the day. If it is fading, it’s wearing evenly. I haven’t had any issues with it getting patchy or sliding off my face completely.  

It reminds me of something 

This foundation reminds me a lot of Rimmel Wake Me Up, but more like her more mature big sister?  Wake Me Up sits on my skin very well and this one blends out and wears very similarly on my skin. The Laura Mercier one does have more coverage than the Rimmel one, but they have a few similarities. They’re both on the glowy side and both contain vitamin C. Wake Me Up does contain small amounts of shimmer to add to that glow, whereas this one is glowing because of quality moisturising ingredients. And Rimmel offer a pitiful 8 shades. The Rimmel one also contains SPF 20, which this one doesn’t. I don’t like it when my foundations contain SPF as it usually irritates my skin but that’s obviously a personal preference.  

I’m not saying that the Rimmel one is a dupe because the shimmer and SPF are deal breakers for some people. And the better ingredients to make this one naturally radiant rather than shimmery is always worth paying the extra for in my opinion. But, if you like Wake Me Up, I think you’ll like this too.  

Ingredients  

Like Flawless Fusion, this is a silicone based foundation. Unlike Flawless Fusion, this one does not contain alcohol, which makes me very happy. It contains hyaluronic acid, which is always a plus in my eyes. As I’ve already said, this also contains vitamin C; I haven’t been wearing this daily so I can’t comment about the claims that it improves dark spots or makes skin more naturally glowy, but I know that vitamin C is an ingredient a lot of people like. It’s fragrance free which I’m also a fan of from a sensitivity perspective.  

Overall 

If you can’t already tell, I love this one. It’s been the perfect foundation for me so far this winter and I’m so glad I decided to try it straight away rather than in the summer. Compared to its sister foundation, I love them both. I think when summer comes around again, I’ll start using Flawless Fusion more and save this one for the colder months. I highly recommend this for anyone with dry skin, normal or combination. Personally, I think it’s probably a bit too dewy for those of you with oily skin.  

Pros: 

• Blends well 
• Not drying, or greasy 
• Wears well  
• Can be sheered out 
• Fragrance & alcohol free 
• No SPF 
• Actually moisturising, not shimmery 

Cons: 

• The shade 1N0 still does not exist 
• Shade range in general could be better, although it isn’t terrible  
• Shades run warm. Although that was a major benefit for me, it doesn’t help those of you who actually need cooler shades.  

Would I repurchase? 

I think you know the answer to that. Yes, she’s a keeper. If 1N0 launched tomorrow, I’d buy another bottle tomorrow even though I’ve only had this a month. This is such a lovely everyday foundation for me. I love that I can make the coverage lighter and it still blends well but it has more to offer if I need it. My skin always feels good when I remove it, which is rare for me at this time of year. I can see myself having one of these in my collection for a really long time.  

This was the longest foundation review I’ve ever done. Well done if you made it to the end! Have you tried this one or Flawless Fusion? If so, do you like it/ them? 

Until next time,  

Sophie  

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