After hearing the world rave about this stuff like it's moon dust, and then proceed to moan about its price, I spend a good while deliberating whether or not to bite the bullet and splash out. And I did. Twice. What the hell is wrong with me.
Anyway. At the end of my last exam, (Employment Law, if you're interested) I headed out to Space NK with one thing on my mind. Chantecaille. (I did actually go in with two products on my radar, the other being the Kevin Aucoin Sensual Skin Tinted balm, but who am I kidding, in my heart I knew I would be leaving with the Chantecaille.) So I arrived, and spent longer than was probably necessary swatching and examining between two shades, Alabaster and Bliss, entering and exiting the shop to get a good idea of the colours. And I settled on the shade Bliss, because I have a strange reluctance to buy the palest shade of a range. Even when it probably matches better. Don't ask. So I wandered to the shop assistant and asked for my chosen shade, only to be told it was out of stock. Now, the reasonable man would have probably considered looking at Kevin Aucoin's offerings, or waiting until the stuff was in stock. But I am not the reasonable man, and I left not only with Alabaster (the palest shade...grrr) instead of my preferred choice, but my name on the waiting list to get my hands on Bliss. Now I don't know about you, but I think that signals alarm bells, that I have a certain...problem. I was about to say, I wish there was a Shopaholics Anonymous, but I just googled it and there is one. Who knew. I'm signing up...I promise...
Anyway. So the actual product. It. Is. Incredible. It's a thick balmy texture that is literally, like blending skin into skin. It's undetectable, it's perfect. It doesn't cover the spots and dark marks perfectly, but its blurs and evens out so that they are so much less noticeable. I have a lot of freckles on my face, and I dislike wearing foundation because it looks so obvious over freckles. I also have a lot of redness in my skin, which again looks very obvious if tried to cover with a meduim/heavy coverage base. So my philosophy is a light, luminous base that blurs without offering much coverage, and then pinpoint conceal my imperfections, eg. spots and scars. This fits that bill perfectly. It's probably as heavy, coverage wise that I would ever want to go, unless I'm going out somewhere where there will be pictures, like a night out or a special occasion. I've been using it most days since I bought it. It has SPF 15 and it's a physical mineral sunscreen for those of you who are interested. This makes it good for daytime wear, but I use a toner with glycolic acid in it daily so I do need to use a higher sunscreen to prevent sun damage. This just looks so damn lovely. It has a slightly radiant finish, not really in the dewy category, but also not in the natural finish. It's between the two. If it were a paint, it would be a satin finish, for all you Dulux fanatics out there. Funny story. A few years ago after a quick browse in B&Q for paint samples to no avail, I found a sales assistant and asked if they had any Durex paint samples. Facepalm. Freudian slip. So embarrassed. And then I had to follow him around with a beetroot face whilst he led me to them, and they were exactly where I had been looking but failed to see them. If I had just opened my damn eyes and looked properly I could have avoided the whole situation. I am scarred haha. Another thing, does anybody else wish that Dulux (careful now.. haha) would do all of their colours in nail polishes? Hmm? Just me?
Wow how did we get on to that? Anyway, I love it. It lasts ok on me. To be honest if I get 6 hours out of a base I think I'm doing well. I only use bases on the centre of my face where I have redness and blemishes, and given that I have an oily t-zone this is the first place for product to break down. I have very well behaved normal skinned cheeks that don't need any coverage (yippee) and where foundation would quite happily sit all day long. But I don't need it there, because like I said, it's very well behaved! It's always happens like that! I just blot and hope for the best. I do powder sometimes because of my cursed oiliness (thanks Mum), which helps longevity but I don't reapply powder in the day as I hate the feeling of blotting, powdering and layer upon layer of grease on my face. Sorry to be so blunt. I think powdering definitely helps it to last longer but also takes away the gorgeous finish that has earned this little baby cult status. Which it totally deserves. Winner!
