Beauty Bible Loves... Clarins Double-Serum Foundation
Remember when foundation could feel like something you put up with, rather than actively enjoyed wearing? Well, we had gone right off foundation till recently, tending towards using skin tints and lightweight formulations. But a funny thing’s happened in the foundation world – and it’s all for the better.
Fact is, there have been some real advances in formulating which have caused us to rethink our attitude to foundation. Improved pigment dispersion helps colour spread evenly; silicones and lightweight emollients provide slip, making blending easier, while film-forming ingredients help coverage last, even with whisper-light formulations. And hydrating ingredients (helloooooo, hyaluronic acid!) can also make the finish more comfortable. The result is that coverage, long-wear and a comfy feel have become compatible, rather than competing priorities.
Clarins Double Serum Foundation perfectly embodies this evolution, pairing medium-to-full, buildable coverage with a luminous satin finish and a comfy-as-a-Slanket feel, on skin.
Echoing the Double Serum skincare bestseller on which the design is based (and indeed, borrowing many of the same skin-first ingredients in the foundation formula), the two chambers keep the colour and hydrating phases separate you depress the lid to blend them, before applying. Inside, glycerine, squalane and a hyaluronic acid derivative help hydration and softness, alongside Matrixyl 3000 peptides and plant extracts.
There’s stabilised papain, too – an exfoliating enzyme that we’ve always been keen on, to help promote smoother-looking, more radiant skin. (Skincare-meets-make-up is an oft-used and indeed yawn-inducing cliché, but happens to be an accurate description, here.) Clarins also incorporate ‘illuminating microcrystals’ for a light-catching effect – and trust us here, this is gentle radiance, rather than disco sparkle.
Offering medium-to-full coverage (a little goes a long way), Clarins also reports 12-hour hold and comfort in a consumer trial involving 213 women – and it certainly goes the distance, on our faces. One last bonus, meanwhile? You know Clarins Double Serum Foundation offers no less than 37 shades (see below) – rather than the skimpy six or so that most brands could muster, honestly not so long ago…
£49 for 30ml – buy here
