Review: Lancome Photogenic Lumessence Foundation

Today's review is Lancome' Photogenic Lumessence foundation. This product is described as a "light mastering and smoothing makeup 14H comfort with SPF 15". The back of the box reads "master the light for a smooth, moisturized long-lasting glow. Lancome's innovative Photonic Network is designed for a truly luminous complexion, the unique combination of coated pigments and Photo-luminescent mother of pearl catches and controls the light, boosting the skin's luminosity as through from within. The silky smooth formula glides onto the skin covering imperfections for a beautiful, radiant finish, while the exclusive Aqua-Catch Complex provides an instant feeling of comfort and locks in moisture to hydrate your skin for up to 24 hours."

This foundation sounds phenomenal for those with dry skin, and that's why I was interested in this product. I have tried Lancome's Teinte Idole Ultra and found that one to be great as well. Photogenic gives lighter coverage than Teint Idole Ultra, but looks lovely on the skin giving a dewy, luminous finish, which is very flattering on my skin type. If you have oily skin or are looking for a matte finish, this will be the total opposite. I received this product from StrawberryNet.com for review consideration, my opinions are my own.

Lancome Photogenic Lumessence comes in a heavy, glass bottle with standard 30ml of product. It has a nice pump on it too and secure lid. The pump is very precise, easy to control and dispenses the perfect amount of product. I picked this up on StrawberryNet.com, it retails there for $47.50 CAD. There were 6 shades available to choose from. I am typically the lightest shade in most foundations (I am NC15 in MAC for reference) so I picked up the lightest shade they had, 01 Beige Albatre. I did some research as I always do before deciding to get any product, compared swatches of shades, read how it worked on those with similar skin types and colouring as myself etc. This foundation has a pretty great rating on MakeupAlley, it rates 4.2 out of 5, with a 72% repurchase rating. When I got the bottle I thought the colour was good, it looks darker in these pictures. But once applied, it was far too dark for me which sucks majorly because I LOVE how this foundation looks on my skin.

Here is a spot applied, the texture is moussey, but smooths out beautifully on the skin. I find it oxidizes a lot on my skin though and looks much darker out of the bottle. Apparently, 01 Beige Albatre is the lightest European shade, but in North America, there are much more shades available, as seen on the US Lancome website here. I love ordering online because you can get great deals, but you risk not getting the right shade, especially if you haven't hit up a counter for a sample before, I should of done that, still I would of ended up with the wrong shade because I expected the European lightest shade to work for me.

And here blended in slightly onto the back of my hand, it's super smooth, feels like a rich liquid or cream on the skin, very very nice on dry skin. I can't say enough about how it sits very nicely on dry skin, it's pretty wonderful for that. Those with dry skin should opt or a glowy finish and this foundation does that. And it gives good coverage too, I would say medium. It doesn't sink into fine lines or ever look cakey. This feels really comfortable and good on my skin.

I thought this looked quite yellow on my skin, but once I swatched it next to NARS Sheer Glow in Gobi (which is pretty much my perfect match) you could tell that eek it's quite dirty and orange/brown looking. How is this the lightest colour they sell? I don't get it.

So unfortunately, while loving what this foundation does for my skin, I can't wear it because it's far too dark for me! Maybe if I get a tan or start fake tanning (which I am planning on doing soon) I could possibly make this work.

Would I recommend this product? Many on makeupalley claim this is their holy grail foundation and I can see why. For those with dry skin, I would definitely suggest trying this out, just make sure you get the right colour match. This is not for those with oily skin though, it would make you far too shiny and it would melt off, too moisturizing for sure.