Do You Need A £100 Foundation?

I’ve been tossing this post back and forth in my head for weeks now, unsure of how – and whether – to write it. On the one hand, I know that there are some of you who’d be happy to spend £100 on a foundation and simply want guidance in picking one, and then that there are others for whom the mere idea of it is insane.

Personally, I’m ambivalent. On the one hand, I wear foundation daily and as such want it to look after my skin and definitely not to clog pores – and would pay more for foundation than any other single make-up product for this reason. I also cannot bear skin to look obviously made up, and have found that pricier foundations often (though not always – EX1 and Bourjois City Radiance, for example, are both brilliant and thrifty) make for better finishes, and that the inclusion of skincare into the mix really does make my skin a happier place.

On the other hand, £100 is a shedload of money that I could spend on other things – a night at a hotel in Devon, enough manchego cheese to see me through the year, this fancy mustard-coloured throw that I’ve had my beady eye on for a while now; it’s a good wad of cash, enough to make the spending of it on a single item the subject of deliberation.

After trying to choose a camp and failing, I’ve decided to leave the titular question open to you. Do you want to – and can you afford to – spend that much on a foundation? If so, the below three are brilliant. Here’s what you need to know should you be in the enviable position of choosing one //

Suqqu Extra Rich Cream Foundation //

The Ideal Candidate For This One Would… / Have any skin type, but would want medium to full coverage that blurs wrinkles.

The Downsides / It’s in a glass jar. The glass is annoying because it doesn’t travel well, and the jar thing is a bit fiddly, though Suqqu provide you with a little plastic scoop with which to grab out the foundation. Also, the shade range could be improved, though the colours themselves are really true to skin.

A Bit More Info / At £65, this is the most entry level (ha!) of the three. It contains a blend of oils that make for a really good synergy with the skin, and, once applied, looks velvety and creamy. Don’t bother with powder unless you’re really very oily – it wears very well and doesn’t become greasy or settle into cracks easily. I find massaging it into skin offers the best finish. Add more layers as you will – this one builds really well. Click here to read more on this foundation.

Sisley Sisleya Anti-Ageing Foundation //

The Ideal Candidate For This One Would… / Want to diminish wrinkles (both the appearance of them instantly and their depth over time), and be looking for a foundation that offers medium to full coverage.

The Downsides / It’s another glass bottle (though this time with a pump so easier to use), and only comes in 8 shades.

A Bit More Info / At £98 (though I’ve linked to a £88 bottle above), Sisley justify the cost of this one by the serious skincare chops contained within. In the mix are antioxidants, humectants and moisturising agents. The finish of this is a little juicier than normal skin – think skin after a sauna with a little bit of moisturiser applied to it and you’ll get the idea. Smoothing this one on with fingers offers best results. If struggling to choose a shade, the ‘r’ denotes red, or pink, tones in the foundation, while the ‘b’ means beige. I’ve opted for ‘r’ for winter, though will probably need to switch over to ‘b’ for summer.

La Mer The Soft Fluid Long Wear Foundation SPF 20 //

The Ideal Candidate For This One Would… / Not like wearing foundation but still need help on the skin front in the form of uniformity and protection – and wouldn’t have excessively dry skin.

The Downsides / ANOTHER glass bottle. Sheesh.

A Bit More Info / I equate it to no foundation because it’s spectacularly different to the others (and in fact to other foundations I’ve tried) in that it’s very fluid and seems to disappear once on the skin like an ink. Only it really is still there, shielding the skin from sun damage and pollution, while infusing it with a host of youth-preserving and moisture-attracting ingredients and making it look even and clear. I found this to perform the best of all three on oily skin. La Mer suggest applying this with a brush to which I say a big, resounding no – that would be a waste of product. Slide it on with fingers, stroking more quickly at the edges for a seamless finish.