Anyway, a few days ago, I was browsing my local boots store when the Bourjois stand caught my eye. It's not a brand I usually go for, but I remembered hearing great things about Healthy Mix Serum Foundation and that's it's comparable to Mac Studio Sculpt. I had enough Boots points to have it for free, and the offer of the corresponding concealer proved too tempting.
The foundation supposedly contains all sorts of magic miracle ingredients, but it seems likely that these exist in such tiny quantities that they'd make little difference to the health of your skin. I have my doubts about the "vitamin-rich fruit therapy" containing lychee, goji berries and pomegranate acting like some kind of wonder drug, but my god- it smells amazing. It's a fresh, fruity smell, without being artificial or overly sweet. All I'm saying is, if Bourjois came out with this fragrance in perfume form; I'd probably bath in it.
So, according to the bottle, Healthy Mix is a gel-based foundation providing 16-hour wear whilst being hypo-allergenic. For the RRP of £10.99 you get 30ml- not bad for something that won "product of the year 2011".
I'm a big fan of gel based foundations as the need for a primer is reduced (although in the pictures below I have a little tough of Bare Escentuals Prime Time) and they seem to last the longest. It also makes them somewhat water resistant. That's the first similarity to the Mac product.
The other similarity comes in the form of the coverage and the finish. It's a medium coverage product with a semi-satin finish. In that respect, I find Healthy Mix to be identical to Studio Sculpt for less that half the price. If anything, I even prefer the finish of the cheaper product, as I find it requires less setting, and dries somewhat smoother. It's also a little less streaky to apply, and I do so with the Elf powder brush. It dries fairly fast, but doesn't cling to dryness and lets you blend it to your heart's content. In all honesty, I think this product really does last. I haven't tested it for the full 16 hours, but it was still going strong after 12, so it beats Mac in that respect.
For me, the only negative aspect of this foundation is the shade range. I'm an NW15, so I went for the lightest shade in Healthy Mix- 51. It works fine, but in an ideal world it would be a little less yellow. Admittedly, my local Boots store is small, but there were only 4 shades of this foundation on display, and there are only 5 available in the website! Certainly, none of this would be suitable for anyone much darker than NW30. Shocking!
So yes, I think that if you match the colour range and you like a medium satin finish foundation, this is the best example out there. It doesn't feel heavy or greasy but makes my skin feel all moisturised and lovely- even if the hype about magical super fruit seems a little too good to be true.
I have the concealer too, which is just as good as the foundation. Just watch out for the slight variance in the shade range. A 51 (vanille clair) in the foundation is not the same as a 51 in the concealer. Oh, and this product is apparently contains apricot and raspberry. Whether that's true or not, it smells yummy. In the picture, the concealer is the top swatch, and the foundation is below.
In the pictures I haven't set the foundation with powder so you can see the true finish. I couldn't resist a little bit of Nars blush in "Sin" though, and I have Mac Cremesheen Glass in "Just Superb" on my lips.
That's all for now!
Rach
xx
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