Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation

Greetings Reader!
Little Background:
I hate foundations that make it look as if I'm wearing make-up. If I wanted to wear a mask, then I'd wear a mask. My philosophy on foundation is that it should A) even out your skin tone, and B) look like the best version of your natural skin.

Chanel's Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation:
This foundation is pure gold! My only regret with this foundation is not using it sooner. This is a sheer foundation that blends flawlessly onto your skin. You can apply this with either your fingers or a foundation brush. Since this is a liquid foundation, I prefer to use a foundation brush. I even bought Chanel's Blending Foundation Brush #7 (which I'll write a review on at a later date) to apply this product effortlessly. 

This is not a matte foundation, so if you're looking for that - this is not your foundation. It leave a dewy-type appearance to your skin. But it's not overpowering like you have extra oil on your skin. It just kind of makes your skin glow. I found this to be a very long lasting foundation. I think this works well for about 7 or 8 hours before it starts to break down a little and leaves a little shine to the skin. If you put this on in the morning before work, and were planning to go out afterwards - I would bring this with me for a little extra touch-up before heading out for evening plans. 

As great as I think this foundation is, I don't think that I would wear this during the hot summer months. I think that while it's a sheer coverage, that this product works best on skin in less humid/hot climates. So, this will really become a 3 season a year (Fall, Winter, and Spring) foundation for me. 

As for it's coverage, this works really well for my skin. It's a sheer foundation and is buildable. So, if I can't cover the little red areas around my nose (when I have red around my nose) with one pass of the foundation, I'll just add a little bit more of the product to correct it then. If you're someone that needs more coverage (hiding active acne, scars, rosacea, etc), this probably isn't your product. The Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation is a sheer coverage foundation. Usually, the negative reviews I've seen posted on this product are from people who wanted a sheer foundation for it's natural appearance, but then hated that it didn't cover moderate imperfections. You kind of have to weigh what you're looking for with most foundations. Most sheer coverage foundations do not cover moderate blemishes as well as stronger medium coverage or sheer/medium coverage foundations. So, keep that in mind when you go to the store to try this out. And you have to try this out at the store and walk away. If it's at a mall, stop by the Chanel counter first. Try on the foundation (make sure they give you a card of what they put on your face) and then walk around the mall and shop for everything else. Assess how your face feels, how the product stands up over time, what it looks like in natural light, how long the coverage lasts, and if you like it - go back and get it. If you don't, then at least you tried a product and you know it wasn't for you. Do not buy this blindly off the website because you'll get the color wrong and hate it for the wrong reason.

One down side of the product that I find a little annoying is that since it is a water-based formula (hence the "aqua" in the title) you have to shake the heck out of it! And when I say that you have to shake it, I mean that you have to vigorously shake (think about the way that the automatic paint mixers shake new paint cans at Lowes to mix paint together for the first time) the foundation for about 2 minutes or else the product will come out watery. Once it is shaken, it's a very thick cream and you only need about the size of a pea to cover your entire face. If you haven't used the product for a few days, then you'll have to go back to the vigorous 2 minute shaking. But if you used the product the day before, you can get away with shaking it for about 30 seconds.

It does have a slight fragrance to it (as do most of Chanel's products), but it's a very clean fragrance that dissipates very quickly after application. I haven't noticed any drying from the product on my skin. I know some people have reported that, but I guess since I have combination skin, the alcohol content just doesn't effect my skin's moisture.

Bottom Line:
It is expensive. It's $45 for 30 ml, but as with most of the other products I've recommended that have an expensive price tag - the quality of the product is justified in the cost. Meaning that a little goes a long way.

Note Bene:
I have a busy week coming up, and I'll be away from my computer for a few days. I'll do my best to post a new review next weekend.

I hope this helps. :)