Lancome Nude Miracle Foundation; Review & Swatches of Shades

Lancome Nude Miracle Foundation (aka Lancome Air de Teint)
New for Fall 2014 (in the United States)
Price: $42 per ounce
Available only at Sephora

Lancome has decided to enter the world of Liquid-Powder foundation formulas with their newest creation- Nude Miracle. Promising a weightless Liquid-Powder so light you'll forget you're wearing it- complete with a "bare matte" finish, this description is starting to seem mighty familiar....

In the past couple months, I've reviewed Maybelline Dream Wonder Fluid Touch Foundation AND YSL Fusion Ink Foundation, so its only natural that I would follow the progression of L'Oreal Company liquid-powder foundation entries and review Lancome Nude Miracle as well.

Initially, I didn't put two and two together. I went and tried Lancome Nude Miracle before reading the ingredients (or more likely, I zoned out as I was reading them), and although the formula seemed to be giving me a de ja vu as I swatched the shades, I didn't figure out why until I got home and realized that Lancome Nude Miracle was just another repackaged version of Armani Maestro, L'Oreal Magic Nude, Maybelline Dream Wonder Fluid Touch and (the recently added) YSL Fusion Ink- all of which are owned by L'Oreal (because they're worth it?) We shall see...

I included Lancome Miracle Air de Teint in this post because although Lancome Nude Miracle DOES vary slightly from the above listed Liquid-Powder Formulas, it does not vary from its European counter part which has been out for some time- Lancome Miracle Air de Teint. The formulas and packaging are identical and while I can't say for sure if the shades are the same, I suspect they are. My best guess would be that Lancome launched Miracle Air de Teint to the European market and decided that they should change the name for release in the United States because a "brand new release" sounds more exciting than "here is Europe's hand-me-down formula," (plus Sephora probably wanted an exclusive on a product that at least sounded unique.)

Now, as for the formula of both Nude Miracle and Air de Teint Foundations, Lancome changed up the batting order a little and instead of using Dimethicone as the first ingredient, they chose Cyclohexisiloxane. Both are silicones and basic ingredients in most foundation recipes but they do have some principal differences, Dimethicone is semi-water soluble and does not dry when exposed to air. Cyclopentasiloxane (which is essentially what Cyclohexisiloxane is) DOES dry when exposed to air and will set. It's a more commonly used base ingredient in waterproof, transfer-resistant formulas which suggests that Lancome's Nude Miracle Liquid-Powder Foundation should last a tad longer than the other L'Oreal liquid-powder formulas and have at least a little more tenacity against rubbing and wearing and everything else we do to makeup.

There is a very small amount of Limonene present in both Nude Miracle and Air de Teint, but its present in such trivial amounts it shouldn't be an issue, although they do both have a moderate amount of fragrance. Lancome also did include a few beneficial skincare ingredients in both the Nude Miracle and Air de Teint Foundation formulas, but, unfortunately, they also fell in to the all-to-common trap of using alcohol as a slip assistant. Like YSL Fusion Ink, Maybelline Dream Wonder Fluid Touch and the others that came before them, Lancome included a very large amount of alcohol in the formula to aid in creating the illusion of the foundation "melding with your skin", and while it does succeed, it does so at a cost and the inclusion of alcohol will likely negate any of the benefits you may have otherwise experienced from the good ingredients.

The good news is, that even if a formula is 85% alcohol, you can easily remove it from the formula be exposing it to air BEFORE YOU PUT IT ON YOUR SKIN. You can do this by leaving the bottle open but it will take forever, or you can simply use a small 3-5 ml jar and dry out small batches at a time. This may seem somewhat insane and time consuming but its worth it, especially if you already have a high-alcohol-content foundation that you're stuck with and can't return. The downside to that is three-fold:

•  A) it ONLY works on alcohol or fragrances that evaporate, not on other air-stable potentially irritating ingredients, 
• B) if you paid $50 for a foundation that's 50% alcohol you're left with $25 worth of foundation when you're done, and 
• C) because the alcohol does aid in the foundations slip factor, the formula will likely thicken somewhat so you will have to adapt.

I don't personally recommend going out and spending an arm and a leg on a formula that you know you will have to partially evaporate, but it may be something to consider for one of the cheaper alternatives like L'Oreal Magic Nude or Maybelline Dream Wonder Fluid-Touch. (L'Oreal has better shades, but they're the same formula.)

Lancome Nude Miracle Foundations is available in about 15 shades and will provide medium coverage at best, but layering isn't really ideal because some of the shades have very unnatural pink, beige or pink undertones, but they should be semi-manageable for those with light-medium/deep skintones if you really feel compelled to try it.

If you haven't figured it out by now, I would highly suggest skipping this one. I think that the whole liquid-powder foundation phenomena is spectacular, but I think that its too easy for cosmetic companies to skimp out when creating formulas. The safest options for your skin I can think of would be Hourglass Immaculate Liquid-Powder Foundation or Becca Ever-Matte, Shine Proof Foundation. Both options are Cruelty Free as well as irritant, fragrance, and alcohol free making them absolutely shine as Liquid-Powder Superstars!