Review: The Body Shop Fresh Nude Foundation

I'm sure you know by now that I live for my Lancôme foundation! However,  seeing as I'm living a student life again I cannot be using £29.50 foundation on a daily. Unfortunately, I don't really like any of the formulas of the other foundations usually found in Boots i.e. Maybelline, L'Oréal etc. so I was quite excited when The Body Shop released this range a few months ago in the price range I was aiming for! The ladies in the The Body Shop store I went to were so lovely, probably the best customer service I've had in a while actually! Shout out to The Body Shop in Romford!

The product

The Body Shop Fresh Nude Foundation SPF 15

Shade Range: 16 shades-  It seems like there are 4 shades with varying undertones for the following skin tones: 

Fair: Chelsea Porcelain, Bora Bora Tiare Kyoto Blossom, Bali Vanilla

Medium: Hawaii macadamia, Fiji Sand, Sahara Light, Yorkshire Rose 

Olive- Tan: Santorini Sunset, Atlas Dunes, Sicily Amber, Yucatan Honey

Deep: Andalusia Almond, Seychelles Cinnamon, Caribbean Mahogany, Tuscany Chestnut 

Claims: Enriched with hydrating rose water, skin is left beautifully moisturised for up to 24h and protected with SPF15. With a semi-matte finish, all our 16 shades mimic the look of fresh natural skin with a nude glow

Price: £15 for 30ml

It's a bit of a shame that the range doesn't include more deep tone shades, however when I think of the shade ranges, available at Boots, from the other brands it's not the worst. The Body Shop are also selling Shade Adjusting Drops for £10 which you can use to lighten or darken the foundation if you do not find a shade that fits you. I know many people will have mixed opinions on the shade adjusting drops. On the one hand it is an extra cost and if you add the price of the drops to the foundation price you could buy a high end foundation that actually matches your skin tone. On the other hand you don't always get a perfect match from any brand and it could actually save you money in the long run. You can use it with any of your foundations, particularly when your skin gets lighter/darker in Summer/Winter as well as adding them to make custom highlight and contour shades. I picked up the darkening drops even though I don't really have much use for them right now *covers face* I'll give you an update when I use it! I know the drops have been compared to Cover FX's Custom Cover Drops . I wouldn't say that they are exactly the same, although the Cover FX drops can alter the shade of your foundation, their main marketed purpose is to allow you to sheer out your foundation or make it full coverage. It does have more shades available but at £36 it is much more expensive!

One pump of the Body Shop Fresh Nude Foundation (10 minutes after application)

I got the shade Tuscany Chesnut, which is the darkest shade available, and i'm actually quite happy with the match. It comes with a pump and is housed in a standard glass bottle. I usually go for completely matte foundations because I really don't like the shiny look I tend to get with dewy foundations. This is a semi- matte finish and I actually really like the way it looks when it is freshly applied- it gives a really natural glow but it's not shiny. Even though I do like the way it looks on it's own I haven't been brave enough to wear it without powder. It is a light to medium coverage foundation so it definitely doesn't cover all my blemishes and scars, however it can be built up to full coverage but will not feel as light and natural if you do. Above is one pump of the foundation applied with my Sigma F80 brush. Below is two pumps with concealer, powder and the whole shebang.  I have been using this for over a month now and I think it has quite good wear time- I wouldn't go as far as saying it lasts 24 hours as I normally have to touch up the powder half way through the day but apart from that it's reasonable.

Fresh Nude Foundation with Esteé Lauder Double Wear Concealer and MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Dark Deep

Verdict

Ok so I won't be abandoning Lancôme any time soon (Who do I think I am wearing Lancôme every day anyway lol!)  but this is definitely a good offering for an everyday foundation, particularly if you haven't had much luck with other drugstore foundations.  If you like the natural glow look this might be a great foundation for you to try. It's comfortable and light weight and would probably be quite a good summer foundation too. These are available in stores so definitely go and get matched and test them out before you commit to buying!

p.s my eyebrows look useless in these pics.. and seriously who knows a good Invisalign specialist?! lolz

"Be your own kind of beautiful"