Review/Swatches of Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation

by - 14:58:00

All swatches of Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation
Review/Swatches of Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation
Hi beauties! You all are aware of my obsession with dewy, healthy looking skin and my distaste for any product which causes a “mask like” matte and heavy effect on skin. For this reason, I am always drawn towards my favourite foundation till date- The MAC Face and Body Foundation (Read Review HERE) for the luminous glow it gives to my face (I have never tried it on my body because hello? That tiny bottle costs a fortune! -_-) I had recently also tried the Inveda BB cream (Read Review HERE) which has become my second favourite after MAC for its light soufflé like texture. But ever since there have been ads of the Lakme “illuminating” range of products which the company claims that the backstage experts at the Lakme Fashion week have been using, I had been searching online for face products other than lipsticks and eyeshadows. I finally found the “Illuminating” foundation in stock at Nykaa and promptly added it to the cart. Much to my surprise, there is no review ANYWHERE in the net on this foundation :-o Read on to know more about this foundation and yes, all of its shades! ;)

Product Name: Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation
Price: Rs.750 for 15 ml (That is pricey for a drugstore brand but this is fraction of a price if compared to MAC Face and Body foundation)

Review/Swatches of Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation
Ingredients: Nothing mentioned anywhere on the outer carton, bottle or any e-commerce site.
Available atwww.nykaa.com

All swatches of Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation
Review/Swatches of Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation

Review/Swatches of Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation
Shades Available:
·        Ivory Glow: A pinkish undertone porcelain white shade best suited to pale cool toned complexions
·        Natural Flare: A strong warm yellow beige best suited to fair to medium skin tones with prominent warm undertones
·        Beige Glimmer: A salmon toned warm beige best suited to medium-tanned skin tones.
·        Honey Beam: Almost same like Beige glimmer but is a tad darker than the former. It will suit medium to olive tones/ neutral undertone skin

Review/Swatches of Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation

To my utter dismay, Lakme again has skipped considering deeper-bronzey skin tones
L So this range does not have anything for deeper skinned beauties.

Packaging: Like all Lakme Absolute range products, this foundation also comes in a glossy black packaging. The outer carton is glossy black with white lettering which looks very classy! The foundation itself is in a clear plastic body which looks like glass (I am unsure if it is glass or not because it is unbelievably lightweight!) The foundation is housed in another thinner bullet-like cylindrical black vial inside the clear plastic body! Looks chic J The best part about the packaging is that the bottle come with a pump :D Yay! The pump dispenses just the right amount of product and I need about two pumps to cover my whole face and neck.

Review/Swatches of Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation
My Take: Coming the shade and texture, I chose the shade Natural Flare because of the strong yellow tones in it. It blends beautifully into my NC 37-40 skin tone (fair to medium) Here is a swatch:
All swatches of Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation
Swatches of Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation

Review/Swatches of Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation

Have a look at the other shades as well.

All swatches of Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation
All swatches of Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation

All swatches of Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation
All swatches of Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation

The texture is a cross between a liquid and a gel. When dispensed, it feels runny and when spread it blends easily like a gel. There is absolutely no patchiness or heaviness in it. As for the “illuminating part”, the foundation has tiniest golden shimmer in it which are so fine that the swatch couldn’t pick up (Thank goodness for that!) I believe these nano-shimmers give that much needed glow to skin while the pigmented foundation evens out the skin.

Review/Swatches of Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation
 The fragrance though can be bit bothersome for people with sensitive noses: It is a very strong citrusy smell! Since there is no ingredient list anywhere, I have no clue what causes that smell. The smell subsides though once application is over.
Regarding pigmentation and coverage, I don’t think it is wise to layer up too much on any “illuminating” product and the sheer to medium coverage will not hide very deep dark circles or blemishes. I felt this foundation is best used when your skin is behaving properly with only slight discolorations or dark circles which a corrector or concealer can cover. I would also be perfect as a evening makeup when you need your skin to emit a glow without using too many obvious highlighters. This foundation actually reminded me of MAC strobe cream which is a cult favourite among makeup lovers all around the world to give that natural looking illumination to skin.
The staying power is pretty impressive. It stayed on for 6 hours on me after application. Oily skinned people can also use this foundation because it settles to a “Comfortable-matte” finish and is not overly dewy like MAC Face and Body. There is no obvious shimmer on face except for the glow :)

Finally this is how the shade Natural Flare looks on me. There is no product (powder, blush, highlighter, concealer, corrector) other than the foundation on my face except for eye and lip makeup. It feels extremely lightweight on skin and I love how it feels just like my own skin which is “brightened up”. Please note there is no highlighter added :D But yes, dark circles and discoloration will definitely show through, you will need concealers and correctors as mentioned earlier.
All swatches of Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation
Review/Swatches of Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation

All swatches of Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation
Review/Swatches of Lakme Absolute Illuminating Foundation

Rating: 4.7/5
Disclaimer: The combined swatch images are taken from Nykaa with due written permission from Nykaa team and LakmeIndia. All the other images are blog’s own.

We are very excited because we have an array of reviews lined up of interesting stuff :D Stay tuned!

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