Being a huge fan of the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua, it was inevitable that I’d get my mitts on Chanel’s latest base offering; the Perfection Lumiere Velvet. From seeing and reading reviews from fellow bloggers who managed to get their lucky hands onto the product pre-launch, I knew to expect a super light foundation and as the name would suggest, a velvety smooth, matte finish. I’ve been eager to try out more mattifying products of late in terms of skincare and foundation as sometimes I feel that I can get a bit too shiny throughout the day and was intrigued to see if a mattifying product would keep the shine at bay without the need to touch up with powder constantly. So when Chanel announced the launch of this baby, I just knew I had to have it.
The packaging is pretty identical to the Vitalumiere Aqua except for the fact that it is black all over instead of the nude body and black lid combo that we’ve become used to seeing. The consistency is also somewhat similar to the aforementioned as is the colour match and both contain an SPF of 15. I picked up B30 which is the perfect shade for my not so tanned complexion right now, whereas I have the shade B40 in the Vitalumiere Aqua (of which I purchased when I had a bit more colour on me). Now this is described as a lightweight, second-skin foundation and I’d say that the description is pretty much bang on! It blends so easily into the skin for a real, skin like finish, going from a liquid to almost a powdery consistency (but without any cakiness)and I’d say that this is one of very few foundations that I’ve tried that stays way below the radar by being absolutely undetectable. It really looks and feels like you’re not wearing anything at all and yet it still manages to even out your subtle skin imperfections to create uniformity in tone and texture. This is the perfect foundation for days where you want to rock the “no makeup, makeup look” and I can promise you that you’d fool everyone into thinking that you were going bare (provided that you are colour matched correctly).
I would say that this is foundation has a more of a tinted moisturiser feel to it and somewhat similar to the Jouer Matte Moisture Tint although it’s less thick in consistency and more yellow in tone, which I’d say is more universally flattering. I’s also say that it’s one suited best for those of us with normal to combination to oily skin, and as with the Jouer Matte Moisture Tint, you may want to steer clear if dry skin is your concern. Either that or intensively moisturise your skin and then some beforehand. Although, with the Perfection Lumiere Velvet, I didn’t encounter the problem with the product clinging to my dry patches. Where the Vitalumiere Aqua gives your skin a boost of radiance with a slighlty dewy finish, the Perfection Lumiere Velvet projects the radiance under a semi-matte veil.
The Chanel Perfection Lumiere Velvet is available in Selfridges for £33.00. I picked mine up at their pop up store in Covent Garden and becuause I wanted to make 100% sure on my colour match, I bought the B40 but got a sample of the shade below and was told that if after using the sample that I decided that it was a better match for my skintone, that I’d be able to go back and swap it for the correct shade. Sure enough, I found the B30 blended seamlessly into my palest-I’ve-ever-been skin. I would always suggest getting your hands on samples before you decide to part way with your money and I’m so glad I did.
Have you tried the Chanel Perfection Lumiere Velvet Foundation yet? I’d be interested you know your thoughts on it.