L’Essentiel Natural Glow Foundation

OUR EDITORIAL REVIEW

Packaging:

The “L’Essentiel Natural Glow Foundation” by Guerlain Makeup comes in a unique bottle designed by Mathieu Lehanneur. The bottle has a tilted look with an awkwardly round transparent base that reflects the shade of the foundation and a perfectly round gold cap. The brand name and product information are printed in white on the bottle.
The foundation is dispensed through a pump mechanism that offers half-pumps which is great for those who wish to have lighter coverage. Overall, the design is very sleek and elegant.

Smell:

This foundation has a slightly powdery smell.

Texture:

This product has a creamy consistency and a smooth texture.

Shades Available and Shade Tested:

“L’Essentiel Natural Glow Foundation” comes in 30 different shades with different intensities that range from 00 fair to 06 deep (with .5 increments), and different undertone designations: C for cool, N for neutral and W for warm. You can find your specific shade by using Guerlain Makeup’s shade finder tool.
We tested this foundation on very fair skin in 01N.

Application:

For best results, Guerlain Makeup recommends applying the foundation onto “L’Essentiel brush.” For light coverage, one drop and two to three drops for medium to full coverage. After that, it is best to “dab the foundation onto the face at five points: forehead, nose, chin, left and right cheeks.” Then you can blend the foundation onto the skin by moving from the center of the face outward. Make sure the foundation is distributed evenly on the face.

Effect:

“L’Essentiel Natural Glow Foundation” is easy to apply due to its smooth texture. The product is famously composed of 97% naturally derived ingredients to give the foundation a skin-like look paired with a natural glow. In fact, the ingredients listed are known to protect against pollution and to hydrate the skin.
We found that the product is very effective and delivers on its promises of a full day’s coverage. The foundation coated the skin naturally and didn’t feel heavy at all on the face. It hid blemishes successfully and evened out the skin tone. The foundation is buildable especially given that the pump dispenses a fair amount of product so as to ensure no wasted foundation.
“L’Essential Natural Glow Foundation” has a semi-matte finish with a natural luminous glow.
It worked well without a setting powder, but for those who wish for a completely matte finish, we recommend using your favorite setting powder on top. The glow of the foundation is subtle and not overwhelming, the overall finish is dewy rather than greasy. Throughout the day, the foundation didn’t cake, break or look patchy. We recommend applying a primer to pump the skin up before applying the foundation. There is no need to apply sunscreen underneath because the foundation comes with SPF20 protection and is silicone-free which promises to be skin-friendly.

Price:

“L’Essentiel Natural Glow Foundation” by Guerlain Makeup sells at $60/30mL which is comparable to other products in a similar range like Giorgio Armani Beauty’s “Designer Lift Smoothing Firming Foundation SPF 20” which retails at $67/30mL and Tom Ford’s “Traceless Perfecting Foundation Broad Spectrum SPF 15” which sells at $88/30mL.