Whilst browsing Boots a few weeks ago I went a bit mad on the old 3 for 2 at the L'oreal stand.  I actually went 6 items mad.  Oops.  Today's post shall be a review of the 2 face products I bought: L'oreal Lumi Magique Foundation and L'oreal Lumi Magique Concealer.  Well let me start at the end and say WOW these are good products.  Really, really good products for 'drugstore' products.  The packaging of the foundation is lovely - very like the Infallible that I used to have, but with classier accents and general colour scheme - I loooooooooooove rose gold!  The only thing is the rose gold bits are shiny shiny shiny aka you can now see my fingerprints all over them!  Let's start with the foundation
First off - the bad.  The shade selection is ridiculous.  For such a multi-cultural nation, surely the drugstore brands need to get themselves in gear and sort it out?!  I really don't know how they can even use Beyonce as their poster girl - I don't think any of their colours would actually match her skin tone.  For reference I am an NC37, Matchmaster 4.0, Nars Stromboli, Chanel B40 and Dior 031 - my foundation normally falls near the middle of an extensive shade range, slightly towards the lighter end.  But with the L'oreal, I am the second darkest yellow-toned colour - W3 Gold Linen.  The actual colour is lovely on me, I really like the match, perhaps it is slightly too light, but the shade range really needs to be addressed.  The actual foundation reminds me very much of my Nars Sheer Glow, albeit more neutral-based than the yellow of my Simpsons-style skin, but still with some yellow to it!  It leaves a very natural kind of finish - definitely not quite matte, but at the same time not exactly dewy, I think it gives a naturally healthy glow.  I find the wear to be fairly good - it will last on my face all day, but shine definitely does come through if left unpowdered.  With powder though, it wears off evenly as opposed to patchily.  I like this foundation for its 'lumi' lol, for its glow, it is just a lovely product for the cheaper-end of the market - although L'oreal prices do seem to be on the rise.  I like to wear this over a thin layer of Nars Sheer Glow, just so that I have the right undertone showing through on my face.
I also have the Lumi Magique concealer.  Now I grabbed straight at the medium shade, without giving it a second thought because I am always, always medium.  But this weird shade thing means it shows up slightly light on me, however, as I use it only under my eyes, it doesn't cause too much of a bother.  It is very peachy-toned, which I feel counters the blue-black of under-eye bags very well.  The consistency is fairly thick, but workable, but at least you can be guaranteed it will last all day!
All in all, a lovely range - I have been super impressed with L'oreal products lately, however the issue of shade needs to be addressed asap.
Love A.x