PRODUCT REVIEW: Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation and Crema Nero Eye Cream.

Photo: ArmaniBeauty.com

Most of my in-real-life friends and acquaintances know that I am very pasty white. And by very pasty white I mean that ream of paper you just bought that said Ultimate White 100% brightness. But I am not your typical pasty white. I am some gross mix of white, olive green and yellow. Like jaundice or ...sick looking. And that's just my everyday look. 

So when I am looking for a foundation, it's a battle. Not many brands cater to my skintone, and tend to stay pretty neutral, or in my language "PINK". The closest matches I have ever found are Laura Mercier Oil Free in Porcelain Ivory (actually this is dead on, if only it would just stay on my face for more than an hour), Shu Uemura Face Architect in 964 and 974 mixed, and apparently now I am pretty close in the Giorgio Armani line, with I think #2...though it is still a little pink for me.


While in NYC in February, right before a pretty nasty snowstorm hammered the east coast just south of there, and then a few days later got even for missing it the first time, I FINALLY got the opportunity to see this line in person. Well actually I had encountered it briefly in Vegas but the whole supply was completely ravaged at the shop I saw it in, and the shopgirls weren't too interested in showing me anything they had left. A very swell guy named Matthew at Bloomingdales 59th St. spent some time with me. I really just had wandered in that general vicinity in what appeared to be Makeup Heaven plopped right inside a Bloomingdales. That area was beautiful. Counters of all sorts all over. It was the biggest makeup dept in a department store I'd ever seen. (Can you tell I am from "the middle?")  As I wandered, he accosted me to ask me what brow pencil I used because it was perfect with my hair. He couldn't believe it when I told him "those cheap two packs by Maybelline" and "I think it's Auburn." Another guy wandered over from I think Cle de Peau, they gushed. It was lovely. BS I am sure, but lovely. He then called like 4 other people over. The females were less enthused by my brows and proclaimed I needed something darker, but he and the other makeup artist were totally enamored. It was like they were fighting over who could butter me up the best. I loved their probable fakery. When we finally got beyond all the fawning over my hair and brows (which to be fair, are both pretty damn amazing) I could tell him what I wanted to check out. And he "whisked me away" (that is how a beauty editor might say it but I am not one, so it's a baldfaced lie!) to the wall of Armani.

He asked me some basic questions about what I used already, and how my skin usually was, and then slathered on some cream. It felt lovely going on, but in the end it was too much for me. Or maybe not. The foundation made that hard to tell. He then started playing with foundations and explaining all their different foundation like products. Since I wanted to try THIS particular item, the Luminous Silk, he went with that. He very quickly and very deftly brushed it on my face. I could barely feel him doing so, and it lulled me into a stupor for a moment. Til he whipped out the mirror. I was pretty impressed with the coverage for starters. He then dusted some powder on top. I hoped that would all dry down, but it never did. But the look at that moment was amazing. I ended up buying this foundation after seeing how nice it made me look. Coverage was amazing, color was pretty nice, and I liked the "glowy" finish. Though for $60 (I think it's actually $58) it should be like that! It just never "dried down" and ultimately I think it was too rich for my face. At first I thought it was just that he put a moisturizer on that was way too rich and it just never soaked it, but it was just wet all day. I ended up wiping most of it off. I tried again on my own a few times, and it just was the product. I ended up calling up to the store a week later and returning it. Hopefully by now the other one (Lasting Silk) might be back in stock.

Photo: ArmaniBeauty.com

The other product I bought was the Crema Nera eye cream. This was lovely at first also, but after a couple days I found myself using way too much and having it still be too dry.  This one was where it wasn't rich enough. Which was disappointing because what little time I used it I felt like I could see a bit of a difference in at least those shiners. Probably the optical brighteners. But alas, for the long term, I could not stomach a $150 eye cream that wasn't perfect. Yes, that is 1-5-0. Yikes.

Of the items I did by that day, I kept the Foundation Brush. It felt good, though I admit I don't use it much in favor of the Beauty Blender sponge. Maybe when I replace the foundation.

Anyway...the line was amazing, the shadows looked beautiful though I admit I don't wear it often besides shimmery ivory. And the lipsticks looked beautiful, all lined up. I just wish I could wear lip products.