[Review] Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser Primer + Chanel Perfection Lumière Velvet Foundation

I'm back with a foundation review! This time it's the Chanel Perfection Lumière Velvet Foundation (retails for $52CAD). I have the shade Beige 30. Chanel also has "rose" shades available too, if you are on the pinker side (my friend bought this foundation in the Beige 20 Rose, for example).

Now the one that is available on Chanel has SPF15 in it, but the one I have does NOT have SPF in it at all. When I bought it in stores, the SPF label was blacked out, so I'm assuming the batch that I bought from either had faulty SPF issues, or Chanel was testing something out. 

I'm also testing the Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser Primer as well in this post. 

I got mines in Canada, so it has French on it, whereas if you bought yours in the States, you'll just have the English subname on it.

It is worth noting that I normally do not put primer on. I don't feel the need for it, my makeup/foundation holds up pretty well without it (my foundation doesn't slide off my face), and it's just money wasted (for me at least). I got this primer while it was on sale (I don't like purchasing drugstore items for full price).

So prior to any face makeup, this is what I look like:

Excuse the weird lighting... I couldn't get a photo to look nice and ended up with this

As you can see, I have slight discolouration on my cheeks (that are more noticeable/visible in real life) and some pores all over the face. I also just realized through this photo that my face and neck are two different shades...

Primer applied on my left side

The primer made my face feel more "smooth" and less bumpy. I can't tell if it did a good job of hiding my pores or not as mines are not very large to begin with. But this primer felt smooth. Smooth to the point it was slippery. It also had a fake glossy kind of texture to it. I've tried a sample of the Smashbox primer before (the most basic one, I can't remember the name of it) and it did not have the same or similar texture. The half of my face that I put the primer on, actually felt as smooth as baby's skin (so Maybelline picked the right name for this product lol).

Foundation applied on my left side

You can see immediately that the foundation evens out my discolouration and looks to be an alright match for my skintone based on this photo.

But from this angle, we can see that Beige 30 is unfortunately, not the right shade for me as it does not blend into my neck. It is also too pink for me. As this is just the regular Beige 30 shade, I'm thinking that Chanel's foundation shades all run slightly more pink undertoned than any other foundations I've tried.

I also find that this foundation likes to pick up on my dry spots and cling to them. All the whiteheads on my nose as well... this foundation clings to them really badly. I appreciate the matte-ness of this foundation, but it's just slightly too drying for my skin.

As for the primer, I found no visible difference between using it and not using it.

At night (12am-ish)

Excuse the horrible lighting. This was around 12am, so I was only left with the yellow light in my room and my flash wouldn't go off for some reason. It's difficult to tell in this photo, but my foundation did not slip and slide off on either sides. The left side still felt baby skin smooth whereas the right side felt like my usual skin.

The Chanel foundation is thin, but is buildable for heavier coverage. If I rub my face (which I did many times that day) I don't feel foundation coming off onto my fingers. However, its undertone is pink, and my undertone is yellow. It also clings to dry spots and made my skin feel more dry. For a high-end foundation though, I feel that the $52 price tag is quite reasonable. The YSL Le Teint is $62CAD and the Armani Maestro foundation is $66CAD. Keep in mind as well, Chanel prices rise every year.

Verdict: Not for me. The pink undertones don't match my yellow undertones and it's also quite drying to my skin. The range of shades for this foundation are also quite limited. As for the primer... it's not a necessary step for me, so I think I'll just be skipping this until I reach an age or point in my skin's life where my foundation starts slipping off all the time.

I'm hoping to try the new MUFE foundation soon, as I can't be wearing this foundation everyday and looking like a mismatched pink loompa.