Launching on the 24th of this month is Clarins Skin Illusion Loose Powder Foundation,
the name may be familiar to some as Clarins have a liquid foundation of the same name.


"A loose powder foundation with an ultra-fine,
silky texture with highly effective mineral and plant based ingredients that work in harmony
with the skin to illuminate the complexion's appearance.
The result: a beautifully radiant, perfectly even matte complexion 
that feels incredibly soft and comfortable.
Matte finish - light to medium coverage - All skin types, even the most sensitive."


As with all Clarins products this is beautifully packaged, this time in a large chunky transparent
and gold square that may not be ideal for travelling but it sure does look pretty.
I'm normally no advocate of brushes that are included with make-up products but the small,
dense and incredibly soft flat topped brush that is hidden inside the product works wonderfully 
well at buffing in the product into your skin and does not feel like an after thought.
One thing I will say in a semi-negative light is that removing the inner packaging that protects the powder
can be a little tricky and does tend to be messy but that is often the case with loose powders!


Clarins Skin Illusion Loose Powder Foundation comes in 5 shades - I wear Wheat 109 
in the Clarins Ever Matte Liquid foundation in the winter months and find it to be a pretty good match
but I do find Wheat in the powder version to be a little lighter so I wouldn't recommend blind buying 
this product and instead hitting a counter to get colour matched.
While I am mentioning Ever Matte foundation this powder foundation shares the same scent,
light almost floral but not detectable once on the skin.


Truthfully I am a high coverage, liquid foundation type of girl but heavy foundation 
can cake and look terrible once my oily skin takes over not to mention feeling heavy on the skin 
so I approached Clarins Skin Illusion Loose Powder Foundation with an open mind.
I applied my primer as usual and decided that as this is a powder based product I should use my concealer
before buffing on the foundation.
To apply I simply dip the brush into the powder, tap of the excess and gently buff into the skin using
small circular movements, you can repeat this process over any area that requires more coverage
and do so in the good knowledge that it will not cake.

As always i've included my mole as a reference point for coverage.

In my opinion this is a medium to high coverage foundation,
it covers my acne scarring well without settling into my enlarged pores and works really well
with my oily skin without oxidising throughout the day.
The powder is finely milled, doesn't feel heavy on the skin, applies well and easily 
and doesn't cling to dry patches but as I only have one small dry area on my chin I don't feel fully equipped to say how this will bode on really dry skin types but for normal to oily skins this offers the best of both worlds - coverage and a matte finish without the need of a setting powder.
I really recommend this particularly for oily skins as it seems to control the excess oil on my face (t-zone)
and cancelled out my need for a separate finishing powder.
You could also use this as a setting powder if you really favour the full coverage look.
In terms of wear I got around 6 hours of wear before requiring a little touch up here and there
but generally it wore well!

Clarins Skin Illusion Loose Powder Foundation* £28/13g launching nationwide on the 24th of September.