A much-requested foundation review; Chanel’s Perfection Lumiere Velvet. This is Chanel’s newest foundation release and I must say that it has instantly won me over. It’s one of those products that requires very little in the way of effort; it just works every time, and the end result is flawless. Perfection Lumiere Velvet is lightweight, but with quite comprehensive coverage and a beautiful luminous matte finish – and I know that “luminous” and “matte” aren’t words that you could normally pop together in the same sentence, but in this case… There’s no discernible shimmer, but there’s a radiance that many matte finish foundations lack – there’s nothing flat or deadening about this face base, and neither does it look cakey or dry. For oily or combination skins, it’s an absolute dream; light and non-claggy, but creamy enough to deal with any drier or flakey patches that inevitably crop up.

I’ve done some “before and after” photos again; they show quite well, I think, the extent of the coverage and the beautiful velvety finish. I don’t find any particular need to powder after using Perfection Lumiere Velvet, but there’s no reason you shouldn’t – just remember that the finish is already matte and use a very fine powder as sparingly as you can.

Here’s the before and after:

Please try to ignore my Captain Jack Sparrow plaits, I was filming another video at the same time! Can you see, though, how there’s just a lovely even finish – no shine, but no dullness either. A closer look at my skin and my wonderfully magnified pores:

It has done a really good job at smoothing out my pores and the tone of my skin – redness is gone, even some of the shadow beneath my eyes, which is notoriously hard to cover! This is heavier coverage than the Lancome Air de Teint, and in fact is a completely different kettle of fish, because although it’s very lightweight it has a more traditional “creamy fluid” consistency rather than being a fine veil of pigment. Like the Air de Teint, it’s almost undetectable on the skin, yet it smartens it up to perfection. I’d say that it’s a “real skin” effect, because it looks so beautiful, but no real skin looks as good as that! Not for the majority of us, anyway…

What do you think? Have you tried this? It’s definitely one of my recent favourites – lasts well, applies beautifully and has the most travel-friendly packaging I’ve seen in ages. I’ve been using shade 20, but might bump it up a shade for the summer. Perfection Lumiere Velvet is £33 at Selfridges.com

If you want to see the foundation being applied, there’s a new Beauty Reviews video coming out later on today!