A review of two halves, this one.
I was so, so excited when I read about Giorgio Maestro Fusion Makeup, and was desperate to try it. Described as a blend of five different oils, with a powder-free formulation, I thought this would be great for my combination-oily, but occasionally dehydrated skin. I'm a massive convert to oils these days, using them for cleansing, moisturising, and as serums. When it first arrived, and I first had a play on the back of my hand, I was exceptionally excited, I can honestly say I've not tried a foundation similar to it.
It's an exceptionally thin and runny liquid, which very much needs the dropper it comes with. You do literally only need around 5-6 drops to cover your whole face.
It spreads very easily, and is virtually undetectable on the skin, you can neither feel it, nor see it, it's amazing. It blends away exceptionally easily, and leaves a matte finish (something I wasn't really expecting, admittedly). It has a very sheer coverage, but I find that it evens out the skintone very nicely. This is shade five, which is right in the middle of the range, there are nine shades, which promise to match every skintone. In actuality, the shades are very forgiving, and adapt well to individual tones, so picking up something that doesn't quite match isn't the tragedy it can be with some other foundations. It's not great at covering imperfections though, so bear in mind that you will need a concealer with this foundation.
You should be able to see the slight difference on my hand there, but please bear in mind that my hands are much paler than my face, it actually matches pretty well with my complexion.
The first day I wore this, however, I was bitterly disappointed. Just four hours or so into wear, my face was showing "dehydration lines", and the foundation was clinging, patchily, onto any dry patches of skin. It looked awful. Dreadful. Possibly the worst foundation I've ever worn. It made me look very old, exhausted, and worn out. NOT what you want in a foundation. I put it away, and vowed never to use it again.
In the meantime, however, I've read a lot of similar reviews, and they made me think that maybe I should give it a second chance. My skin is in better condition at the moment than it was around the time of my initial testing, and I've been wearing Maestro for a week or so as a result. I'm happier with it, as, because my skin isn't dry or dehydrated right now, the formulation doesn't cling to any flaky patches, or settle into dehydration lines.
Whilst it's great that I can now use this to even out my skintone on good-skin/no makeup days, it kind of defeats the object of foundation, really. The fact that my skin has to be in tip-top condition before I can use the product is galling - who has perfect skin? I'll stick to Armani Face Fabric for good skin days.
Here's how it looks on my mush - you can see it doesn't cover pores, and is clinging slightly to my nose, but aside from that, I quite like the finish.
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| Lipstick is Burberry Miliary Red, I'm wearing a bit of mascara, but that's it. |
Giorgio Armani Maestro Fusion Makeup costs £36. What do you think?
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I was super excited to see this product in action but have to admit I am more than slightly disappointed. Still, you look great and the review was great ;)
ReplyDeleteIt looks great on you though! I guess I'm going to skip this one. Now winter is coming, patches will arrive too. Splurging €60 on a product that enhances that would kill my heart. ;-) x
ReplyDeleteSounds like a nice idea behind the foundation, but paying £36 for a foundation that is only suitable on good skin days definitely doesn't seem worth it...
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It looks beautiful on your skin but I don't think it would do anything at all for me sadly. My eczema is always playing up and I often get patches of dry skin which take forever to go away. It's such a shame as it does sound like a lovely formula.
ReplyDeleteIt's a beautiful formula, I have to admit, that's partially why my heart was so broken when it didn't work as anticipated.
DeleteThis make up is the best thing that happened to me in years. So light and silky, yet it provides good coverage without creating this "mask" effect. Moreover, you literally need a few drops each time, so, it could last and last... I wear it on top of my Bobby Brown vitamin C cream, and it is my HG foundation.
ReplyDeleteI'm genuinely delighted to hear that it works perfectly for some people, Alexandra! I'll save it for those special days when my skin is playing ball xx
DeleteAre you using anything, like a serum or primer, underneath? The GA SAs say you aren't supposed to put this on top of bare skin.
ReplyDeleteThe likelihood of me applying ANY makeup to un-prepared skin has just made me laugh so hard I spilt tea on my desk! Yes, I wear serum, and moisturiser, on my skin before I apply my makeup. You'd be hard-pressed to find a beauty blogger who didn't.
DeleteAnd seriously, SAs saying things that essentially boil down to "you're too stupid to know how it works, here's the secret" really - REALLY - hacks me off. If there is something you MUST do in order to get a product to work properly, then it absolutely, positively should say so in the instructions. This product doesn't that. It's not really rocket science to know that you might not get good results if you don't prepare properly, let's face it.
The fact is, blaming a customer for not being able to work the product effectively is a sign of a ... not good product. As I'm not the only blogger to have had problems with this foundation, I suspect that it's not our skincare routines to blame, to be honest.
Yikes! Hey please don't attack me! From the way it looks around your nose, it really doesn't seem to be holding onto anything and I was just trying to help. I think it is most definitely the job of SAs to let one know how to properly use a product and there is nothing wrong with a company formulating a foundation to be used over it's own prep products - that's how business works. Not everyone who loves makeup understands how to use it properly - it is "rocket science" for some people! This is a wonderful product for many people, but it's obviously not working for you.
DeleteNot attacking, you just made me think, is all. Thanks for coming back! A couple of things leap out of your latest comment, however:
Delete"there is nothing wrong with a company formulating a foundation to be used over it's own prep products"
Nothing wrong at all to make synergistic products. What is wrong, however, is not informing people - on the packaging - that a product will ONLY work in synergy with specific products.
Let's put it this way, not everyone buys cosmetics in store, and if there is a specific way to use a product, why don't brands take the time to inform ALL the purchasers of said product? If an SA told me I was using a product incorrectly - and here in the UK, please don't forget we can't return cosmetics as you can in the US - I'd be very angry indeed.
It's something I hear a lot about many products (and you'd be surprised how many brand representatives pop up here telling me I'm "not using it properly" too, actually), and no matter which product it is, if there is a specific way to use it that the instructions or the packaging don't convey, then frankly, it's usually down to a short-coming of the product, rather than user-error. If enough people use a product and get the same - not very good results - as in this case, well then it's definitely down to the product, and not the skincare routines (or lack thereof) of the users.
And as for your comment that, yes, not everyone knows how to use products properly, I agree, which is why this blog exists, and it's also why I'm a personal shopper for cosmetics, helping people through the maze of cosmetics for themselves. But your initial comment wasn't talking about everyone - regular readers would know that a proper skincare routine is an exceptionally high priority for me, as is testing things fairly.
My review, as it is, is an honest representation of how the product can fare on one skin in various conditions. As I don't know these "many people" you know who think this product is "wonderful" - but I have ready many, many blog posts from people who have struggled to get good results from the product - my review offers a viewpoint that the product CAN work, and shows under which circumstances.
PS: There was serum on my nose, and the application was about 40 minutes old - this is how the product settles every single time I use it.
Honestly? I'd be taking it back. From what I can see in the photo, it's really not worth the money and people pointing the finger at a preexisting skin routine is deeply suspect. If there's a "secret" to using a product, WHY IS IT A SECRET? Do you really want to hack off your client base with all this hush hush rubbish? Way to pointlessly jeopardise sales, both present and future.
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