Guerlain Parure Extreme Foundation - Their Answer To Long Lasting Foundation

Constantly on the search for my Holy Grail Foundation, and having heard fabulous things about Guerlains Lingerie De Peau foundation, I headed to my local counter. I asked the consultant to apply the foundation to my face, which she did - but when I told her what I was looking for; something long lasting that wouldn't make my shiny, while still looking natural, she recommended the Parure Extreme to me. It's tagline is 'luminous extreme wear foundation - water resistant - non transferable'. Sounds good doesn't it? I thought so too.

I explained to the consultant my skin type - combination - it does get shiny throughout the day but is dry in patches and I do get spots, annoyingly. She thought the Parure Extreme would be fine, and applied it to the other side of my face. Looking in the mirror I could see that the Extreme gave me more coverage, so I decided to go with that. The consultant matched me as a 02 Beige Clair, which is one of the palest of the 9 shades that it comes in. The scoop on the foundation from the Guerlain site is:

Water Resistant - Non Transferable - SPF 25 PA++ Radiance that lasts? This is the miracle achieved by PARURE. Its ability to keep the dazzling natural radiance of its colour and matt finish for up to eight hours no matter what happens! Beneath its radiant film, the complexion is matt and natural, imperfections and pores are minimised and the colour remains true. The skin is ready to face all the ups and downs of the day with confidence. True radiance that lasts. 

Let's see if it's true shall we?

The bottle holds 30mls of product (more than the Lingerie De Peau), and comes with a pump-applicator, my favourite kind. I squirted 2 pumps onto the back of my hand. You can see from the photo that it's quite liquidy in consistency. By the time I'd pumped and had got my camera it had already started running down my hand.

The consultant had applied it to me with her fingers, and it recommends that method in the enclosed leaflet, so that's what I did.

Eugh! QUICK, GET THE CONCEALER AND POWDER!

Slightly better! I used the Sephora Concealer Palette under eyes and on blemishes, and then covered my face with a light dusting of Sheer Cover mineral foundation. I've tried a few different powders over this and the results are much the same. Next I applied the rest of my make up:

• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• MAC Sable Eyeshadow
• MAC Smoky Heir Superslick Liner
• MAC Smoulder Liner (under lower lashes)
• Diorshow Maximiser Lash Plumper
• MAC Lofty Brown Zoomlash
• MAC Hue Lipstick
• MAC Call My Buff Lipstick
• Natural Collection SunTint Golden Glow Bronzer
• MAC Stereo Rose MSF

 I'd like to point out at this stage, that my son was ill today, so I spent it at home, playing nurse to one child, and plaything to the other - hardly a sweat-fest. Beside the odd load of washing, and meal cooking, it was mostly spent on my bum with one eye on a Disney DVD and the other playing with dollies. Being at home was the perfect opportunity to do an hour-by-hour photo. You can see from above that it doesn't seem to hold much coverage - but kind of looks ok once the rest of the face is done. Not the cakey masked look you get from some long-wear foundations.

I know my lippie has come off, lunch was eaten! The face has gone a little  more sheeny - I like it like that actually, looks a little more natural. If only it could stay like this for the remainder of the day....

Hmm, the light must have changed, I look a different colour! You can see that its starting to build up in beween my eyebrows and the blemishes on my chin are starting to become more noticeable.

After 3 hours it's starting to get a bit on the shiny side, and the build up on the forehead is becoming more noticeable.

After 4 hours I am uncomfortably shiny. I had to upload a photo at a different angle to try to show you just how shiny I was...

And they said pores will look minimized? Errrr...... nope?!

Five hours after initial application and my face is looking gross. All make up has gone from my chin, my forehead has build up and is shiny, along with my cheeks and nose. Oh, and at this point I'd like to say it definitely isn't non-transferable. I noticed this when scratching my face and leaving a 'hole' in the make up!

Shinyyyyy!

The chin make up has completely gone, as well as the build up on my forehead, deposits are starting to form between my cheeks and nose

GROSS! I'd been wearing my glasses, can you tell!? Chin is free of make up, face is oil-slick-like and reflective, and there are disgusting parts with loads of make up on.

I know most people touch-up their make up during the day, as do I, but I wanted to put Guerlains claims to the test. If I was working a 9-5, I'm guessing I'd be applying my make up around 7.30am - I'd be seriously peeved if by 11.30am I needed to reapply my foundation, especially from one which says it's a long-lasting one.

Needless to say, I will definitely not be spending another £33.50 (yes, I know!) on this again.

This leaves me still searching for the perfect foundation. What is your Holy Grail foundation? Please let me know by leaving a comment below - I'm desperate!