With a waiting list of 12,000 people, YSL’s new Fusion Foundation is possibly the most talked about and most hotly anticipated foundation ever. Formulated with NASA inspired technology and claiming to stay put for an impressive 24 hours, StyleNest put it to the test.
YSL have designed their Fusion Foundation for the modern, busy woman. They claim there is no need for primer and powders, making it quicker to apply, but there is also no need for re-touches throughout the day. Apply it once, and it will last right through the night, if you can keep up with it. Not only will this save you time, it means you can feel confident your skin will look flawless and radiant all day, and it promises to do all this without a heavy look or feel. In short, it’s what every woman wants from her foundation.
So, with all these impressive claims, how exactly does it work? To give you some of the science, the foundation is filled with oils and pure, milled, pigments of colour. These oils are designed to evaporate away once applied to your skin, leaving only those finely milled pigments of colour, and a silky soft finish. The foundation also contains lipophilic actives, another secret behind it’s impressive lasting ability. First used to capture stellar dust particles in outer space, these actives absorb 4 times their weight in sebum, to give you a velvety matte texture and extra staying power. It sounded like everything we had been looking for. Our skin is combination, but yet doesn’t like anything too matte, it needs some moisture, but doesn’t like anything too heavy, and we find it hard to find a shade light enough for my pale, porcelain complexion. It’s a tough list of requirements, and we have never quite found ‘the one’. We couldn’t wait to try it.
First of all the packaging is everything you would expect from YSL. Inspired by the ‘Le Smoking’ tuxedo, it’s simple, slick and modern, and looks glamorous and impressive in your make up bag. We opened it up to find a special ‘quill’ applicator and instructions on how to use it. We have always just dabbed on with my fingers where needed before, but this method promised to deliver the perfect amount of product exactly where you need it. We dabbed on as instructed across the forehead, nose, and chin, as well as areas We normally neglect, the forehead and cheeks, as we’ve always been wary of looking too ‘mask-like’. The texture was fantastic for blending, especially for a matte foundation, which in my experience are difficult to blend and do not move easily across the skin. It blended easily, and although it started as a liquid, when blended it felt powdery and velvety soft. We was thrilled with the results. Incredibly light weight and natural, but, with enough coverage, I looked like me, but radiant. The colour was perfect, and although we did need powder to take off the shine, it had delivered on everything else. But would it pass a 24 hour test? Well, we can’t say it lasted that long, but yes, we were very impressed. Our skin is definitely the type that needs retouches throughout the day, but this stood me through rain, humidity, work, shopping, even a sweaty outdoor boot camp class. Yes we needed a touch up of powder afterwards, but not a touch up of foundation. We were recommending it the very first day we tried it. For us, and our hard to please skin, this might just be the best foundation we have ever used. A big statement, we know, but we do believe the hype, and the waiting list would be worth it. This really does work.