Faking great skin with Illamasqua Skin Base in #8

Hands up who wants great skin. Everyone? Hands up who has great skin? Hmmm... only a few hands, and mine is definitely not amongst them. Yes, I don't have great skin but I sure can fake it!

Last week I finally got the chance to get my mitts on the Illamasqua Skin Base foundation. I'm somewhere between MAC NC25-30 and I was matched to #8 which is a neutral colour. Some colours were yellow toned and some pink, but 8 was perfect with a happy balance between the two.

I was actually very surprised by this foundation. I expected it to be a lot more sheer but it's got buildable coverage that looks natural even in daylight. This is meant to be Illamasqua's answer to cult Asian BB (beauty balm) Creams but I'm not sure about that and that's a good thing!

There are two obvious differences I can see between BB Creams and Skin Base, besides the fact that BB creams have whitening ingredients and Skin Base doesn't. 

• The shades of real BB Creams are all very pale. Skin Base has like a gazillion shades, (ok 18 shades) from pure white to very dark.
• All the BB Creams that I have swatched (not bought, they just didn't do it for me) were much more sheer and provided absolutely no coverage. Skin Base provides buildable coverage, meaning if you want to put more on one spot and less on another, that's totally fine and won't look weird.

How I apply it

• Apply my favourite lightweight moisturiser (Moo Goo Full Cream which I posted about HERE), wait 2 minutes then apply Skin Base. I don't use a primer as I've never felt the need.
  
• I apply using my fingers as I can't work with foundation brushes, plus the warmth of my fingers helps the foundation blend better.
• I set it with a dusting of Illamasqua powder in PF150 (this is a re-purchase as I love it so much). 
• Applied this way Skin Base gives me 8hrs of good coverage before starting to fade around my nose and chin area. 

I love the really natural looking coverage that this gives, which doesn't look cakey. It doesn't hide every blemish or mole, but instead it gives a My-Skin-But-Better look.
 
I've left all the photos (except the product shots) deliberately large so you can zoom in to see how natural the foundation looks. Click to enlarge.

With flash

Shock, horror, there is something I don't like about it
The bottle. It's too hard too squeeze. I feel that everytime I squeeze it my thumb and forefinger are getting a workout. I'm going to have to alternate hands from time to time as I can just see my right thumb and forefinger looking decidedly beefier than the left ones. Please Julian (Kynaston, the founder), please change the bottle.

The bottom line
It's a fantastic product that works for me. It is pricey, so I'll try not to use it everyday, although you only need a little bit so I imagine this bottle will last me a while. When this eventually runs out I will be re-purchasing.

I bought my foundation from the Sydney Myer store for $65. It's also available at the city Myer stores in Melbourne or Brisbane or via their website (which delivers to AU).
 

Have you tried Skin Base yet? What are your thoughts on it?