I was editing some film yesterday and came across a couple of photos that I thought may be of interest to some of you. When I’m filming videos, I take a still photograph before each segment to autofocus the camera, and two of the stills from last week’s Beauty Reviews video show quite a good “before and after” for Lancome’s Miracle Air de Teint foundation. (Please read that post for the full foundation review.) These were never intended to be before-and-after photographs, so the crop and light is slightly different and I have mascara on in the second picture…

…but I think that you can get a good idea of the type of coverage that the Air de Teint gives. You can still see a bit of darkness beneath the eyes, and if you look closely, a few dark spots and a bit of redness, but the overall effect is very good, I think. I’ve zoomed in on the pictures in an attempt to compare the skin more fairly, without mascara distractions. Here’s the “before” :

and here’s the “after” photograph, same portion of the face:

There’s a very definite change in evenness; there’s less redness and the pores look somewhat smoothed over. There’s also a slight glow and a hint of colour. Everything is just that bit better, though it still looks very much like bare skin. Really quite impressive, and all from a liquid base that takes mere seconds to apply.

Read more foundation reviews here

I’ve had a few questions come in about this foundation and how it compares to others, such as By Terry’s Sheer Expert; the answer is that it doesn’t compare. It’s completely different. If you wanted proper coverage, then you wouldn’t go for this – it’s not full-on stage makeup, and it’s not the type of thing you’d rely on if you had lots of skin discolouration or blemishes to cover. It’s “my skin but better” makeup and it’s extremely quick and easy to apply. So sheer that it requires little in the way of blending, so light that it’s a joy for those who hate the feel and look of foundation. I hope this answers some of your questions – if you want to see the Miracle Air de Teint in action, then please do refer back to last week’s review post.

I used shade 01 in the photograph above, but I tried out 001 again over the weekend, and this gave an equally nice finish. I can pretty much get away with either, which is a testament to just how light and sheer this makeup is; the 01 adds some warmth, the 001 gives a more luminous finish. Though both finishes are velvety-matte rather than anything remotely dewy…

Lancome’s Air de Teint makeup is £29.50 from counters nationwide or with free delivery from FeelUnique.com here. Interestingly, I just happened across my review of Armani’s Maestro foundation that was posted last spring. If you fancy stepping back in time and seeing what I thought of that one then please click here.