Anastasia Beverley Hills Luminous Foundation Review

As a beauty blogger I get sent a lot of products to review, and my least favourite is always foundations. Foundations are tricky because if a foundation looks wrong (wrong shade or undertone) it feels wrong (wrong for my skin type) then it affects the rest of the make up going on top and can kill a whole look. My holy grail is the Estee Lauder Double wear which you all know I love, over the last year I have stepped out of my comfort zone a bit and both the Guerlain L’essential and Shiseio Synchro Skin Refreshing Foundation come a very close second. I will review the three above mentioned foundations sometime in the future, but I wanted to test out a lot of other foundations first so I have a broader range to compare my faves too. 

The first in this series is the new Anastasia Beverley Hills Luminous foundation. Firstly lets talk about the the packaging, this is a liquid foundation in a glass bottle with the ABH branding on one side and the word FOUNDATION written in bold on the other. The reason for this is that in this day and age we have so many make up products, especially if you’re a make up artist, and so ABH decided to add the bold wording to allow you to find the product quickly if you’re strapped for time. Personally, I really love the packaging - it is what I would expect for the price tag, as the foundation retails at £43 and the packaging certainly has a higher end feel to it. As far as the price is concerned, this is more expense than the Estee Lauder Double Wear which retails at £34 and the Shiseido Synchro Skin which retails at £39 and only slightly cheaper than the Guerlain L’Essential which retails at £44. I do think it is slightly overpriced and not worth the £43 price tag but Beauty Bay have it on offer for £21 at the moment and in my opinion that’s an amazing offer. Heres a link to the feel unique offer - ABH Foundation. 

I love that this foundation launched with 50 different shades as it shows they really want to cater to a broad spectrum of customers. I was sent 3 shades to sample, 355N, 345C, 330W. The letters after the numbers are to explain whether the foundation has neutral undertone, a cool undertone or a warm undertone. Out of these three shades, I wore 355N and I felt like it was a good match. For reference purposes I am shade Henna in Estee Lauder, Shade 04W Medium Warm in Guerlain l’Essential and 360 Citrine in Shiseido SS. 

This is a Luminous foundation so the coverage is light to medium, it certainly is buildable but I chose to wear only on one layer, and for me the coverage was too sheer. I like a full coverage foundation and my skin felt “exposed” with this on. It certainly is a foundation that I would reach to in summer weather and on good skin days as it gives you a healthy glow, but it doesn’t give full coverage look so avoid if that’s what you’re after. If you have dry or combination skin, this would be a good foundation as it won’t dry and will look fresh, it doesn’t set into fine lines or wrinkles so looks fresh even several hours after applying it. Even if you have oily skin you can give this a go as it doesn’t give an extremely dewy finish the way Nars luminous glow does for example, and you can always set it with a a powder. 

ABH products are normally very pigmented and glam so I wouldn’t expect something light weight like this from them as I don’t think its on brand - but to be fair, if you’ve opted for a heavy eye look or a bold lip and you don’t want to look too caked, this would be a perfect foundation as it would help the overall look more casual. 

If you like to wear foundation on a daily basis and want something that isn’t too heavy, this would be ideal for you. I found using a wet beauty blender gave a better finished look than a brush. If you’re in a rush for work in the morning, this foundation with a dash of mascara and pencil in the waterline would help you look more fresh. Or even without any eye make up but paired with a matte lipstick, this foundation will help you look more put together. Overall, it leaves your skin with a luminous finish, and on the plus side it doesn’t crack or dry so would be great for a long day in the office.

These products were sent to me as press samples with no obligation to test or review, all opinions are my own. The product images have a filter on them but the images of the swatches have not been edited in anyway.