Last December, I had a big old birthday. It was big and I am old, but sure listen, it’s ahead of us all this whole ageing thing and I’m embracing it. Kinda. Talk to me in December for my next birthday and we’ll see how I am! No7’s Lift & Luminate Triple Action Serum Foundation in the shade Warm Ivory arrived a few weeks ago for me to test out and if you’ve been following me on Snapchat or Instastories, you’ll already know how I’ve been getting on with it.
Containing as much of the Matrixyl 3000 Plus as is in the No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Advanced Day Cream, hibiscus extract to help support collagen production, an anti-oxidant complex along with a flexible polymer film formula, it sounds fierce fancy altogether. I love the sound of the polymer formula because it’s said to move with your face as you make expressions and you know how expressive I am! But how did I get on with it? Regular readers will know I have an oily t-zone and normal cheeks, so this is my experience with the foundation on my very own mush. Texture wise, it’s a thicker formula that doesn’t run down the back of your hand when you’re getting stuck in. Because it has a light to medium level of coverage, I apply two pumps which gives me enough to cover my face and then a bit extra to go over my cheeks. I said this before on Instastories last week but had to say it again that this is one of those foundations that has to be set with a powder on my oily skin. When I apply it first, it looks like someone came and licked me upside the face, but never fully dries on me at all. So if you’ve dry skin, I think your face will love this. Those of us with oily bits will need to get mattifying or else we’ll have nothing left by lunch time.
If you apply too much, it can feel like a mask, so my advice is to apply a light layer and then see if you need to add a bit extra. This doesn’t sit in my pores or my laugh lines either and this is very important as either I’m doing extra laughing these days or things are starting to go south, jowls and all. It has optical blurrers and light reflecting particles which is said to reduce the signs of skin ageing. I haven’t seen much blurring going on and any light reflecting particles must be tinchy because they’re not obvious at all. But what is obvious is how gorgeous my skin looks when I’m wearing it. I’m left with a beautifully natural radiant glow that I’m obsessed with. That takes care of the “luminate” part of the name, as for the “lift”, I’m assuming that the more I use this, and the more I let the serum do its work on my face, then things might look and feel different on the face. Sure we’ll see!
For €24.00, it’s definitely not cheap and that’s because of the inclusion of the serum, so if you were trying to justify buying this, you’re basically buying a 2 in 1 product, skincare and makeup. This a really lovely base that gives lightweight coverage, will work best on dryer skin types, but once us oilier ladies either use a mattifying primer and/or powder, we can still look lovely and reap the benefits of having that bit of extra skincare too. It’s available from Boots now and online so happy shopping!
