Naked Skin

For a very long time I have had bad skin, those of you who suffer the same fate will understand how frustrating it is. It dulls your confidence, restricts you greatly when it comes to products, and seeing women with beautifully flawless skin just drives you insane! Because of my dry, red, break-out prone skin, I always chose the full coverage foundations. Estée Lauder Double Wear is one of the greatest foundations for coverage but I found it difficult to get the perfect shade for my super pale skin. More recently I have been using MAC’s Studio Fix Fluid in NW10. The shade is perfection but I find it very drying on my already dry skin.

However, and yes, feel free to rejoice for me, I have found the answer to my skin problems. My prayers were answered by Dermalogica, and a very patient product rep. I have tried countless products on my skin with no results but Dermalogica was the way to go for me. My skin has improved beyond all recognition, I am free to try so many new products, and I no longer irrationally hate those women with flawless skin! So I am on the hunt for the perfect medium coverage foundation, and I want to share my results!

I have been testing out Urban Decay’s Naked Skin foundation for the last week (picture below). It’s really difficult to change from a full coverage foundation, I love the airbrushed, flawless look and I’m used to achieving that with a lot of coverage, I don’t have the skin type that can achieve that finish with a light coverage. So I was very intrigued by Naked Skin. The product is described by Urban Decay as giving “coverage without compromise” and a “demi matte finish”. There is an impressive range of 18 shades to choose from so you are sure to find your perfect match. I am using 2.0 and I find it is perhaps one shade too dark for me.

The foundation is extremely watery, a completely different consistency to the full coverage foundations which are much creamier. The watery consistency means you can buff this foundation into your skin effortlessly. My skin is still on the dry side so when I first applied this product, it looked as if it was sitting on my skin, not blending, and it looked like the kind of foundation that would break up easily. After some blending, and some time to settle, it looked like a second skin. I am really impressed by the combination of looking luminous (I am wearing a highlighter in the picture as well) and looking perfectly matte. You can build this foundation as much as you want, the consistency makes build up very easy, and it never feels like it is caked on, however, the more I built, the darker the results. Now I avoid putting too much product on my face and instead I blend as much as humanly possible using the Sigma Kabuki brush. I would definitely recommend a stippling brush of some sort if you want the flawless, blended look. The coverage is ideal for me, it’s not the full face that I have been wearing but it covers all my redness and looks like a natural yet airbrushed finish.

The foundation is long wearing, I always use a setting spray and with this I find that the foundation doesn’t budge, I don’t even need a single touch up during the day. For a foundation that provides such stunning coverage, it feels, and looks, like I am wearing no make up at all. With MAC and Estée Lauder you are always aware of it on your face but Naked Skin literally feels like naked skin, and although the coverage is impressive, it doesn’t look like a mask, it looks like your skin, only better!

I would recommend this foundation to anyone who has problematic skin, especially those who suffer from redness as it is an amazing colour corrector. It is also ideal for people who don’t want too much coverage but are looking to achieve a natural, dewy look. I think this will be a very popular foundation for the Summer because of the light weight feel. People who are tired of heavy foundation should be rushing out the door for this product! For those of you this way inclined, it is €34.00 in Debenhams.