REVIEW: Chantecaille Future Skin

First off: welcome back to Bad Outfit, Great Lipstick! It's been a lovely break, but I can't deny that I've missed you all. :3 Let's get this welcome back party started with a bang: a new foundation review! And it's for a very expensive, much-lusted-after foundation: Chantecaille Future Skin.

Image yoinked from Chantecaille.com.

No, your eyes are not deceiving you: this is a $75 product. I'd love to pretend that I'm rolling in spare cash from a major lottery win and I totally bought a full tub, but no, I'm still a broke adjunct professor. I was actually given a super-generous sample by a friendly MUAer. Regardless of your own personal makeup budget, or how much a product costs, I highly recommend getting a sample to try out first. That goes double for a luxury product like Future Skin. (PS: I promise that I'm reviewing some more affordable products soon!)

I'm not going to read off the big list of claims from Chantecaille.com, because I think that's crazy boring and you can do it yourself. I will, however, summarize some relevant points: this is an oil-free cream foundation sans SPF. It comes in a jar without any sort of spatula or spoon (I double checked on that), which icks me out; the average consumer isn't going to think about how contaminated their foundation may become if they keep sticking their fingers in to the pot. Chantecaille claims that this product has "medium to full...adjustable coverage" and that it "transfer[s] water into the skin without the use of any oil." Interesting claims. Shall we test them, my friends?

I decided to test Future Skin after a minor chemical burn on the bottom half of my face had healed. My skin is normally combination dry; because of that chemical burn, I was also left with some beautiful chin zits and extra-dry patches. One zit stayed around long enough that I decided to give him a name. Folks, meet Percival! Percival was kind enough to act as a "coverage ruler" for this foundation review, so go you, Percival! You're okay by me.

Now, the Chantecaille website recommends applying this foundation with a brush. I did a quick test on the back of my hand to see how this might look when applied with a brush, plus I surveyed the lovely people at MakeupAlley, and yeah, that's a big pile of NOPE. Even after plenty of buffing, you're going to get quite a streaky finish. I was told to apply the product with my fingers, so that's what I did for this initial test.

I applied one layer to my entire face, working in sections, and immediately noticed two things. First, this foundation has a really interesting feel to it, like a liquid-powder mixture under my fingers. Very high-tech and cool! Second, there is no way you could get full coverage with this product, at least not by my definition of full coverage. One layer is, as these photos show, effective but sheer; it'll even out the skintone and soften up blemishes, but it won't completely cover them. I patted a little more on the my chin and in between my brows, and this brought the coverage up to about a medium level. No shame in that, but it's not a medium-to-full coverage foundation.

The foundation clung horribly to the dryer parts of my face, as shown in this macro shot, and it was somewhat obvious in natural light. It did soften up after about 15-20 minutes, as foundations are wont to do, but it still wasn't very flattering on my dry areas. Not surprising: when a foundation is labeled as "oil-free" and is used by a lot of combination and oily skinned people, you get the picture that it's not exactly for you

Suffice to say that there was zero water being "transferred in to my skin." It didn't parch my skin, but it didn't help it, either. Still, I was hoping to be impressed by how well this worked on my oily nose.

As the text shows, the photo on the left is Future Skin applied with my fingers, then I added some concealer. The photo on the right shows Future Skin applied with a damp beauty blender, with concealer over my blemishes and a bit of my trusty D&G powder foundation brushed over my t-zone. (Both of these products were taken roughly 30 minutes after the initial application.)

I was inspired to try the Beauty Blender by Holliday Grainger's Bonnie and Clyde makeup, which I love love LOVE, and it's definitely a better option for dry skin. It gives you a more sheer coverage and it sucks up some of your precious product, yes, but it doesn't cling quite as much to dry patches. I mean, there's still some clinging, but it's not as noticeable.

Also, despite the powder-ish feel of it, I found that liquid and cream blushes apply on top of the foundation without issue.

But again, I skipped setting powder during my first test because I wanted to see how the foundation held up on oily skin. Thanks to the advertising and the way the foundation sat on my dry patches, I was expecting miracles. In reality, it was...okay. The foundation didn't exactly fade or separate, but I definitely got super-shiny on my nose; when I touched it, I picked up a bit of grease. My mother wanted me to accompany her to the grocery store right after I took this picture, so I had to blot to feel comfortable with it.

With that in mind, I would recommend this formulation to people with normal, combination, or slightly oily skin. You'll want to dust powder over, or use a mattifying primer on, any parts of your face that produce a decent amount of oil. People with slightly dry skin could get away with this if they applied it over moisturizer or used a damp beauty blender, but I think there are better products out there for our skin type. If your skin is super-dry or super-oily, I'd guess that this isn't The One for you.

So Future Skin is a workable product on me, and in an ideal world I'd finish this truly generous sample. Unfortunately, the Porcelain shade is too dark and too pink for me. I'd peg it at about NW15 once it has fully dried--not workable for my face and neck. Still, Chantecaille Future Skin has a decent shade range, with 16 shades ranging from light to medium-dark. It's not the most impressive or inclusive range I've ever seen, but it's a sight better than what most brands offer.

In the end, this is a nice luxury foundation that didn't work for me. But it is not, as advertised, medium-to-full coverage, and the packaging could use some work. Throw a spatula in to the box and temper your claims that it's going to "reduce sebum production" (ie, will work miracles on very oily skin), and you'll earn a 5 out of 5 from me.

RATING: 4 out of 5.

Chantecaille Future Skin is available at Chantecaille.com.