Laura Mercier Smooth Finish Flawless Fluide in Creme

About a year ago a number of new foundations hit the market, causing quite a bit of excitement and hitting many a beauty enthusiasts' budget, hard. The one that stood out to me most, was the new offering from Laura Mercier. The Smooth Finish Flawless Fluide got me extremely excited. It was everything I was looking for, and so, a few months ago, I finally went against my cardinal belief of never (again) purchasing complexion products without test-driving them for at least a few applications first, pulled the trigger, and got it in shade Crème.

First of all, I should like to elaborate on why this particular foundation appeared to be everything I could ever want or dream of. What I was looking for, first and foremost, was something I didn't need to alter or lighten, something that came in a shade and tone suitable for me from the get go. This foundation comes in a whopping 24 colours, among them a very fair, yellow toned one, Crème, which I got.

Also, it's formula is very liquid, much like Chanel's Vitalumiere Aqua, which I've tried and liked, but that doesn't come in a shade light enough for me. I wanted something in extremely sleek and compact packaging, that would take up a minimum amount of space for when I travel, with a texture that would be easily applied without streaks using fingers, all of which the presumably excellent shade match and thin formulation of the product should, in theory, accommodate.

It's not overloaded with alcohol and it doesn't have spf, which makes it suitable for both day and night-time (providing you use a moisturizer with broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection underneath when wearing it in daylight). To please my combination/oily skin even more, this is an oil-free, long-lasting, sweat and humidity proof, water-resistant tube of magic (all of these claims are listed on their website), providing blurring, light coverage, which, as my skin is the best its been in a while, is, again, 100% what I was looking for. It's JudyTime loved it, as did The Raeviewer. Finally, the queen mother of all things beauty, Mary Greenwell loved it too. I could only resist for so long!

The trouble is, Laura Mercier isn't available anywhere near my timezone (that I know of), so it is impossible for me to actually see any of her products in person. Normally, I would not buy something so expensive, moreover something that goes on my precious skin, without at least swatching it. But, all of the reasons mentioned above, finally persuaded me when a friend of mine from the US was due to visit our little Nordic corner. I made the decision to order it, have it shipped to him, so that he could in turn bring it with him when he visited.

Let me tell you, that process was bumpy. I was going to order the foundation from Sephora during the last day of the VIB sale. Alas, the beauty giant didn't recognize a) my country or b) my credit card. That should have been a sign to abandon my mission, that I basically had to talk myself into to begin with. But no, my mind was made up, and how DARE Sephora?! Insulted by their website's de jure snub, I took my business elsewhere- Nordstrom.

Nordy was a pleasure to shop at! Not only was the process seamless and nice, they also matched the price of the product as if they'd been running a similar promotion. Finally, about a month after the purchase, I had the Smooth Finish Flawless Fluide in my hand.

The packaging was even nicer than I had anticipated, the definition of sleek and chic, no complaints there. When I rushed to swatch the product, that's when my high started to deflate. The colour was definitely a great match, but the coverage was sheer, and I mean SHEER.

I would compare it in coverage to the YSL Teint Touche Eclat foundation- nonexistent. The little sample of the tinted moisturizer that came with this foundation had more coverage, although, shade “light” was too dark for me. But what really adds salt to the wound is unlike the YSL, the finish of the “glow” you get is sweaty, and the pigment settles as dots in pores and a cracked patter in the texture of your skin. When you apply it, there's a promise of nice, light coverage, but it almost completely wipes away when you do even the most restrained of blending. The only hint of coverage you're left with is the settled pigment which perfectly creates the illusion of dry, flaky skin with gigantic pores. All this while looking sweaty. Great.

For me, this wore nothing like what it claims to. While there's very little evidence of product even upon application, as the wearer I can still tell when it's gone at the end of the day. When I say end of the day, I mean two hours after application. By the end of an actual day, I'm left with dry-looking cheeks, real dryness and flakes around my mouth, a greasy-looking film on my face and every mark and blemish looking a bit flared up (not more raised, but more dark and pigmented). I really only wore this on very good skin days, because any active blemishes for some reason became more prominent after smoothing this foundation over them.

So. Yeah. The truth is it's my own fault for buying this foundation without sampling it first. I let its impressive claims and rave reviews seduce me, and I shouldn't have. Nordstrom has a great return policy, so I'm going to attempt to take it back when I go to the US, but as nice as they are, I doubt they'll take me seriously after nearly six months since my purchase. Then again, perhaps they'll pity me and find the foundation having crossed the Atlantic twice amusing... I am nothing if not determined!

Clearly, the Smooth Finish Flawless Fluide does works for a lot of people, and I wont' lie, I'm jealous of them! It's disappointing that after so many antics and such high hopes, this is a fail for me, but, upwards and onwards! The search for a version of this that will suit my skin's needs, is officially back on ;).