Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Review – The “Your Skin But Better” Foundation

“The tiniest drop of this hybrid fluid creates a fresh, natural complexion. Skin looks refined and feels refreshed, creating an exquisite makeup experience. The fluid formula has a soft, water-light texture and comes in 10 shades that match perfectly to skin’s undertones, whether pink or beige.”

Though my skin is far from perfect, I usually prefer my foundation to give me a light to moderate coverage and let my skin (and some of its imperfections) show through. It might sound funny, but I feel that this looks more natural and not made-up.

Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua (referred to as VA in this post now for convenience) is a foundation that promises a fresh, radiant finish which is not heavy or cakey and blends into the skin beautifully. I anyway love Chanel and have been lusting after their foundation since long. So, finally, I bought it in shade B40- Beige Desert.

Ingredients:
Octinoxate 6%, Titanium Dioxide 5.6%, Aqua (Water), Methyl Trimethicone, Alcohol, Dimethicone, Phenyl Trimethicone, Talc, Butylene Glycol, Isododecane, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Acrylates/Polytrimethysoloxymethacrylate Copolymer, Polymethyl Methacrylate, PEG-10 Dimethicone, Stearic Acid, Dimethicone/PEG-10/15 Crosspolymer, Alumina, Aluminum Hydroxide, Phenoxyethanol, C9-15 Fluoroalcohol Phosphate, Magnesium Sulfate, Parfum (Fragrance), Nelumbo Nucifera Flower Water, Methylparaben, Triethoxycaprylysilane, Sodium Hyaluronate, Silica, Tocopheryl Acetate, Dipropylene Glycol, Polyeurethane-15, BHT, Laminaria Digitata Extract, Tocopherol, Propylparaben, Ethylparaben /- May Contain: CI77007 (Ultramarines), CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 (Iron Oxides), CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), Mica

The packaging:
Contrary to norms, Chanel has shunned the glass bottle with pump for this chic little plastic box with a nozzle-like opening. Several of the reviews that I read for this foundation have criticised this packaging for not being classy and elegant. Personally, I feel that this is the chicest packaging ever for a foundation. So compact and sleek, it is ideal for travelling. At first look, I was kind of shocked at how tiny the bottle was but the quantity is the standard 30 ml.
The nozzle too, gives quite good control over the quantity of product you remove so that there is no wastage. And at this price, I certainly wouldn’t want to waste any!

The product:
The foundation is a thick liquid which dries relatively quickly so you have to be a bit fast while blending it. It blends well and doesn’t streak when I apply it with my fingers. I haven’t tried using any foundation brush or sponge with this yet coz its a new purchase and I’ve just used it four times. A pea size amount is enough for my entire face and then I need a little bit more for my neck.

Coverage:
This is truly a light to medium coverage foundation. It goes on quite sheer and can be built up as per your requirements. I have once worn two light layers of VA and it didn’t look the tiniest bit cakey or patchy. It did manage to cover some of my lighter freckles but not the darker sunspots nor the marks left behind by the three horrid pimples I had last month, though it did make them appear lighter. Despite that, it somehow managed to give my skin a uniform appearance, it made it look so even toned that it truly looked like “my skin but so much better”…and radiant too. While applying and blending, it looked a bit light for me but it settled on my skin and blended with my skin colour within moments.

How do I describe the radiance? It is not a glow, skin does not look dewy, in fact, VA gives more of a satin finish with a naturally radiant look. The kind of sheen and brightness that healthy, hydrated skin would have. I don’t know if I’m making any sense, but that is the best I could describe it. And a couple of your flaws showing through makes it even more real and believable.

I always set my foundation with a light dusting of powder (Clinique Blended Face Powder being my preferred one since almost 2 years…review coming soon) and that’s what I did here as well. The foundation lasted a good 4-5 hours on me without fading or streaking till the time i removed it, I generally don’t need to wear makeup longer than that.

I had thought that the alcohol content would dry out my skin in winter but surprisingly it didn’t. I anyway have combination skin but my cheeks are drier in winter. However, this felt very comfortable on my face and it almost felt like I didn’t have anything on my skin! Oh and it didn’t oxidise either though I was in the sun.

Some women really hate products containing fragrance. I am not one of them…hehe. I love my skin care and make up to have a nice fragrance, gives a luxurious feel doesn’t it…and I’m not talking of cheap, chemically fragrance that irritates the olfactory nerves but a classy fragrance like the kind you get in expensive luxury products. VA too, smells lovely but the smell wears off once the product is on your face.

Price : ouch…Rs. 2550 for 30 ml (oh but hey, Lancôme Teint Miracle was 2700 when I had last bought it, Estée Lauder Double Wear Light too is about 2750 or something so a Chanel foundation at this price is not really ouch).

Overall, this is one great product and I would absolutely hate it if I had to choose between this and Lancôme Teint Miracle coz I simply adore both! If you need, sorry, want, a luxurious pampering, lightweight, medium coverage foundation that gives you a natural yet radiant look, go ahead and buy this. I love it…perhaps you will too!

Whew….quite a long, raving post isn’t it….enjoy the pics now. And I tried and tried and tried to take some nice face pics with this foundation on but they turned out quite disastrous! Someone pls teach me how to take nice self pics!!!!!