BEAUTY RAVE: Lancome Teint Idole Ultra 24 H Foundation Review

Before I start this post (which I am assuming is going to be quite long, because I have a LOT to say about this foundation), I want to start off by giving a little background on my skin and experiences with foundations.

Okay, first of all, I have extremely sensitive skin. And when I say extremely sensitive skin, I mean that I tend to stick to the same face products in fear of the break outs that tend to always appear on my face when I even ATTEMPT to try something new.  I like to try new things but most of the time, my money is wasted.

Second, I have pretty oily skin. And also, my face tends to get sweaty, especially on my nose.  Which is really not the cutest, but those are the cards I've been dealt. So, it's pretty hard for a foundation to last on my skin for more than a couple of hours.  Most foundations tend to look patchy on me or just come off my skin completely. Even with a powder and a primer.  Though, I tend to stay away from primers because, surprise surprise, my skin doesn't take well to most primers.

So now that we've started that pity party for my face, let's talk about what has worked for me in the past.  The two foundations I've used in my life that didn't break me out like a hormonal 13-year-old boy are the BareMinerals Matte Foundation and NARS Sheer Glow. I love them both and we had some good times.  However, with every beautiful relationship, we had our issues.

I used the BareMinerals foundation basically all throughout high school.  It had pretty good lasting power on me and it didn't irritate my skin.  However, it looked SO CAKEY on my face.  It was so painfully obvious I was wearing make up.  Which in high school, I didn't really know any better so I barely noticed.  But now, if I try to use the BareMinerals foundation, I just cringe at the way it applies on me.  I think that in high school, it was a great, affordable, good coverage foundation.  But now, I think that powder foundations just aren't for me.

Now, the NARS Sheer Glow was my holy grail foundation for about a year.  It was a great color match, since NARS products tend to have more yellow undertones.  And those of you with yellow undertones, you understand that it's virtually impossible to find a good color match when it comes to foundations.  Especially at the drugstore.  It had a beautiful, light finish that made my face glow, for lack of a better word.  My biggest issues with this foundation were that: it didn't last long on my face without going patchy AND it transferred like CRAZY.  I couldn't hug someone without my face rubbing off on them.  Mortifying? Yes. So I knew that I had to find something new.

Alright, now that we've gotten all of that nonsense out of the way....let's begin the review (finally)!

This foundation claims to last for 24 hours and be completely retouch-free, transfer-free and full coverage.

I am in the shade W410 Bisque, which I find is the absolute PERFECT shade for me.  I don't think I've ever found a better color match for my skin tone. Lancome has an AMAZING color selection ranging from lighter skin tones to dark skin tones and different undertones such as neutral (N), cool (C), and warm (W).  Those of you with pink undertones, the C range will be your best bet.  Yellow undertones, the W range will be best.  And those of you with neither pink nor yellow undertones, the N range will work best.

One of my favorite things about this foundation is its consistency.  It has a very light, smooth consistency.  It's extremely lightweight and applies very smoothly.  One pump is all I need to cover my face, when in the past with other foundations, I'd need the equivalent of two pumps.  I feel like this applies best with a dense, rounded flat top brush such as the Real Techniques Buffing Brush that comes in the Core Collection, available at Ulta in the US.

I really like that it comes with a cap and a pump because the inner germophobe in me feels like it's cleaner and you can control the amount that you get on your brush.  No need to dip your dirty brush into your foundation over and over again or premature oxidization of your foundation.

Now, since this is a longer lasting foundation, you need to be quite quick with your application.  It sets quite fast, but it's not unmanageable.  The lasting power of this foundation is incredible.  I never really wear make up for 24 hours (my sensitive skin won't allow it), so I can't judge if it lives up to its name, but I can say that it lasts up to 8 hours with no patchiness or rubbing off.  It looks just as natural and fresh after 8 hours of wear as it did when I first apply it.  Mind you, I do set it with a powder, but I can't imagine that the powder has that much of an effect on its lasting power because when I used NARS Sheer Glow with the same powder, my foundation still became patchy after a couple of hours.

The coverage is medium to full coverage.  I have hyper pigmentation in my skin which means that I have pretty dark acne scars that are quite hard to cover with most foundations.  This doesn't quite cover all of my hyper pigmentation with one pump, but the coverage is completely buildable so two applications cover most, if not all, of my scars.  However, I don't like to apply that much since I feel like it looks most natural with just one pump of product.

As far as being transfer-free, I have done the tried and true hug test multiple times with the foundation, and I can tell you now, it is completely transfer-free.  Never do I ever have to deal with the embarrassment of having my face rub off on my friend's clean white shirt (sorry, Jacob!).

I feel like this foundation is most suitable for normal/combination to oily skin types.  It has a semi-matte finish and throughout the day, my skin looks glowy, rather than shiny and oily.  I think that dry skin tones would have a harder time with this foundation, because I can see it clinging to dry patches.  However, if you have dry skin and you moisturize really well, this could still be a good match for you.

How the foundation looks on my skin with one pump, concealer, and powder. 

I suggest everyone should just give this foundation a try.  You can get a good size sample from most Lancome counters and get color matched as well.  I'm not quite sure how it sizes up to other Lancome foundations when it comes to shade range, but the woman at the Lancome counter was excellent with color matching. It runs for 44 US Dollars and is sold at all Lancome counters and Sephora.  You can also purchase it off of the Lancome website itself.

I can guarantee that this will be my go-to foundation for many years to come.  It's the best foundation I've ever tried.  Though it is quite pricey, it is completely worth every penny.  I have nothing but great things to say and I hope that you give it a try!

Word of caution with this foundation, though. Don't drop it on the ground.  Or else you'll be left with this (definitely one of the sadder, more frustrating moments in my life):

I hope this review was helpful!  If you've tried this foundation, let me know what you think. I'd love to hear your reviews.  Also, if you have any questions about this foundation or anything foundation/skin related, feel free to ask.

xx, 

Jordana