If my makeup bag and I were stranded on a desert island, foundation would easily be the first thing to go. Call it lucky or unfair, but the complexion gods blessed me with good natural skin. My tone is fairly even (save for some minor under-eye darkness), I get a single monthly zit right before my period, and my only real gripe is being oil-prone. Not needing foundation saves time in my morning routine and leaves my Sephora receipts shorter, so I don't go out of my way to use it.
During a recent raid of POPSUGAR's generously stocked beauty closet, I perused the shelves for any new launches that might pique my interest. I swiped a few mundane lip liners and a replacement body wash, but nothing truly caught my eye . . . until I opened the foundation drawer. A champagne-colored, gem-capped jar glared up at me so brightly, I could've sworn it was reflecting light beams as a chorus of angels sang in unison. As fate would have it, this jar was Clé de Peau's "The Foundation" in just my perfect shade.
I had heard about this product before. With a whopping $250 price tag, it was dubbed the "world's most expensive foundation" and tested by beauty giants like Tati and Jeffree Star. Backed by ultrafancy ingredients like age-defying golden silk essence and smoothing Japanese pearl, the luxe formula proved to be long-wearing and impressively radiant in their reviews. It was still beyond what I'd ever consider paying for any complexion product. But now, as a beauty-obsessed editor with a free jar in my hands, I knew it was my duty to share my own findings with the internet. Read on to hear my first impressions, and see how it held up after a day of wear.
Before (Left) and After Applying the Foundation (Right)
At the recommendation of my boss (and personal beauty mentor) who considers this her own holy grail, I applied the product with my bare hands. Though I'd usually cringe at the idea, it actually worked like a charm! The creamy, lightweight formula felt more like a moisturizer than a foundation and melted into my skin like (very expensive) butter.
The foundation felt slightly tacky at first, but quickly dried down and left behind a subtly dewy glow that looked like my real skin but so much better. I'd call the coverage somewhere between light and medium, with the ability to be built up if desired. A single layer was all it took to mask my healing hyperpigmentation spots — the shameful ghosts of pimple popping sessions past — and even brighten up my under eyes.
When I left for work in the morning, I was more than pleased with the overall feel and finish of the formula. In fact, I could barely tell I was wearing anything besides my usual concealer and powder pairing.
We were still in pretty good shape by midday, too. I can easily turn into a shiny mess by lunchtime, but, much to my surprise, only my nose and the center of my forehead had developed a slightly dewy cast. There was a tiny bit of breakdown around my nose as well, but not enough to bother me. Since I wanted to accurately see how the foundation performed all day, I purposely chose not to touch up. Onward we go.
Some days, I return home from work to find that the majority of my face makeup has all but completely melted off. My blemishes lose their concealer shield and my once-matte T-zone reflects more light than I'd care to admit. Today was not one of those days. Though I certainly acquired a slightly brighter shine than I had left home with that morning, the majority of my makeup stayed put — and my face felt more hydrated and glowy (but not oily!) than ever all day.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but Clé de Peau's $250 foundation totally — yet almost regretfully — passed the test. It was criminally easy to apply, more lightweight than any formula I've ever tried, and didn't require hourly touch-ups. Whether you decide to splurge or not is all you, but I will leave you with some food for thought: no, this isn't going to give you a brand new face (though, at that price, maybe it should). No, it's not worth maxing out a credit card for. And, if you have a formula you already swear by, you honestly don't need it. But if it's something you can justify splurging on, I can assure you it won't be for nothing. Sometimes you just gotta exercise your right to be fancy — and if that's with a $250 jar of makeup, then more power to you.
