Holy Grail! Giorgio Armani Designer Lift Foundation #5.5

I still remember the day, March of this year and a 2 hour makeup session at the Giorgio Armani counter at Selfridges with Mother Round Cheeks. We sat there and chatted to Tran, a chatty and endearing fellow beauty enthusiast/MA.
I had been to Giorgio Armani once before with my best friend on the hunt for her perfect foundation. We took over numerous makeup counters including Bobbi Brown, Illamasqua & Tom Ford but ultimately settled for Giorgio Armani's Designer Lift. The makeup artist then applied it for both of us then but I wasn't too confident with my colour match so decided to re-visit another day. My best friend bought it and has been using it ever since.
Designer Lift is GA's newest foundation which promises to adapt to your skin type and balance out oily and dry areas alike, great for combination skin. As you all know I have extremely dry skin so for foundation to last on my skin, it needs to be emollient and stay that way throughout the day. So on dry skin, it is very moisturising and makes my skin feel comfortable and soft.

Giorgio Armani states that this is a full coverage foundation but I would describe it to be a medium buildable coverage - in that 2 layers would be full coverage but still natural looking. The packaging, being glass feels luxurious and has a controllable pump as well as a cap that fits snugly on the bottle. I've applied it with several types of foundation brushes and whilst all work well, Real Techniques' Buffing Brush is my favourite for a flawless yet natural looking finish. Designer Lift applies extremely smoothly and as it's a very thin and fluid/runny consistency feels and looks incredibly light on the skin. I usually set it lightly with MAC's Careblend powder in Medium Plus and it lasts until I decide to take it off. Without powder I would say it lasts up to 6 - 7 hours (I always use Laura Mercier's Hydrating Primer before any base makeup) and with, the entire day. The finish is natural yet luminous in that it colour corrects you skin tone and adds a glamorous glow. Giorgio Armani has a large shade range and the use of 'Prussian blue pearl' in DL gives one's complexion a much brighter appearance much like YSL Touch Eclat Foundation. Another plus is that one may mix all of Armani's foundations and it won't change their texture or performance.

When applying the foundation it does have a scent, yet it's difficult pinpoint. I would have to describe it as a pleasant floral yet fresh makeupy scent. Once applied the smell fades away quickly. DL has SPF20 yet still manages to photograph well but I will say that cream foundations like Cinema Secrets photograph better.
All in all, the standard size 1oz foundation bottle would last me just shy of a year with a daily use of 1 pump. Even though it is expensive at £39, it works so well on my skin that I cannot give it up. I'm visiting home for a little bit and it's the only foundation I brought and I know I won't be missing any others. If you have the opportunity to visit an Armani counter then I'd really recommend at least trying it. I'm wearing this foundation in a previous FOTD - I would have put up a new one but my skin is looking a little worse for wear lately…
To see what shades I am in other foundations, I've listed them on the right hand side of my blog.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate all your lovely comments!
xxx