£121. Just so we’re clear right from the beginning. This is the £121 foundation. It’s the Serge Lutens Spectral Foundation. Serge Lutens is notoriously expensive … I mean, lip glosses are £60! On a ml. basis, the foundation looks like a snip up against that, although to be fair, you don’t get a whole lot of foundation either (30ml). The strangest thing about it is the weird plastic cover which takes away a whole lot of the product when you remove it unless you want to spend your time scraping it back in.
The shade looks much darker in the pot than it does on skin: this shade (IB40) turned out to be exactly my colour and in terms of coverage and finish – beautiful. I can’t fault it at all. But then, I can’t fault many foundations for a fraction of the price. The finish is a near matte, but for a slight skin sheen when the light catches your complexion, yet it’s a forgiving finish. There is no powdery dryness and in fact, the texture is the embodiment of weightlessness and feels very silky. You don’t feel it at all on your skin.
But, what the heck is in it for that money? It does contain argan oil but… For that matter, what is in a lipstick that costs £60? It’s not even as though you could wax lyrical about the packaging because even that is rather ordinary. This one is going to remain a mystery for ever, other than to realise that if you pay £121 for a foundation and it feels incredibly special because of that, and subsequently you feel incredibly special, then really, does it matter, if you have that money available? The luxury market is a law unto itself and I know I get caught up in it (Chanel handbags for example) – not often, I must add. When my children were smaller I was forever having to do the food shop on my way home so was always the mum with a Chanel bag full of fishfingers. That kind of thing is so much less important to me now but at the time I was so thrilled to have it and it did feel very special. It still does, really.
Is Serge Lutens Cream Foundation worth £121 in terms of ingredients? No. But if it makes you feel £121 confident, that’s another matter altogether. I wouldn’t spend it, nor the lipstick, but I wouldn’t be quick to judge someone who did. That said, there are so many amazing beauty products around, both luxury and budget, that don’t even touch those prices, I am amazed the brand still exists at all.
You can find it HERE.
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