Thursday 30 August 2012

I have found the one ...


... but it doesn't mean the search ends there.


About two days ago, came a fantastic announcement from Lisa Eldridge, heralding the start of a revolution in terms of finding, once and for all and in a fool proof, unbiased way,  the perfect shade of foundation for you. The little device - which my friend Jen amusingly calls a 'hoofer doofer' -  took 3 years to develop and it's all kinds of awesome really, 17 shades of awesome to be precise.


Lisa Eldridge explains with passion the whole story about it, the fascinating research they did to be able to give birth to this little piece of genius. In short, it looks like a little white remote control which takes a photo of your skin and can tell in a few seconds the perfect shade for you. The consultant who has received a special training to being able to offer this free service, puts the little device against your right cheek, then your left cheek and a few seconds later, shows you the reading which corresponds to your perfect shade.


If you already know of this product and want to skip the description, the details of my consultation, and want to get to the juicy bits directly, the bit where I share my impressions on this foundation match service, please scroll just after the embedded video below.


01-Boots-No7-Foundation-Match-Service-Review-Impressions-Personal-Experience


When I say that the device takes a photo of your skin, there's no photo of you stored somewhere on a database or anything like that, it just takes a reading of your skin tone really. The best thing about it is that you don't need to rely on outdoor lighting (nor the skillls of the consultant) to define what your perfect shade is as the device can operate in any kinds of lighting.



Yesterday, was the first day when they launched the service. I haven't found my holy grail foundation so you bet I had to try the free service as soon as possible. My 'consultant' Alison was absolutely lovely. She was so genuinely excited about the service, it was lovely to see and very infectious. She confessed that they had been working long hours lately, sad that she hadn’t had the chance to see ‘Lisa talking about it on YouTube’ yet, and that she had been nervous about today, getting her new uniform ready and everything (aww, bless!)


So the consultation started and before I knew it, I was treated to a full makeover and Alison explained to me all the various products she wanted to use on me, after we had a chat about any concerns I had about my skin and what I wanted from a foundation. I said: I'm getting old, my skin is ageing, it's dry, and I want the highest coverage you've got’


After cleansing my skin, she then proceeded to use the Protect and Perfect Serum on me, then followed it up with the Protect and Perfect Moisturiser. A thin layer of the Stay Perfect primer, she then applied a layer of foundation in the SHADE that the little device found for me: Cool Vanilla.



02-Boots-No7-Foundation-Match-Service-Review-Impressions-Personal-Experience



Cool Vanilla: I was very happy that that was the name for my foundation. Sounds silly but I love vanilla, they make vanilla where I come from and that makes me happy and easier for me to remember. The foundation TYPE she chose for me was the 'Lift and Luminate' after I told her I was hoping for a full coverage and a little bit a dewiness to help with my dry skin type. Alison applied it on just one half of my face, as I wished, so I was able to see the difference.



Another advantage of this quick matching foundation is that Boots had been working hard to ensure that the shades stayed the same throughout the 7 formulation/types of foundations that they designed. How cool is that? All companies should do that!



03-Boots-No7-Foundation-Match-Service-Review-Impressions-Personal-Experience



I couldn't wait to see what 'cool vanilla' looked on my face. I was speechless and Alison laughed at my reaction. I think for the first 30 seconds, I was not able to speak. This is because, well, I didn't really like it and didn't know how to say it. I said to Alison 'woah, is that my shade, I look a bit pale'. Alison laughed and said that my expression was priceless as it was about the same reaction she had when she was matched. She didn't want to accept that the reading from the device was the perfect shade for her. She then pressed a button and said 'do you want to know, by curiosity, the shade that is just one level darker than cool vanilla?' Of course I said yes. She then applied 'warm ivory' on the other side of my face and that was a million times better, less ghostly sick looking and (to me) matching my neck better.






Do I think the device is able to give a foolproof accurate reading to enable me to find the perfect shade of foundation?


     
Absolutely, the device is a little bit of genius and is perfect. Do I accept its reading? No. For me, it's the same way as your girlfriends tell you that a certain man is the perfect man for you but that it doesn’t matter anyway because your heart is not into him. I personally think warm ivory looks better on me, Alison thinks the same and that's all that matters for me.

The consultation ended very well where Alison taught me how to put bronzer on myself and it made me feel like a million dollars. At no point, beginning, middle or end was I pushed to buy anything. She gave me a little sample of foundation to take home and play with and I left the shop with a card with all the names of the products she had used on my face. For me, that's the way every consultation should be and you should not be tricked into buying stuff. If you are going to use this service and looking for a way out of not buying stuff, perhaps you can say 'this card with all the products on is going to be very handy when pay date arrives' or even 'I know what to buy with my no.7 vouchers, next'. Please don't feel obliged to buy anything.



So, why didn't I buy the foundation in the end?       


Lift and Luminate (£16.50) felt lovely on the skin but I wasn't sold on the coverage. Lift and Luminate doesn't claim to be a full coverage foundation and nor did my consultant pretend it was one. I would describe the foundation to be light to medium coverage, which for me translates as 'light' coverage if you don't put layers on to build it as a medium coverage. The device might have found ‘the one’ for me, but I don't feel this is the one for me. Having said that, I can't wait to play with my tester and I can't wait to have another reading done, but this time try another foundation. I’d be curious to know what the machine says if it’s put against my neck. I can see foresee some struggle to encourage the lady to put the machine on my neck!



As far as I know, none of the Boots No.7 foundations are for people who want a full coverage but it will still be nice to try another one. The instant radiance foundation (£12.95) is cheaper, and IF this one offers better coverage, it would actually be a bargain to have a foundation beautifully matched to my skintone for £8, using a no.7 voucher. You can see at a glance here, all the foundations offered by no.7.


Have you been matched yet? Have you found ‘the one’?


14 comments:

Unknown said...

Great post. I want to have this done! I find that certain areas of my face are different colours (where I catch the sun maybe?) so I'd be interested to see what the little machine comes up with.xx

Unknown said...

The No7 girls are always lovely.. I'm a fan of full coverage myself I use double wear and teint idole

mizzworthy said...

Whoa! I just double checked and I'm cool vanilla - and I got the instant radiance foundation. Sorry to say it's not full coverage, but I didn't want high coverage anyway - its a really good match for me though...

Lori said...

That looks very cool, I want a go of one of those things, I might go in on saturday and try it.
I love the protect and perfect range the day/night cream and serums are great xx

Dee said...

What a great, balanced post liloo! I was lucky enough to be at the Irish launch for this and thought the same, sometimes you just don't want your foundation to be as pale as you really are. I was shocked at how pale my match was (Calico) - it looks practically grey. It is great for 'off duty' days though because you don't need to blend it loads, and I love mixing it with other foundations to lighten them a bit. I can't wait until other brands start doing this too x

Stephanie Gauthier-Bujold said...

That's interresting, i'd like to try it. i also like your comparison to a possible boyfriend hehehe!

Cynthia Z said...

That's such a cool device! :)

♥xx♥

JenLa said...

This is a brilliant post.
I can't wait to get matched, I went to a YSL counter the other day for a match - looked fine in the shop but when I tried the sample at home it was so orange looking. Does anyone know how you find out which Boots are offering this No7 service?

Unknown said...

This sounds great! Glad you had a good experience with it. Such a thorough, brilliant post Liloo xx

Pandora said...

Hmmmm, I love Lisa Eldridge unconditionally, but I still think this thing is very gimmicky and nothing comes close to what your own eyes tell you is right. Also, it doesn't take into account your skin's reaction to the foundation, for example the colour may oxidise and become darker once it hits your face, or it may have tones in it which look too pink and ashy when blended in. Great review, I enjoyed reading through :)

Beauty's Bad Habit said...

Eee, this makes me more excited to try it! Though I'm sad I didn't get the chance to stock up on good old 'New Ivory' beforehand. I'll probably be 'Warm Ivory', too.

Unknown said...

Fabulous post! I don't think id be able t say no to buying especially when it is so hard to find a foundation pale enough for me that I can afford... This is an ace post. Thank you for sharing tour experience xx

Wendy said...

I've kind of given up on liquid foundation since i went to mineral, but the idea of having the foundations the same shade across the range is brilliant! Well done to Boots if they manage to pull it off, great post x x x

Unknown said...

Thank you for posting about this. At first I was a bit of sceptical Sandra over it all but I think I'll give it a go and see what the No 7 lovelies have to say :) xx

Leave a comment ...