Chantecaille Future Skin: Wear Test & Review

 It appears you can’t JUST be a beauty brand anymore, and I am not mad at it. The more companies that support the environment & use products that work with your skin instead of harming it (& the environment) the better. 

Enter Chantecaille Future Skin (Retails for $82 USD, $75 GBP, $118 AUD), an innovative oil-free gel foundation with a refreshing, lightweight texture and a unique formula made up of 60% water. The brand's aim is to transfer moisture into the skin without the use of oil as an emulsifier. Made with reflective circular pigments that provide adjustable coverage (Chantecaille suggests this is a medium-full coverage foundation) to ease the appearance of flaws. 

Let’s break it down and see if the brand’s intentions line up with the product. 

Chantecaille Future Skin: The Facts

The foundation comes in a vibrant purple box, which makes it stand out from the stock standard muted tones of other luxurious foundation brands packaging. It’s a unique choice, but I like the way that it sets it apart from the crowd. 

Packaging is chic and would be easy to travel with due to its size. My only gripe is that it’s in a pot. I do wish this was in a tube or a bottle with a pump, I dislike that I have to use a tool to scoop out the product or use my fingers to dip in. It increases the chances of bacteria transferring across and is why I usually steer clear of pot foundations. 

A really interesting point for this foundation is its ingredients list. It’s made up of 60% water, (which isn’t standard) packing this gel foundation full of moisture and helping it live up to its story of being incredibly hydrating. It’s also loaded with a number of natural botanicals including aloe, chamomile and arnica which just makes me feel cool, calm and collected just thinking about it. 

There is absolutely no smell to this foundation, which, when looking at the botanical heavy ingredients list is a surprise to me. 

There isn’t the biggest shade range (15 in total), with only a small selection of deep/dark shades to choose from - in an incredibly competitive foundation market this needs improvement ASAP.  For those in the light or medium shade range, there still isn’t a very diverse range but we did a quick office walk round and most people said that they looked at their shade, as it looks darker in the pot, and thought it wasn’t going to match but upon application and blending it out it ended up being a good match. There is a good range of warm and cool undertones, but there could be more neutral undertones. 

This foundation is suitable for any skin type, however, you’ll need to ensure you prepare accordingly. Those with dry skin should moisturise well & oily skin should prime and set with a powder. This would be a great option for dehydrated or mature skin, due to the moisturising elements and also a wonderful option for sensitive skin types due to the calming ingredients. 

It is a lightweight gel foundation and the texture feels like a hydrating serum on the skin. The coverage is light to medium, which is in contrast to Chantecaille’s opinion that it is medium to full. You can definitely build with this foundation, but the finish with one coat is stunning and I don’t think this is the best foundation to build with. 

I would apply this with a brush, sponge or hands. I love to blend it into my skin with my hands, but as it is a pot, I would steer away from sticking your fingers directly in and instead use a tool to transfer it onto your fingers if this is your preferred method for application.

The finish is a natural satin/skin-like finish and is popular with brides for the soft airbrushed look it delivers. With one application, pores and fine lines have been smoothed out and I put this down to the hydrating nature of this foundation.

While Future Skin is chock-a-block full of gentle skin loving ingredients, it does come with a fairly hefty price tag. For a similar appearance, you could try the Pixi H20 Skin Tint (US) (UK), which is more lightweight and definitely sheer but it lasts well. Another option would be the Beauty Pie Sheer Tint Oil Free SPF 20 (UK), although I don’t feel this lasts as long on the skin as Chantecaille Future Skin. 

12 Hour Chantecaille Future Skin Wear Test 

Mel, our junior Lab Technician, volunteered to take Chantecaille Future Skin for a test drive and she had some thoughts;

9:00am Application: I started my day a little slower than usual and took my time getting ready as I wasn’t in a rush to start studying for Uni. As a good MMM employee, I did my skincare routine to prep my skin before I applied Chantecaille Future Skin. I used a foundation brush to apply Chantecaille and then went over my face lightly with a beauty blender. When I first put it on I thought the shade wouldn’t match me, but after blending, it was a good match. My skin is thirsty, so it drank up all of the moisture from the product because I have super dry skin. Initial reaction was that my skin looked flawless and it just looked like my skin - but better! I would have just stopped there, with a bit of Mascara, but as it’s a wear test I wanted to see how it would work with my other products. I finished my face off with YSL Touche Eclat Concealer (US) (UK), Benefit Hoola Bronzer (US) (UK), The Balm Hot Mama Blush (US) (UK) and Becca Highlighter (US) (UK). My other products worked so well and blended in like a dream. It is a light-medium coverage and my freckles were still showing through the foundation. It provided a semi-matte finish and I chose not to set my whole face just to see how it would hold up on its own throughout the day. But I did set under my eyes and my blemishes with the Australia Fresh and Flawless Foundation Powder (AUD). 

12pm Check-In: 3 hours since application. After studying for a few hours, I decided to go and meet a friend for a walk by the beach & to see how it holds up after a walk. The product hasn’t really moved much on my face. Although, I haven’t really done anything strenuous for the product to move and there is no patchiness anywhere, with the coverage and finish seemingly the same since initial application. 

5pm Check-In: 8 hours since application. After a walk and a burger with a friend, I’ve noticed that the product has gone oily around my nose, chin and cheeks. But the product hasn’t moved, it’s just become more luminous - in other words, more oily - which I don’t really mind. Product has moved around my mouth, due to eating, but the coverage still looks the same. 

9pm Check-In: 12hrs since application. The product has held up well throughout the day. The staying power is great as it hasn’t moved or come off at all, well except for when I ate my burger, but I'm willing to have made that sacrifice for a burger from Paul’s Famous Hamburgers. This usually happens to me when I eat, so I can’t fault the foundation for this. 

Mel’s Final thoughts: I loved how my skin looked all day, I felt airbrushed and loved how all my products just blended seamlessly. The brand claims it provides moisture, which I definitely agree with. I have dry skin, especially in winter, so I found this foundation applied really nicely on my skin and it didn’t cling to any dry patches. 

It looks like my skin but better and I like that freckles were still showing through. The brand states that it has medium/full coverage - but it fits more comfortably into the light/medium coverage category. 

I personally didn’t mind the product becoming more luminous/oily throughout the day, as I usually lean towards light to medium coverage products with a luminous finish. However,  I wouldn’t recommend this to someone who has oily skin, but If I did I would recommend carrying around a powder for on-the-go touch ups. 

Although there are a lot of positives for Future Skin, as a gal on a Uni Budget, it is quite expensive and even though my skin looked amazing I have created the same/similar effect with a range of other products. 

Mel’s Skincare Products (in order of application):

Paula's Choice Salicylic Acid (US) (UK)

Drunk Elephant Moisturiser (US) (UK)

Origins Eye Cream (US) (UK)

Mel’s Makeup Products (in order of application):

Future Skin - Shade “Cream” (US) (UK)

YSL Touche Eclat Concealer - Shade 3.5 (US) (UK)

Australis Fresh and Flawless Foundation Powder - Shade Deep Natural (AU)

Benefit Hoola Bronzer (US) (UK)

The Balm Hot Mama Blush (US) (UK)

Becca Highlighter - Shade Opal (US) (UK)

Zoeva Eyeshadow Palette (US) (UK)

Maybelline Lash Sensational (US) (UK)

Too Faced Better than Sex Mascara (US) (UK)

Mac Lip Liner - Shade Whirl (US) (UK)

Maybelline Lipstick - Shade Mauve for Mel (US) (UK)