There seems to be a bit of a thing for longwear foundation launches at the moment, and I have a handful of those that I’m testing on rotation, but I wanted to kick off this run of reviews with Dior’s new Diorskin Forever Perfect Mousse. Although it actually is longwear, longevity isn’t even this foundation’s talking point – it’s forté, I suppose, is its light-as-air texture, its ultra-matte finish and its ability to create a sort of blurred “veil” over the surface of the skin.
But it would be remiss of me to go any further with this review without first making a direct comparison to another light-as-a-feather, blurring base. I wrote about La Roche-Posay’s Effaclar BB Blur at the beginning of last year and could find very little wrong with the formula – it was beautifully light, easy to blend, oil-controlling, pore-minimising, imperfection-blurring and shine-blotting. Perfect, really, on the face of it, and it gave the most amazing radiance to the skin (look at the before and after pics, they’re quite striking!) but the BB Blur had one major and disappointing flaw: it came in only two shades.
So when the press material for Dior’s Forever Mousse foundation came through I was instantly intrigued. It promised, on paper, everything I had seen the Effaclar BB Blur deliver – a light mousse texture, an almost imperceptible feel on the skin, a pore-blurring effect and a matte, non-powdery finish. All of this and in eight shades rather than two; a vast improvement, especially with the claim that the shades “blend with every skin tone”. (Can’t vouch for this, only that my own shade, 20, seems relatively adaptable. Please do leave feedback on other shades in the comments, if you’ve tried this.)
Did the Diorskin Forever Mousse Foundation live up to its claims? Well I have to say that it ticks a hell of a lot of boxes. For someone with combination or oily skin, who wants good coverage and a long-lasting formula but doesn’t want to look powdery or “caked”, it’s beautiful. On application, this matte foundation is the lightest, most feathery sort of mousse – it just glides on effortlessly and blends quickly and seamlessly.
I’ve tested it for a couple of months, now, and used it (as I always do, when I’m reviewing foundations) in every conceivable way. Over rich moisturisers, light moisturisers, over primers and serums, applied with a brush, with a sponge, with fingertips, built up in layers, smoothed on in one quick go… I’d say that it’s pretty much foolproof. I’ve never had any tide marks, any slipping, any settling in fine lines or clinging to dry patches. For an oil-controlling formula (no need to powder!) it feels surprisingly comfortable on normal skin, though I’d hesitate to use it on very dry…
In terms of coverage, it’s definitely far more pigmented than Effaclar’s BB Blur, though I don’t think that it has quite the same kick of radiance. Take a look at the before and after photos:
You can see that dark circles and little areas of redness are covered quite well, although not completely, and that the final finish is very matte, but not powdery or dry looking. I’ll zoom further in:
Hopefully you can tell that the pores are very effectively blurred and the shine has been totally taken off. The overall look is far from “real skin”, but it definitely doesn’t look unnatural or stagey. It’s a soft, ethereal sort of finish – the kind of blurring veil you might get from a very good powder, like the Hourglass Ambient Light, except the texture isn’t at all powdery.
If you fancied the Effaclar BB Blur when I wrote about it last year but didn’t fall into the very restrictive shade range, the Dior Forever Perfect Mousse could be the thing you’ve been waiting for. If you need oil-control but don’t want to powder, if you want a bit of coverage but hate the feel of makeup, if you like an easy, quick-to-apply base, then I’d say give it a go.
For a creamier consistency but a more powdery finish, take a look at my Hourglass Immaculate review here. It’s a strange one, the Hourglass, because it feels as though it’s doing absolutely nothing but the photos clearly show a different story. I prefer the texture of Dior’s Mousse, but you definitely don’t get quite so much coverage. Less still with the Effaclar.
You can find the Diorskin Forever Perfect Mousse online at Escentual here* – it’s £28.80, cheaper than the RRP, but they only carry six shades, not eight. For the full shade line-up, go to the Dior website.
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