When I received an invite for this trial I was super excited. I had never tried an Elizabeth Arden foundation before so was interested to see how well it would work for me. The packaging is gorgeous! It comes in a metallic silver and gold box and inside is a matching compact. It has 2 compartments, the top one has a mirror and the foundation, then underneath is where the sponge lives.
I selected the shade Vanilla Shell which matches my pale skin perfectly. My skin is dry and sensitive so I have issues with foundation looking cakey or causing irritation. This is super creamy and on me the coverage is light to medium. I use after cleansing and moisturising, it feels quite lightweight on my skin.
I don't love or hate the sponge that comes with it, it's nothing special but gets the job done. However, I get a weird looking finish with this foundation, it doesn't look very natural on me and seems to sit on my cheeks and makes my fine lines on my forehead really noticeable. You need to be careful as I find it can cake up if you use too much. More than 1 layer on me and it starts caking really bad. I also dislike that it doesn't feel completely dry. I got no irritation at all though which was a positive.
For me the best way to use it is over my BB cream, it gives me a nice looking complexion and lovely glow that way, however on its own it just doesn't work for me.
So while it is a lovely foundation I suggest if you have dry skin to make sure you prep your face well to stop it accentuating any dry areas and caking. I don't see this as a life changing foundation for me and I would not repurchase this unfortunately.
I was excited to be given the opportunity to trial this Elizabeth Arden foundation.I'm in my 40's, with normal to dry skin. I selected the shade Vanilla Shell which was a good match as I'm usually about an Ivory or one shade darker.
The foundation compact is very glamourous looking. It's a mirrored compact & inside is the cream foundation and a little sponge. It's a bit 'plasticky' when you feel it & on my compact the clasp didn't work, so the lid pops open again when you close it. I use a hair tie now to keep it closed.
The foundation itself can be applied 2 ways. With a dry sponge for a full coverage finish, or a wet sponge for a lighter finish.
Dry sponge application. This foundation goes on fairly heavy and is buildable so very quickly my makeup looked very heavy. Yes, my skin tone was even, and it covered imperfections but what stood out for me above the fact that it’s heavy is that I looked super shiny, oily looking. I gave it a few minutes to settle, & then realised the foundation was settling into some of my more prominent wrinkles. I then applied a finishing powder to settle the shine down a little, which worked. The finished look was okay, but the foundation did seem to absorb the powder, and through the morning I became super shiny again. Dry sponge application was also a little heavy a finish for my liking. Overall it was okay, and it felt nice on my skin, but I don't think I achieved the youthful radiance it promised, it did the opposite
I tried the wet sponge application & the coverage was much more to my liking. It was a medium coverage and still buildable in places I needed a bit more. It still finished super shiny and still settled into wrinkles. I looked like I had really oily skin. I also noticed on a couple of humid days my skin was sweating a little under the foundation. The application was better with a wet sponge, and with less coverage the wrinkles weren't filled as bad, but oily skin look just didn't look right. Yes, the really fine lines seemed less noticeable, but I think the light creamy formula particularly on my forehead crease really settled into the crease and became super noticeable! It lasted a good 6 hours, but I felt my makeup looked a little worn by mid afternoon.
The foundation itself felt lovely and light on my skin if you ignored the finish. It didn't cause my skin to breakout despite the oily shine it gave off. Removing the makeup was easy and my skin wasn't dried out after wear.
It's a pricey foundation which is why I probably had higher hopes from it. Had I paid the money I would have been upset by its performance so if you have an opportunity to try it in store first you should. While I don't tend to fret about my wrinkles there are other foundations out there that do a better job minimising wrinkles and fine lines instead of highlighting them. I wouldn't purchase this particular foundation for myself - but I'm sure others, perhaps younger than me would like it.
Tips: Wet sponge, and build up the coverage seemed the best application for this foundation.
If you do have deeper wrinkles keep the application really light in those areas.
If you can I recommend you in store first to make sure you love it