Gucci Fluide De Beaute Fini Naturel: Wear Test & Review

Author: Rebecca Neall

13 Sep 2022

Product Review

The Gucci name is synonymous with high fashion. So it only made sense for the brand to branch out into cosmetics in 2014 so that Gucci customers could not only dress their bodies but also their faces. Starting with a 200 strong product line under the watchful eye of Procter & Gamble’s prestige sector, the brand’s cosmetic line was then taken over by Coty in 2016, who stayed relatively quiet before doubling down and relaunching in 2019, coincidentally coinciding with the public’s renewed interest in luxury beauty.

Gucci Fluide De Beaute Fini Naturel (GBP 46, US 68, AUD 102) is the luxury label's answer to premium foundation. Designed with innovation in mind, it claims to be a lightweight and completely buildable foundation, with the beautifying formula providing a barely-there finish for a subtle full coverage look.

Let’s break it down and see if the luxurious brand delivers!

Gucci Fluide De Beaute Fini Naturel: The Facts

Housed in a frosted glass bottle, with a millennial pink pump & lid, the product starts off on a great foot with the packaging feeling premium & lux. However, glass isn’t the most practical packaging as it can cause issues when transiting due to being more fragile and the potential for it to break. The packaging is so pretty though, with its Gucci gold font, that I wouldn’t mind just leaving this on display in my bathroom and decanting when I need to travel.

The range has 40 shades, with an emphasis on undertone. I am thrilled to see another big brand recognising olive! Personal experience with high end luxury brands shows the ranges tend to be 40 shades of beige, but Team Gucci put their backs into this one and succeeded coming up with a beautiful selection, from super light to super deep and a healthy mix in between. The cool shades do tend to be a little warm, so they could stand to introduce some cool shades that are a little pinker.

Gucci Fluide De Beaute Arm Swatches

They use a lot of whizz bang technology in this product. From soft focus powder technology - that transforms texture for effortless and precise application - to polymer technology - non-greasy blurring effect - to natural origin emulsifiers and glycerine, which are intended to help deliver comfortable hydration. There’s a lot in the mix, maybe all these high level technical ingredients are odorous, hence the 5 fragrance ingredients.

Which leads us into scent. If your signature scent is grandma’s florals mixed with baby powder, you’ll be in heaven. In my humble opinion, you’re a niche market, because this scent just ain’t it. It is very strong initially, but it does fade. It’s a shame to be let down by the smell when they’ve done so well with the formula, performance and packaging.

It was developed to work amazingly well for normal, combination and oily skin types - but we have some tips on how to make it work best for each;

Dry skin: Word on the dry streets is that this can cling, even paired with the world’s top hydrating primers, so advance at your own risk. Perhaps a good summer option for Team Dry if you get a sheen in the hotel months, but you should retire this product for winter.
Normal/Combination Skin: This foundation will be your bread and butter. Apply with your favourite applicator after priming or even just moisturising. Then either set or leave it as is! You lucky bees.
Oily Skin: Start with your mattifying primer before applying. Set with a matte finishing powder and travel with a powder in case of oily outbreaks. If this sounds like too much work for you, then maybe this isn’t the foundation for you. Gucci claims it will work for you - but all consumer evidence points to the contrary.

It is lightweight, smooth and blendable with a thin consistency that spreads well over the face. You can easily achieve a full face coverage with 1-2 pumps. It’s worth noting that the consistency of this foundation will actually change over time! A brand new bottle has a very fluidy milk-like runny consistency. Our oldest bottles have been in storage for 16 months and have thickened up considerably!

It is a medium coverage foundation, you can build to full or easily sheer out. Gucci recommends applying using your fingertips to achieve a light coverage with a subtly-blurred and silky-smooth finish. I like to use a brush if possible and as the world is my oyster, this is my application preference and it buffed on beautifully with my foundation brush. Continue to build for full, perfectly blended coverage and a natural, radiant finish. I get a cooling effect upon application which is not advertised, but not unpleasant (let me know if you’ve experienced this or if I should go and see my GP).

A dupe for this luxury brand would be the L’Oreal Paris Skin Paradise Face Tint. It’s the same fluid-like texture on the skin, but it is even more hydrating than Gucci and you can feel the hyaluronic acid blend in and then evaporate off the surface of your skin to leave behind a natural sheen. The coverage and dry down is almost like for like and we couldn’t pick them apart after application. Bonus points to L’Oreal for having a less offensive fragrance (and price point!)

Gucci Fluide De Beaute Fini Naturel: Wear Test

What they say: Gucci Fluide De Beaute Fini Naturel

Developed to be comfortable, lightweight and completely buildable, the beautifying formula can be adorned as a barely-there finish or for a subtle full coverage look. Prime with Sérum de Beauté Fluide Soyeux for an enhanced glow effect.

Rachel, forever honest & direct, volunteered to take Gucci Fluide de Beaute for a Wear Test. I’m not sure if it was the allure of a luxury brand on her face or the fact that it was just her turn in the office, but she took it through its paces with gusto and delivered her findings!

So, how did Rachel feel wearing Gucci for the day?

6:30am - Application: First impression, I love the packaging. It’s a beautiful sturdy frosted glass bottle with a pump, which is a feature I now gravitate towards in foundation packaging. While the glass is beautiful, it does make it less user friendly as it could potentially break during transit - so it would just be a stay at home foundation for me (out of the way of toddler hands!) so that’s not the biggest issue, just something to note.

Straight off the bat, it’s got quite a strong scent. The texture is too fluid for my liking, it’s almost like milk. I prefer something with a little more stability so that it holds onto my skin, rather than being dented and shying away from my skin with every brush stroke or dab. Maybe it’s just my skin, but I wouldn’t be able to use a brush to apply this, it would take too much work. Its fragile nature definitely warrants a sponge.

They say it’s “comfortable and lightweight” which I agree with, but I disagree with them saying it’s “completely buildable” for a “subtle full coverage look”. I’d say this delivers medium coverage at best, unless you are happy to wear a really thick layer which just doesn’t feel comfortable or practical to me.

I finished off my makeup and out the door I went! (Editor’s Note: Rachel actually dealt with 100 tantrums, made lunches and breakfasts, fed the cat, handled a 100 more tantrums and then was out the door - Mum’s are superheroes!

1:30pm - 7 hours since application: Thankfully by the time I left the house, the scent had died down. Now at 1:30pm, it looks like my skin but better. A little shine is coming through which is fine, and it’s holding up well, which sadly, I can’t say for the Fenty lip stain but then again, I eat constantly so it really didn’t stand a chance on these lips.

4:30pm - 10 hours since application: You can still see the foundation on my skin, but it has definitely died down. I’d say I put it on as a light to medium coverage this morning and it’s looking more light coverage now.

Rachel’s Final thoughts:

11:30pm - 17 hours since application: Eek - that was a long day! There’s not much left on my skin at all, it’s not worn off obviously, but sort of sunk into my skin. It wore as I expected it too but was more hydrating than I anticipated. I won’t be rushing out to purchase this, because it’s on the high end of my price point scale but I didn’t not like it.

Positives for me were the easy to use packaging, it felt comfortable on my skin and the shade was spot on for my skin tone (FYI: I really really liked the powder!).

Negatives were its texture, because it wasn’t blendable, and the price.

Rachels Selfie