Veracious Product Review: Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Ultra-Light Skin Perfecting Makeup

Hey, everyone! A few weeks ago I gloated about shared with you my latest haul, which included a few (pretty much free!) goodies from Chanel. Among them was an ever-popular foundation, Vitalumiere Aqua Ultra-Light Skin Perfecting Makeup SPF 15. While heavier coverage, matte-finish foundations are my comfort zone (hence my years-long love affair with Revlon ColourStay), I've been motivated to let some sheerer bases into my life. The philosophy of letting your natural skin shine through while only using heavy coverage where it's needed (for me, on blemishes and post-acne marks) really appeals to me, especially now that my skin has been mostly behaving. So I thought Vitalumiere Aqua would be a good option to help me embrace that makeup mentality!

My first experience with Vitalumiere Aqua was at a Chanel makeover this past summer, where the makeup artist went for a colourful smokey eye and luminous, natural-looking skin. I was really impressed with how the foundation left my skin even and glowy without a greasy feel and without masking my natural skin. Ever since, I was curious to give the foundation another go, so I was happy to bring it home!

Vitalumiere Aqua comes in a sleek, reflective black box with white text and gold accents, as do all of Chanel's offerings.

Here are the full ingredients. As you can see, the formula is water-based, features titanium dioxide as its main sunscreen ingredient, and has alcohol relatively high-up on the list:

The bottle is rectangular and plastic, coloured to match the shade inside. The graphic on the back reminds you that it's important to shake things up before using!

The shiny black plastic cap twists off to reveal a dropper-like spout at the top of the bottle. A definite foreshadowing that the foundation will have a fairly fluid texture.

Here's what a drop or two of the foundation (in B10 Beige) looks like on the back of my hand. I was actually a bit surprised that the texture wasn't more liquid at first! It came out as a little bead of product that didn't quickly drip down my hand:

But upon blending, Vitalumiere Aqua quickly becomes more fluid and sheer, as you can see below!

So I'll first let you know what Chanel has to say about the foundation, then I'll give you my breakdown!

Chanel promises that Vitalumiere Aqua offers "A new-generation texture. An unprecedented sensory experience. A unique makeup result. Rapid and easy application" (from Chanel.com). Dramatic! Vitalumiere Aqua is designed to have a fluid texture, a second-skin effect that evens and brightens, and UVB sun protection. 

Colour Match- B10 Beige is a great colour match for my fair NC15-20 skin. It leans slightly warm but is not too yellow. It's slightly lighter than my summertime skin, but it blends perfectly now that my subtle tan has faded. 

Texture-When squeezing the foundation out of the tube, it isn't instantly fluid. It's more like a light-weight lotion. But upon blending, the watery texture is much more apparent. It feels extremely light and comfortable on the skin!

Application- The first layer of this foundation really blends like a dream! The recommendation is to use fingers to apply, which I find works quite well. It melts right in! You can apply a second layer to add a bit more coverage, but when doing this there's a slight risk of the foundation clinging to dry patches and pores. So exfoliated and primed skin really helps with this. 

Coverage- One layer of this foundation offers light, natural coverage. With a second layer, it builds up to a medium coverage. This will definitely never be a full-coverage foundation, but it's far from ultra sheer. A perfect balance!

Finish- The best way to describe the finish is luminous and natural. It's not quite dewy, not quite matte. Just gives the illusion of skin that's glowy, but not remotely greasy. 

Wear- For a non long-wear, non oily skin-specific foundation, this lasts quite well! It looks  flawless for the first 6 hours, then starts to break down slightly and gradually (begins to disappear from top of forehead, becomes slightly cakey on oilier areas). It does a surprisingly good job at keeping oil at bay, while not drying out the skin. It may not be my pick when I have something to attend after work, but it gets me through the 9-to-5 nicely :)


Here are some pictures of me, completely bare-faced, before giving Vitalumiere Aqua a go:

As you can see, I have some redness to my skin and some reddish marks from past breakouts:

And here are some shots of me wearing Vitalumiere Aqua only! You'll see that it's evened out the redness quite well, while leaving a glow and not completely masking my natural skin:

And here it is in the context of an entire makeup look, topped with powder:

And that's it! This foundation really has been a pleasant surprise. No, it doesn't cover every single flaw in my skin. No, it doesn't stay flawless for 12 hours. But what it does is gets me through the 9 to 5 with natural-looking, radiant skin while blurring redness and imperfections with minimal shine and cakiness. It really is a winner in my books! Chanel products rarely disappoint, and this really is no exception.

Have any of you tried Vitalumiere Aqua? What are some of your favourite natural-finish foundations?

Thanks for reading! :)