Short version: A great foundation with one important flaw.
To start off, I have combination skin that leans dry. My problem with foundations is lasting ability on my nose, where it tends to get shiny fast, while still being non-drying enough to work for my dry cheeks.
I bought this foundation for $57.00 + tax at the Sephora location in Times Square. None of the other Sephoras in New York that I've been to carry the foundation, so you might want to call ahead and check. Department store counters should have the full range, though.
I took a sample of 03 beige naturel home and immediately fell in love with it - it went on smoothly and made my skin look flawless. Even though it's medium to full coverage and I had dry skin, it didn't look cakey at all; that's the problem I had with other long wearing high coverage foundations like Estee Lauder Double Wear and Revlon Colorstay - they looked like too much coverage and emphasized dry skin.
First, let's talk about the packaging, as all reviews do. It does come in a heavy, luxurious feeling glass bottle with a gold color.
It does include a nice, controllable pump, something that I appreciate when paying such a price for foundation. If you push it slowly, you are able to get out a very small amount. Pushing it all the way down quickly will give you a good amount of product - too much for just your face though, since this covers well and not too much product is needed.
The side of the bottle has a gradient from gold to partially transparent - I've heard that when you are nearing the end of your bottle, you can see how much is left at the bottom. I have no experience with this since this is a new bottle, but that's nice of Guerlain to do and convenient.
Onto the next step, talking about the product itself. The texture is a liquid - runny but not very much so. There is some thickness to it, but it definitely classifies as a liquid and not a cream. Here is is, a tiny pump on the back of my hand:
This is a small amount so it sits still, but if you get out a full pump, it will run down your hand. Here is is halfway smoothed out:
And finally, completely blended in:
natural light
flash
Smell: Yes, there definitely is a noticeable scent to it. I find it quite pleasant, though I understand that some people may not like scented cosmetics. Guerlain is a perfume house, and has put a violet scent in many of their other cosmetics as well. I'm not good with describing scents at all and I don't know if it smells of violets, but I will say that this foundation smells like a perfume. It doesn't smell like a cheap body lotion, either, yet it's not something so terribly sophisticated as an expensive high end fume. After it's on my face, I don't notice the scent at all.
Now unfortunately for me, I have a small, yet important problem with this foundation, and that is the fact that it does not match my skintone perfectly. In fact, it is too dark for me to wear. You can already see in the pictures above, that the foundation is slightly too tan for the back of my hand - not that you should match your facial skintone to the back of your hand's, but it is too dark for my face as well. I did not notice this fact until after I bought the foundation, but I decided not to return it since it is a very good foundation. It still blends in seamlessly, and if you find a color match then lucky you - you will look like you have naturally great skin.
As I said above, this is in shade 03 beige naturel. I am already NC25-30, and it's not good for a foundation's second lightest shade to be already NC30-35. There is one lighter shade, 02. I did not try that one because I heard it was pink toned, which might or might not be true, but I regret not having taken a sample of it as well. However, I know that I have yellow undertones and having my foundation be too pink is something that I had trouble with in getting foundations in the past. There is a 01, the palest foundation shade of Guerlain's foundations and yellow-undertoned - unfortunately it is Asia exclusive. Though I admit I should have checked out the color match before I bought it, this is something that does not make sense to me. Many pale women in the US buy cosmetics; I assume people who are interested in cosmetics are more likely to wear sunscreen, even with America's obsession with tanning. So why not expand the shade range, even in the US? You'd be surprised at how many of us are pale.
Since this foundation is so expensive, I did not want to buy 02 to mix with it, due to my chronic fear of foundation that is not yellow enough for me (and not wanting to end up with $120 of foundation). If I had access to 01 though, I probably would buy it just to mix, and as a winter shade as well. Since neither of those cases are favorable, I bought Boots No7 Lifting and Firming foundation in 10 New Ivory - which is one shade too light - to mix in a 1:1 ratio. Unfortunately this combination is not as good looking as wearing Parure Extreme by itself and turns out to be more of a good shade match but average looking foundation, whereas with PE on its own, it is a not-perfect shade match but an exceptionally great looking foundation.
Please add more shades, Guerlain! Or at least make 01 available online. This would be the perfect foundation otherwise.
-k
