A Story Of How A Holy Grail Foundation Was Found

By Tami Lai
The story of how I find a really solid beauty product always seems to go the same way: it lands on my desk, I forget about it, and then eventually unearth it again under a mountain of beauty products after a few weeks (or months). And then I finally bring it home to give it a try.
I know, I know – how tragic, to have so many beauty products to try that it’s easy to forget about so many of them. 🙄 But then, that’s what we’re here for, to offer our faces, bodies and hair as tributes to all the new products that are released into the market literally every single week, to figure out what works and what doesn’t, so we can tell you about it.
So this post is about one of my most favourite things to try: liquid foundation, and more specifically shu uemura’s latest one, the Petal Skin Fluid Foundation. According to the press release, this one promises “poreless coverage” and a “soft radiance”, to give skin a texture that’s like, well, a petal.

This is via something the brand calls the “Petal Skin Technology”, which involves the fluid becoming volatile so it can better diffuse and disperse the pigments over the skin, resulting in a thin layer that doesn’t skimp on coverage. Spherical pigments softly diffuse light over the complexion, and deepsea water help with instant hydration.
Okay, but to be honest, “poreless  coverage” and “soft radiance” are things that 80% of foundation press releases promise. For a foundation to stand out, it needs to go onto my skin exceptionally well, and sit there all the way till I put makeup remover to it. And yup, the Petal Skin ticks all the boxes. Here’s why.
 
IT BLENDS BEAUTIFULLY.


To me, this is the biggest factor to judge how good a foundation is. When dispensed, the Petal Skin feels more gel-like – it doesn’t really move around when pumped onto the back of my hand.
But when I pick some up with a brush and apply it onto my face, each stroke leaves behind a streak that blends magically into my skin. By magically, I mean that one stroke is all it takes: no patchiness, no streakiness, just skin that looks natural yet with all my imperfections magically made invisible.
 
IT GIVES ENOUGH COVERAGE.
My skin really isn’t great – dark circles are a mainstay, and recently I’ve been prone to an invasion of pimples on my forehead, cheeks and chin. Then there are the enlarged pores that are a permanent problem, something I’ve chalked up to genetics (unfortunately).
But one layer of the Petal Skin, and I don’t even have to add concealer. That is seriously impressive. For the past few months I’ve been nursing a stubborn scar on one cheek courtesy of an especially nasty zit, that has defied even many of my reliable concealers. The Petal Skin by itself has been able to cover it up.
 

IT LASTS.
Foundation check at 5pm (I applied it close to 9am), and the coverage is still holding up decently. I’m not saying that this doesn’t require touch ups at all, as my T-zone, prone to shininess, still requires me to break out the cushion compact I carry around in my bag if I’m heading out after work. But everywhere else on my face can remain touchup-free.
 

Shu Uemura launched this together with the Petal 55 Foundation Brush, a small, densely-bristled brush that comes in the shape of a petal that they recommend applying this foundation with. The thing is, it’s $80, and I really think any brush, even one 10% of that price, will work just fine. It’s cute though, if you’re a diehard shu uemura collector.
I’m really glad to have discovered the Petal Skin Foundation at this time, as I just ran out of my Shiseido Synchro Skin Liquid Foundation, my holy grail of the past year. Trust me: in this industry, when you actually use a product down to its last drop, it’s a big deal – that’s how heavily I relied on the Synchro Skin. I wasn’t expecting to find a worthy replacement so soon, but then sometimes life gives you nice surprises like that.
 
shu uemura Petal Skin Fluid Foundation, $68. Available in 11 shades: No.s 364, 375, 554, 564, 574, 584, 744, 754, 764, 774, and 784. Available at shu uemura stores and counters. shuuemura.com.sg