Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation

Finally I had enough time with this foundation to provide you an adequate review.

Like I said before, I do like this foundation, and it applies on the back of my hand A LOT better than how it appears on my skin. Thus I guess people with normal to combo skin (that is, combo as in normal + little oily, not normal + dry, since flakes is a major no no for this foundation) would love this.

As I have also said before, some background information, I have extreme dry skin. They are flaky year-round, only the level of flakiness changes. My shade of this is Cream Ivory, I am a solid MAC NC20.

Here is what it looks like.

It has 35mls of product, a tiny little more than average. The packaging is great, no heavy glass bottle, no random designs. Just a simple tube, opaque too so the content remains fresh longer.

Here is what the applicator looks like. Again very nice, a very small opening.

Here is the thickness of the foundation. So yes, it is relatively thick, but very creamy thick.

So on the left it is how much usually needed for half of my face. It is VERY VERY pigmented, and of course I know this little dot won't be able to spread over the entire face, so I often give it a spray of my toner to make it runnier and sheerer. On the right, is how it looks blended out on the back of my hand. Looks very nice eh? Not so on the face.

It does have a sheen as you can see, it gives this kind of glow at first, but the glow disappears soon on me and turns matte.

Under flash, it does appear slightly lighter, but this foundation doesn't contain sunscreen, so rest assured, the white cast won't be overwhelming.

Again, like usual, I will include close shots of my face with the foundation on. This has NOT been edited, it's accurate pictures of the foundation under natural light.

See the red area on my cheeks, I think the red part is my blush I can't remember, although I don't think I would wear blush in a foundation review..-.- but focus on the accentuation of my dry skin. Please ignore my glorious undereye circles.

When I first apply it, it looks relatively nice and invisible, with a beautiful glow. After a while, this foundation sinks into my dry patches, which means the moisturizing ingredients have been absorbed, and the pigments sit on top of my dry skin and becomes quite matte. 

Look closely, this is about 2 hrs after application, and that is when it starts to appear obvious. When my dad commented that I had too much powder on face, I knew something was wrong, because A. He never notices my makeup unless it's eyeshadows, and B. I didn't powder my face after the foundation.

Pigmentation is great, very great in fact. Coverage is full, but of course, with full coverage it comes with the obviousness of wearing a foundation. So I like to make it sheerer like I said by mixing it with toners, moisturizers, etc. It still provides at least medium coverage though. I used brushes, fingers and sponges to apply, and may I note the MAC 209 is so far the best next to my hands, and because this foundation is not that sticky, the 209 won't shed too much. I like all the finishes right after application, but they all turn matte later on. Staying power is great too, but at the end of the day, even though the foundation doesn't slide off my face, it does become quite obvious and dare I say..cakey.

Colour matching. This is a tough one actually. The foundation appears slightly orange/pink/dark for me right out of the tube. When applied on the face it somehow transfers into a lighter colour on my skin, and makes me look about half a shade paler than my skin/neck. Then after about 10 minutes, it perfectly matches my skin. I guess this is one of those foundations that needs to set in order to match. Again like I said I'm a solid NC20 in MAC. For all you girls trying this out in Sephora, give it a little time to set in. If you are NW20, go with Rose Ivory.

Also, this is not one of those foundations that sets completely dry. It will remain like freshly applied foundation on the skin, but not sticky or anything. Which I prefer actually. Anything that dries on my skin freaks me out. But then again, it also depends on your moisturizer. My moisturizer happens to be butter (-.-...), so it must be more moist. But even then, after about 2 hrs the foundation becomes dry. So then I don't understand why on the internet people keep saying this is for dry skin.

One way I found that makes this work on dry skin is that you must have some layer of product between this and your skin. But a moisturizer won't do. Something like a thin layer of Vaseline is perfect. With that layer of vaseline, this thing actually looks pretty darn good all day long, and my dad didn't notice any makeup on my face. It also makes the foundation glowier and much more like flawless real skin.

Smells kind of like Revlon Colorstay, so yes, smells like water paint, but about 10 times lighter.

Overall, I recommend this foundation to all normal to slightly oily girls. You can always blot, but if your skin is dry and it sinks in, it's very hard to fix.

Retails a soaring $55CAD here. Absolutely ridiculous price tag, not that it's expensive for a highend foundation, but just the price difference between here and in the States (($45USD) again makes it less worth the price.

Update: Here is a video review that I filmed 3 years later. It is a review of the new colour Soft Ivory, which is lighter than Creme Ivory. Performance wise it is still quite the same. But in this video I will be comparing it to the Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hr Foundation. If you want to you can click below and watch it!

  If You Can't See the Video, Click Here.

Thanks for reading! Have yourselves a great day!

xx