While I may have a rather obscene collection of various MAC foundations (ok, let's be honest, at least one of each formulation, including airbrush and tinted moisturizer), I find myself becomming bored and dissatisfied. This lead me to branch back out into the higher-end cosmetics lines, and I happily left Nordstrom's earlier this summer with the HD foundation ($38)from Smashbox. This foundation looked lovely at first (though it was quite sheer and required either building or extra concealer), but it's wearing ability was almost nonexistent, even paired with various primers.I have incredibly dry skin--yay for early aging!--, yet, four hours into my workday I would look like I had just jumped face first into a bucket of fried chicken. Delicious, yes, but pretty, no. Logic would have that I simply needing a touch more of blotting powder--but no. Everytime I took a brush (an emmaculately cared-for and incredibly soft brush, at that) to it, it would disappear! Visibly so. This was even worse for someone like me; at the time, my body was very tan and my face was incredibly pale (I never tanned my face, and there was about 23458696696 shade differences between my face and the rest of me), so when my foundation would disappear, I would be left with bright white spots and various areas of my face. Not a good look!
Determined to find something that would make my skin look flawless, I ventured out to Nordstrom's once again. I had a few foundations in mind to look at. I wandered by the Dior counter first, having heard wonders of the "forever" foundation ($44) in their line; a friend of mine used to work for them and she swore by this waterproof, medium coverage foundation. However, seeing that the girl working the line was wearing a foundation at least 2 shades darker than her skin tone, I decided to move along. Next I paused at the Giorgio Armani counter, which was right next to Chanel--perfect, I thought, since I've used Chanel before and knew that it worked for me; I figured if nothing else, I could try another Chanel product. I was greeted by an impeccably dressed older gentleman who turned out to be the business manager for the line; he'd worked for MAC way back in the day, before the company was sold to Estee Lauder, and opened the Armani counter at Neiman's in the city. I explained my situation, and mentioned I was interested in the Luminous Silk foundation ($58), which I'd read about on lollipop26's blog (yes, I'll admit to wanting to try it just because she is so fabulous, and I'm hoping some of her glamour will rub off on me if I use the products she does :p). He informed me that while Luminous Silk was a lovely product, he wasn't sure if it was meant for me, seeing as a.) it was quite a luminous finish, and I was tired of looking oily, even though I'm not, and b.) it is a sheerer foundation, while I prefer more coverage. He directed me to the Designer Shaping Cream Foundation ($65). It was hydrating, radiant, but not oily, very long-wearing, and a more medium to full coverage. He proceeded to apply it to one side of my face with their version of a foundation brush, called the "blender brush" ($47), which I'm considering picking up; it's unique in that it is half-natural and half-synthetic fibers, a similar shape to a 190 from MAC but smaller, more rounded and quite dense, and apparently is guaranteed not to streak your foundation. Very soft, too. I was impressed: the color matched my skin perfectly, it was subtly glowy, very skinlike in that I couldn't see where the foundation began or ended, and though I could see my skin through it, like my freckles, which I happen to like, it gave superb coverage, completely masking the acne scarring on my chin, as well as the carnage from a popped pimple. It also dried down in a unique way: it didn't feel dry or powdery, nor did it feel wet or creamy. It simply felt like my skin. It was also incredibly comfortable to wear--feels like nothing at all. After he had evened out the other side, he proceeded to give me a gift including their Nera eye cream, a full sized brow gel, a deluxe sample size of the fluid sheers in #2 (another review on those, as they are a fantastic product), and a deluxe sample size of the luminous silk foundation, so I could decide which I preferred. I've since worn it for three days in a row, and I am absolutely in love. It wears incredibly well, never gets shiny or greasy--it actually looks even more gorgeous as the day goes in as it seems to bond with your skin somehow and blend in so flawlessly that it looks as though you have nothing on. I also wore the luminous silk foundation for the first time today, and while I agree that it is a more sheer foundation, I really like it. It's not as greasy as I thought it would be and it wears very well. Great option for weekends or days when I want less coverage. All in all, I am very satisfied with my experience with Armani. I think I'll branch out to more products. :)
Sorry this was so long--I wanted to make sure it was in-depth.
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