Guerlain Parure Extreme Foundation
Product description:
A luminous, extreme-wear foundation with SPF 25 that is water resistant, non transferable and long lasting.
Guerlain Parure Extreme Luminous Extreme Wear Foundation leaves the complexion glowing with a naturally matte finish. This Tibetan Rhodiola plant formulation helps cells withstand temperature variations, intense heat, and stress—making this product last for at least eight hours. - Sephora.com
Guerlain Parure Extreme comes in 9 shades. 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 13, 23, 24 & 25.
Here are swatches of the foundation colors courtesy of Karla. These are for Guerlain Parure Aqua, but all of the shades are the same for Parure Extreme.
I was debating whether to pick shade #3 or #4 and I ended up going with #4 Beige Moyen.
Here's a swatch of the foundation on my hand (daylight, no flash)
Here it is blended into my hand. My initial thoughts when I first swatched this color was.. Oh my goodness.. what a disaster. The foundation appeared very pink toned (this was what I most feared and the main reason it took me over a year to finally decide to purchase it).
For color comparison, I grabbed a few of my other foundations. From left to right: Guerlain Parure Extreme #4, Nars Sheer Glow in Barcelona, Nars Sheer Glow in Stromboli, MAC Studio Fix Fluid NC40 and Estee Lauder Double Wear in Tawny.
Out of the bunch, Guerlain is the most pink toned, Nars Stromboli is the most yellow toned and Estee Lauder is the most Neutral. Nars Barcelona & MAC are practically identical and are warm. All shades are in the medium range.
My face with no foundation..
and with foundation! As you can tell, my face appears slightly pink beige.
with my makeup finished.
Application methods: I have tried a few different methods of applying this foundation and I found the best way was by using my fingers. I tried using a standard foundation brush (ELF Studio Angled Foundation Brush), A duo fiber stippling brush (ELF Studio Stipple Brush & MAC #131) and a blending sponge. The final result was alright with the brushes, but when I tried using my hands, the final result blew the others out of the water. I can't say word for word what the instructions said that came with the foundation, but I think it said something along the lines of "put a couple of drops in your hand with your moisturizer and apply to your face".. So that's what I did. I put a tiny amount of moisturizer on my hand and one pump of foundation and smoothed it over my face very well until it was blended. I applied it just as I would apply a moisturizer.. using circular motions.
Less is more. Believe me.. I don't usually apply foundation sparingly. I love building my foundation to a flawless coverage.. but when I built this foundation it didn't look good at all. (May be because of the shade.. but I looked very dark and very fake) One pump is prefect for my whole face and it looked much better and more natural.
The color: If you have read lots of reviews for this foundation, you probably already know the terrible color choices Parure Extreme has for yellow/golden skin tones. I thought #4 was a terrible color choice for me.. Although it works alright if applied very sparingly.. The color did oxidize slightly on me and make me look darker. Like I mentioned before, one day when I went to the mall, I was wearing this foundation and I had used my fingers to apply it, but I used a couple of pumps of the foundation to have a higher coverage.. and when I was walking past mirrors.. I was completely embarrassed and horrified. It looked like I was very noticeably wearing a foundation that didn't match my skin tone. I looked very dark and a little orange/pink. I washed it off my face and used 1/2 the amount I used before and it didn't look as dark and it looked much better. I would never purchase #4 again and I would be interested in purchasing #3. I have a MAC concealer in NW30 and I think this shade is very similar and much better for a NW rather than NC.
The color: If you have read lots of reviews for this foundation, you probably already know the terrible color choices Parure Extreme has for yellow/golden skin tones. I thought #4 was a terrible color choice for me.. Although it works alright if applied very sparingly.. The color did oxidize slightly on me and make me look darker. Like I mentioned before, one day when I went to the mall, I was wearing this foundation and I had used my fingers to apply it, but I used a couple of pumps of the foundation to have a higher coverage.. and when I was walking past mirrors.. I was completely embarrassed and horrified. It looked like I was very noticeably wearing a foundation that didn't match my skin tone. I looked very dark and a little orange/pink. I washed it off my face and used 1/2 the amount I used before and it didn't look as dark and it looked much better. I would never purchase #4 again and I would be interested in purchasing #3. I have a MAC concealer in NW30 and I think this shade is very similar and much better for a NW rather than NC.
Final thoughts: I love the smell of Guerlain Parure Extreme. It has a fragrance to it that is similar to Chanel Bronze Universel. The consistency is very nice.. It is lightweight, very thin - but not watery at all. Many say this is full coverage.. but I don't see it. I would say this is on the lighter medium coverage. It makes my face flawless, but a little of the redness in my cheeks peeks through. I had a pimple scar and it didn't cover it. I needed to use concealer on a couple of my blemishes. I'm sure if you have freckles, it's not going to cover them.. but it will even out your face and make you look flawless and airbrushed. I always try to conceal any redness, but I actually like how this foundation allows some of my natural hues to peek through and doesn't give a mask effect. It makes me look much more natural. It claims to stay for 8 hours.. and I can't say for sure. Some days it will look great all day and some days it doesn't. I absolutely love the finish of this foundation. It has such a glowy, luminous finish - very similar to Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk. If it wasn't for the terrible color, this may be one of my top 3 favorite foundations. I may end up purchasing shade #3 to see if I have any better luck.. but the foundation costs $56.. which would be $62 with tax.. so I'm not sure if I will be purchasing another one any time soon. I'm thinking about ordering a color corrector from Coastal Scents (the white one) to lighten up the foundation and add a little of my yellow corrector to add some yellow to it. I'll let you know if I do that and how it works out. I'm currently using this all over my face and then I use my stipple brush and lightly stipple a lighter foundation (very, very little) all over to lighten up the foundation. It has been working very well.. but I prefer using only one foundation to get the truest finish. This is really an amazing foundation but I highly suggest you go to a dept store first and ask for a sample before you purchase it. Having the correct color makes all the difference!
Have you tried Guerlain Parure Extreme? What are your thoughts? Have you tried any other Guerlain foundations?
My next foundation review will be for Shu Uemura Face Architect Liquid Foundation. I just purchased it and should be receiving it in the mail soon!
