Dior Airflash Foundation

When it comes to foundations, I am quite particular, as I'm sure most of you are. I know what I want out of a foundation, and I am always on the hunt for that "Holy Grail" perfect foundation. No matter how much I fall in love with one, I can't help thinking that there might be something slightly better out there, and this keeps pushing me to always try different products.

This was the latest in my long line of Holy Grail candidates - the Dior Airflash Spray Foundation (this is in the shade 202 Cameo, available from Boots priced at £33)

So if we were talking in an ideal world, my perfect foundation has to be:

• Light. I HATE being able to feel foundation on my face, so I prefer foundations that have a light texture, and which you don't need a lot of to get good coverage.
• Natural in finish. I also hate being able to see foundation on my face. I want my skin to look perfected, yes, but I still want it to look like skin! This means no cakiness, and not entirely matte - some natural luminosity should still be seen through the foundation.
• Long wearing. I work from 8:30 - 4:30 and expect my foundation to do the same, ideally without touching it up. I have oily skin, so I need something which won't allow the oil to break through, and which won't fade away by lunchtime.

With this foundation, I was intrigued as I had heard and seen widely differing opinions on it, some raving about it and some not so keen. So I wanted to give it a go for myself. My friend had this laying around as it wasn't the right colour for her, so she very generously gave it to me! 

Application: Obviously this is unlike most foundations out there in that it comes in an aerosol can, and is supposed to be sprayed directly onto the face. I had heard that spraying this foundation on the face, although the intended method of application, was perhaps not the best, and after seeing Wayne Goss and Kandee Johnson use a brush to apply, I thought that this probably looked like the right method for me. I don't have the lightest hand, and whenever I tried to spray this on, I always felt like I was applying too much, and also wasting a lot. However, I have seen it applied beautifully straight from the can, so if you have a light enough hand, definitely give this a go. For me, with spraying this directly onto the brush, I knew how much product was going where on my face, and I just felt more comfortable with that. As it is in an aerosol can, it comes out really nice and cool, and is lovely to apply - it blends really well (although dries fast, so you will have to blend it out fairly quickly), and feels like nothing on the skin, you really can't tell you're wearing anything. So this definitely ticks the "light" box!

Finish: the finish of this foundation is probably the best thing about it - it is mostly matte but still allows a natural skin-like finish, with a hint of sheen that stops your face from looking dull or lifeless. It's a gorgeous finish, one of my favourites out of all the foundations I have tried. It just gives an airbrushed looking finish, but without a cakey or heavy look - as you can see, I really think it makes my skin look perfected, and love the effect it gives. I would say that the coverage is medium to full - in these photos above I have applied a very small amount, as it was for a daytime look, and you can still see a couple of freckles and my dark circles are peeking through. However, it covered my blemish marks very well, and was definitely buildable. This foundation has no SPF in it, so whilst this makes it perfect for a night out, or somewhere where you will be having lots of photos taken, during the day you will need to wear a separate sunscreen.

Wear time: I wore this for an entire day, about 10 hours and it was still looking really good when I came to take it off. I found that I had almost no shine breaking through, and I didn't need to touch up during the day. I think this may suit normal to oilier skins better than dry, but it didn't cling to any drier patches of my face, and I think that if you apply a good moisturiser beforehand, you should be good to go.

So, a thumbs up from me! I really like this foundation. The shade range (in Boots at least, in Debenhams there are only 5 shades) looks as though it ranges from pretty pale to medium/dark, but there doesn't look to be a particularly dark shade. I haven't tried any of the other shades, but if you can find a match I would definitely recommend giving this a try. As for the price, although the £33 price tag may seem a little steep, bear in mind that you actually get 70ml of foundation, which is more than double the standard 30ml you get from most other foundations.

What do you think, have you tried this foundation? And how did you apply it? If you have any tips I'd love to hear them!