Review | Bourjois City Radiance collection

It has been a while since my last review and I miss it. The new Bourjois collection 'City Radiance' launched several weeks ago and I was too intrigued by the City Radiance foundation and the Radiance Reveal concealer not to grab them as soon as I noticed they were available in Dubai. Bourjois is one of the beauty brands I used when I was young and eager to play with makeup. I didn’t know anything yet about makeup but Bourjois was affordable and attractive to me. Plus the buy-two-get-one-free promotion at Centre Point eventually pushed me into the cashier with these!

The City Radiance foundation comes in an easy-squeeze tube that makes it super convenient to carry when I travel. There are six shades, mainly fair with both yellow and pink undertones, which is a good thing for a drugstore brand. Usually they are focused on yellow undertones (which I'm not complaining about since it's my undertone). However, since the shade range is limited if you have an olive or black skin, unfortunately you are -again- put aside. I have the shade 03 Light Beige that I chose without being sure it would suit me because of the artificial light. I heard that at Sephora in the USA, people can return  foundations they purchased. It would be so convenient to have this in Europe and Middle East.

The foundation is SPF30 which is wonderful and has an anti-pollution formula that prevents the adherence of carbon partides hence lets the skin breathe. I can only trust Bourjois on this because I cannot see any difference on this point though indeed it is so light I don’t feel the layer of foundation on my face. 

The texture is creamy and liquid. It spreads super easily on the skin with my beauty blender but it is so convenient to apply you can use your fingertips. 

The coverage is medium yet buildable. My imperfections (mainly recent acne scars and redness around the nose and on the chin) are well covered though it tends to displace on my chin at the end of the day – nothing serious enough to bother me but I still have no idea why it happens. 

The long-lasting power is good despite of my complexion. And my very first impression was very positive: with the City Radiance foundation, my skin looks more even and less dull. The first time I tried it, I was exhausted after a hectic week at work and one could notice what I've been through in one look. The foundation literally enlightened my face, I looked so fresh, it was amazing. It was also super hot outside this day (27 degrees, "only". God, the summer is going to be tough) but everything stayed in place.

If you read my reviews, you know I have a combination skin (and I hate it) but the overall look turns out to be interesting with my NYX matifying primer applied. I happen to shine throughout the day, of course, but it’s not as horrible as I was expecting and as compared to the Makeup Forever Ultra HD foundation!

Overall, I think it’s a great drugstore foundation that I have been wearing very often ever since my purchase. However, due to the particularly high temperatures in Dubai during summer, I am not sure this foundation – none, in fact – will survive. We shall see!

Price: around 79 AED / 13€45

The Radiance Reveal concealer is another great surprise. The packaging is beautiful, very high-end brand. It has such a great coverage as well as it stays literally all day without moving whatsoever. Its texture is creamy/liquid and does apply easily even under a dry area. Now I apply the Radiance Reveal concealer first then I like to apply a bit of Nars Radiant Creamy concealer to enlighten my eyes.

Price: 65AED / 11€45

And here is the before / after look under natural light (I was really tired indeed...):