Diorskin Nude 010 Ivory Review and Contouring Update

I've been looking for a new foundation for a while now, and ever since I fell in love with the finish of Lancôme's Teint Miracle, I've wanted to invest in a high end product. I dropped by Ici Paris XL and brought home two little pots of sample product, the first of which I will be reviewing for you in this blogpost: Diorskin Nude.

I usually roll my eyes at the flawlessly-airbrushed-to-impossible-perfection campaign shots for beauty products, but Diorskin Nude is promoted by Natalie Portman. Aka one of the most gorgeous people on this planet. Also, I was completely head over heels with her performance as Nina in Black Swan, so even though I might not believe that campaign shots like these really mimic the true effect of the product, my sympathetic feelings towards Portman totally bled over into my positive prejudice with regards to Diorskin Nude.

The marketing, it worked.

Today, I'm reviewing Diorskin Nude in 010 Ivory. It was pretty much the lightest shade available (even though I am not that pale at the moment), and it is neutral toned leaning ever so slightly pink-peachy. As a heads up: the numbers ending in 0 are neutral toned, the 1s are yellow based, the 2s are pink, and the 3s are peachy. Diorskin Nude comes in a lot of different shades and undertones, so you're pretty likely to find one that matches your skin.

My skin has a few issues: most importantly, my face is a lot more red and blotchy as well as darker than the rest of my body. This actually makes it hard to match my foundation properly, because if I match it to my jawline, I will end up with a shade that is too dark and too pink to match my neck, chest and arms. This is problematic, since the main purpose of foundation is to even out your skin tone as well as making it match your neck and chest.

This means that I'm best off using a foundation that is slightly lighter and less pink toned than my face, and I usually match the colour to my chest (near my collarbone). The 010 Ivory shade worked quite nicely.

left: bare skin, right: nothing but Diorskin Nude

As you can see, Diorskin Nude 010 Ivory beautifully matches my face to my neck, and succeeds effortlessly in covering up my translucent, red skin and hyperpigmentation. I'd say this product is true medium coverage rather than light or full coverage, and Diorskin Nude leaves your face with a finish that is neither fully matte nor overly dewy: a sort of healthy inner glow that truly mimics a nude skin look.

 Of course, the full effect of this foundation is more apparent if you see it incorporated in a make up look. I did a very simple, fresh face of the day using my current favourite products.

Products used:
- Sleek Face Form kit in Light (contouring and highlighting powder)
- Gemey Maybelline Volum' Express mascara
- & Other Stories eyebrow powder "4"
- Mac lipstick in Velvet Teddy
- Park Avenue blush "01" 

I love this foundation. It makes my face look super healthy and even, without being cakey. It also does not emphasize wrinkles or dry patches. We MIGHT have a winner on our hands, here. I'm not even really deterred by the 49€ price tag, as I only buy a new tube of foundation about once or twice a year. That's not a ridiculous price for something that makes you look amazing every single day. I'm pretty sure I'm going to fork over my cash. Portman made me do it.

As an important aside - the finished make up look above shows off my updated contouring technique. I used to follow those instructions that tell you to make a straight line from your ears to the corners of your mouth, but it almost never looked quite right. Turns out, that technique actually works against my bone structure rather than with it. I found this awesome tutorial thingy on pinterest, with different ways of contouring that may or may not work for your particular face shape. The diamond graph seems to work best for me. Now, I make a curved shape that cups the apples of my cheeks. It makes a HUGE difference, perking up my face and making it appear younger.

Let me know what you think! Spitting image of Natalie Portman, don't deny it.

PS: I came in third at the Weekend Blog awards in the fashion subcategory and I am SO pleased! I never would have guessed I'd do so well, so I really want to thank you for voting for me, and the jury for giving me kudos! It really does motivate me to keep trying my best to provide quality content :) Love!