Random Days: Estee Lauder Colour Matching Adventure

So! After re-reading and posting my NARS review, I decided to go and explore Estee Lauder and the Double Wear line. After a ridiculous complicated plan to get it at Boots (it was very complicated and they didn’t even have the Lauder brand in the end) I ended up at Fenwicks in Canterbury, where they have a lot of high end brands (I just about avoided the Laura Mercier I’m dying to try thank goodness!).

I generally avoid being colour matched, partly because of the horror stories on various blogs, but also because my skin colour is quite deceptive. Due to years of acne scars, freckles, general blotchiness and lack of proper sunscreen, my skin colour on my face looks quite dark. However as soon as you put a lot of ‘pale’ foundations on it becomes blindingly obvious that they are too dark, and I didn’t want to come away with yet another foundation that makes me look like a sunburnt tangerine.

I sneakily managed to spot the shade I wanted to try, 1C1 Shell, before the sales assistant got there and swatched a bit. My reaction: ‘Ooh… that’s a bit dark for the palest shade in the range. Hmmmm. Will that suit me?’. Then the sales assistant caught up, and I asked her to find my shade.

I was very impressed I must say! She sat me down, knew right away I’d need a pale pink shade and wiped some of my foundation off my jawline. Using a cotton bud, she applied a little of the Shell shade (good eye SA lady) to my face and blended it in with a brush. The best bit though? What she said next. She said ‘Yeah… it’s a bit dark on you. Take it home and see what you think because that’s the palest one.’ Wow! I know it sounds odd, but I think it’s such a good thing to be honest with the customer and say it might not suit them. This lady knew that this was a big chance to sell to me and instead she was honest and confirmed my own suspicions (let’s ignore the alarming fact I seem to know as much as the sales staff shall we) whilst trying to encourage me to give it a go. If you are in Canterbury, I thoroughly recommend the Estee Lauder counter in Fenwicks, I’m very impressed.

So I came home with this:

It’s quite cute! I like the fact this should allow a few applications (I don’t think it’d do 10 as it says, but that’s a small quibble) and that unlike drugstore brands I can actually try it in my own house with my own brush rather than blowing all my money on a too dark foundation again.

Initial reactions to the foundation are a bit doubtful, I do have another foundation on my face so it’s unfair to judge until I’ve tried it properly, but I think it might be a tad too dark. Coverage looks nice though. I’ll come back with a proper review in a few days!

Loves

Luxie xx