Diorskin Pure Light Foundation

Got my first 'posh' foundation from an over-enthusiastic-verging-on-motherly sales assistant at a Dior cosmetics counter. I've been wearing make-up for a few years now and have sort of settled into a routine. I do believe I'm one of the lower-maintenance girls when it comes to make up, especially when you visit sites like makeupalley.com where reviewers seem to have an entire range of different foundations in their personal collection from the tinted moisturiser to two way foundation to fluid to creme to powder to compact. And they have their summer foundations which are slightly darker and their winter foundation which is paler. Then the foundations for when they want to look like they don't have any make-up on, to the foundation for special occassions.

Look, if you wanna look like you don't have any make up on then don't use make up lah.

I must say though, makeupalley is an excellent site if you wanna get honest reviews on cosmetic products, unlike a lot of so called 'review' sites where the reviews seem to have been written by the companies themselves.

I have blemish-prone skin, any products that are even slightly comodogenic will set my skin off in an angry zit-rampage. I used L'Oreal's True Match and despite the sale assistance's insistence on it being oil-free and therefore safe for my skin, I broke out. Therefore I am extremely careful when choosing products and almost always ask for samples to try for at least a few days before I pay money for anything. I was whining to my boyfriend about my skin when he told me about Proactiv which some of his friends were using over in the States. Apparently it's actually really popular in the US. Not quite in the UK though, and because I wasn't willing to shell out £49.90 for a 5-piece set (I know I know skincare = investment, don't wanna have to resort to laser treatment when I'm older to get rid of scars blah blah shutyourface) I got him to ship it to me from LA where he could get it for cheaper, almost half the price. (I love parallel importing!).

No one paid me to say this - Proactiv really worked for me! 2 weeks of using it and my skin was perfect. And I continued using it for about 6 months and my crappy skin was kept at bay. Oh what joy it is to have nice skin! I've stopped using it for about 2 months now and no sign of breakouts yet. I get the odd little pimple every now and again but who doesn't? Be careful though because a lot of the reviews online seem to be very negative about this product. Quite a lot of people experienced bad allergic reactions to the product, peeling etc so like it said before, this product worked for me.

Pretty amazing stuff :)

I should include a little proviso here. I am not too sure whether it was Proactiv or my old foundation which did it for me. Let me introduce to you the most kick-ass foundation for blemish-prone skin, Dermablend Acne Results


The best thing was, it only cost me 12USD for a 45ml bottle but to my dismay, they've discontinued the bloody line! Dermablend's product and brand name in general is targeted towards people who need maximum coverage, post-op scarring, varicose veins etc and trust me the coverage was amazing. Plus, the foundation contained salicylic acid and was non-comodogenic. It kept shine away like a dream and had incredible staying power. However, if you're looking for something sheer and glowy, you should probably stay away from this. For me, it did a great job. Apparently Dermablend's been taken over by Vichy so goodness knows how they're going to remarket themselves. Vichy's focus on minerals and all things natural (and expensive - a Vichy sales assistant was trying to sell me mineral sunscreen with some spring water from France for a whopping 20 quid - I don't think so! Boots is selling sunscreen for a fiver) is markedly different from Dermablend's selling point - concealment, coverage and camouflage.


So I ran out of my Dermablend foundation and with the remaining stock being sold in various websites for double the price I used to pay for it, I decided it was time to move on

This is what I got:

Diorskin Pure Light in 200 (Medium Beige)

The shade was pretty darn close to my skin shade, with yellow undertones which suited my Asian skintone. Apparently 201 is even less peach/pink and would probably sell really well in Asia but the Pure Light range doesn't come in 2o1. Coverage - sheer, much sheerer than Dermablend's. It does basically what Dior claims it does:

A concentration of pure light.

- The oil-free texture provides a unique feeling of lightness and ultra natural transparent makeup finish.

- The Light Essence Complex, re-creates white light to leave the complexion beautifully radiant.

- Corrective pigments help erase imperfections and optically evens the complexion. FPS 15 SPF.

It really does give your skin a healthy glow but won't cover anything. Works well with concealers though! So far, I'm liking it. I asked the sales assistant to apply it on my face so that I could see what it'd look like. She recommended shade #300 which I discovered upon stepping out of the mall, was TOO ORANGE! Unless you're really tan, stay clear of 300. It looks fine in the bottle but urgh-- scary. Brought it back to her to swap for the 200 which was great. The SPF 15 is also a plus.

So there you go, I'll be using this one for awhile. It was pricey but seems to go a long way. The only gripe I have is that it doesn't mattify the face enough over the course of the day. Dermablend was great at keeping a matt look for the entire day. Pure Light is oil-free and so far it hasn't caused me to break out. Girls with dry skin will absolutely adore this as it glides on so smoothly, blends in really well and hydrates the skin - oh, and the leaflet says it's 50% water!