This week was an interesting week for foundation. As opposed to my usual pick a product and try it all week, I chose to use a sample I received as a gift with purchase. This wasn’t a tube sample, this was a foil packet sample. Each of the little foil packet samples came from the shade range of medium. My plan was to use the foil packet to test it for a first impression and then see if I liked it enough to try a larger sample. I figured on the days between I could use one of the foundations I currently have open. At least that was the thought initially.
Surprisingly the Jouer foil packets gave me a full week of product. Now I will say that I got a full week’s worth of product because I didn’t always use my correct shade. For me Cashmere (a light medium shade with pink undertones) proved to be the best match for me, although it was a hair to light in direct sunlight. Mixing the shades wasn’t possible because of the way the foil packets were set up. I think I am between shades right now but I think Cashmere would do well for me in the winter.
Even though you only need a little drop of the foundation to cover your skin, when you open one of these foil packets, all of the product in the foil packet is going to come out. At first you squeeze hoping for a drop and nothing comes, then the entire packet squirts out onto your hands.
So to find my foundation shade I started by opening one packet and when I realized it was out whether I chose it or not, I went ahead and used it for the day. (there were ten packets so I started at the lightest and have a couple left over – I’d like to say I’ll use one tomorrow but I know the last few really are way too yellow in tone for me so I probably will just start using next week’s selection starting tomorrow morning.
Since this week mostly involved me sitting at my computer with no witnesses, I just went with off shades to do the test. I surprised my babydoll when he stopped by my office but as all of my other conversations were on the phone, no one else noticed. So in case you look at the photos and wonder why things look a little off with my coloring, that is why. I So with some work I found my correct shade. But I also wore the incorrect shades to lengthen the trial.
So let’s take about the Jouer Essential High Coverage Crème Foundation.
According to the website…
A lightweight foundation with supreme coverage and an impeccable airbrushed, matte finish. Available in 50 shades, a small drop is all you need to achieve a flawless look all day.
Chamomile Extract:Calms redness while moisturizing and inhibiting the growth of bacteria. Cucumber Extract: Softens and hydrates skin. Hyaluronic Acid: Supports skin’s natural moisture retention. Tripeptide Complex: Supports natural collagen production for smoother, more youthful-looking skin.
Okay so those are the claims. How did it live up to them? Pretty well actually. I wasted a lot of product because of the foil packets, but on my face I needed a touch of the finger to each cheek, on to the forehead, one to the nose and then another to the chin. Then I went in with my foundation brush (incidentally I am loving my Bdellium foundation brush and it is no longer as pristine as it was last week but still pretty)and blended it in, touching it up in the corner of the eyes with the makeup sponge.
New arrivals at BdelliumTools.com
Very little product was needed. In case you are wondering, after using the product I needed on my face, the left over product I blended into my arm to see how far it would go.
Blending it in I covered my arm completely from knuckles to elbow before I ran out of product. So when they say a little goes a long way, they mean it. And when it says full coverage, it means full coverage as well. It is also extremely light weight. In case you are wondering, the day I took these photos I was running on about two hours sleep. No product in the world was going to touch the bags under my eyes. I will say, that while the foundation looked better on other days, the product didn’t make the bags worse.
Once it was on, I no longer felt it on my skin. My skin didn’t feel cakey or dry as it often can with full coverage foundations. It was also quite matte. I had no shine, not even in my t-zone.
I tried this foundation both with and without primer and this is definitely a foundation you will want to use with a primer if you have any enlarged pores or texture to your skin. I tried using it without a primer and it showed every pore.These photos were taken on a day without primer underneath. I think it is due to the consistency of the foundation.
Because it is called a crème foundation I expected more of a cream consistency. It is not. The formula is a thin liquid. I can see how the consistency really helps with the application, and allows it to cover the face with so little product as well as to feel light weight. The other side to that is it really showed off my pores if I didn’t use a pore filling primer. You can see in the photo of it on my hand that when I tilted my hand, it ran to the other side. This clearly wouldn’t be a problem in a pump container, it was quite a mess with the foil packets.
When I did use the primer with this foundation, I felt sad that I had no where spectacular to go as my skin really did look good. Well, good when I had the right shade on my skin. Plus since I generally wear full coverage when I am going somewhere, just putting it on makes the day feel like an event.
Even though it has some pretty good skin care like ingredients listed in the description, those elements don’t make it feel like skin care, or even skin care adjacent. They are more like neighbors who live in different apartment buildings on the same street and occasionally use the same coffee shop.
I think those ingredients like chamomile, cucumber and hyaluronic acid just keep the skin from feeling dry and the foundation from being cakey. Both of which are very good things. They make the foundation pleasant to wear, but not really skincare.
I did notice that the foundation did seep into the fine lines around the corner of my mouth towards the end of the day, but that tended to happen after about six to seven hours of wear. Up until then, it was really good. It didn’t peel around my nose or show oil in my t-zone. It also didn’t emphasize my very deep bags on the days when they couldn’t help being present. (It was a loooong week this week my darlings)
Even if my head occasionally looked like it belonged on a different body due to the mismatched tones, the foundation performed well. I am glad I tried this sample and I have to say I am surprised that a full sized bottle of this foundation is only $38. It feels like a much more expensive foundation. I don’t often wear full coverage foundation, especially not in the summertime. The sun and humidity where I live just make full coverage a disaster waiting to happen. At least for me. I know there are people who can pull it off, I just am not one of them.
I tend to stay in the medium coverage lane in general, however I like having a full coverage foundation around for special occasions. I can definitely see this being a contender for that spot in my makeup collection and now that I know my shade, I think that once the weather cools down, I may be picking up a bottle to see how it fares against the Becca Ultimate coverage. I think this coming week though, I will try for a product with just a single shade.
Ms. Mimsy Reviews 
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