Review: Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in 53 Light Beige

When you have combination skin like I do, you know how hard it is to find a good foundation. Either the dryness of your skin gets accentuated or the oily parts. I decided to try Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation, because I've read so many things about it. I wanted a light-medium coverage foundation and this seemed to do the job.

Have a look at my review!

Click on pictures to enlarge.

If you're just here to read the review quickly, there's a summary at the end.

A little background info: I have a combination skin. Some places are quite dry, while my forehead gets very greasy, especially when I use the wrong products. Foundation usually gives me a shiney face or a dry and cakey face (you know, where you look like a birthday cake with dry flaky spots too), because of my combination skin. I review this foundation from my point of view. What works for me, might not work for you. What doesn't work for me, might work for you :)

For a long time I've been looking for a good foundation. I don't want too much coverage, I want it to feel light and it should last a while. I've read many things about the Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation, so I decided to try it out myself in the colour light beige/beige clair N53. 

Packaging

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation comes in a light, plastic bottle, which makes it easy to take it with you. The packaging doesn't feel or look cheap at all. What I really like about the packaging is the pump. It's hygienic and easy to dose. You can do "half pumps" too. It's really easy to dose! The foundation contains 30 ml.

Formula

The Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation is a liquid foundation. The fluid is quite thin. That's a good thing, because you only need a little and spreading out the foundation goes easily! An important thing to say: this foundation smells DEVINE. It smells like apricot, but it's not too sweet or too dominating. It has a subtle scent, but it's delicious! Light beige N53 has a yellow undertone. I accidentally bought a colour that's a tad too dark for me, but for some reason it looks like the colour adjusts to the face. 

The foundation contains Apricot for radiance, Melon for hydration, Apple for anti-oxidant and Ginger for energy. This foundation does give a soft and nurtured feeling, to be honest. And it just does so many (good) things for the face! Just look at the picture above. You can't see the lines on my hand anymore, because of the foundation. Amazing. 

Lasting power

The foundation claims to stay up to 16 hours. Needless to say it didn't last me 16 hours. Without a primer and without powder the foundation gives a greasy forehead after 3-4 hours and the foundation lasted for about 6 hours. With a primer, without powder it lasted me about 8 hours. Without a primer and with powder (Rimmel - Stay Matte pressed powder) it lasted me around 8 hours as well. With primer and with powder it lasted me about 10-12 (!) hours. 

 

Ingredients and such

In the picture above you can see the ingredients if you're interested in them and some claims: "Perfect coverage. Semi-matte finish. Oil-free. Tolerace tested dermatologically. Maintains essential skin hydration."

Coverage

The foundation has light-medium coverage, which is perfect for me. I don't have many blemishes but I do have some redness in my face, some colour differences, and many freckles. I don't want to cover up all my freckles (just a few of them), and that's why I prefer a light-medium coverage foundation. What I love about this foundation is that it's buildable, without looking unnatural! The foundation overall has a very natural finish and coverage. 

Finish 

The foundation has a semi-matte finish, just like Bourjois claims. I love how it gives a healthy glow on the right places. It's a very natural finish, like I mentioned before. Also, when you built the coverage up, the finish is still very natural. If you use a powder, you get rid of the healthy glow the foundation gives, but it will still look natural (some foundations look very unnatural with powder).

How does it look on the face?

Like I said, I accidentally bought a colour that's slightly too dark for me, so try to look past that. I have some before and after photos for you! Oh, and still growing out the eyebrows :) 

Without foundation

Without any make-up

A close up - without any make-up. You can really see my freckles here.

With foundation

With the foundation

With the foundation

   

Here you can see the healthy glow I was talking about! No highlighter or any other make-up (besides the Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation) is used here!

Here I'm wearing the Healthy Mix foundation and a powder (Rimmel Stay Matte pressed powder)

Let's put 2 photos next to each other to compare

 

Left: without makeup - Right: with Healthy Mix foundation

What I think

As you can see, the foundation gives the right amount of coverage for my face. My redness and uneven colour are gone, but you can still see my freckles (I don't want to cover them up entirely, or I'll look like a porcelain doll). Just the way I like it: very natural! And if I want more coverage, I just add another layer. I still need to use concealer after this, but that's normal. My dark circles are hardcore, unfortunately. However, it's funny Bourjois claims the formula is oil-free, because the foundation gets me shiney after a few hours, if I don't use any powder. What a shame.

Retail

I bought Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation for €14,99 at Etos (a drugstore in the Netherlands). The bottle contains 30 ml/1 fl.oz.

A little summary
The pros

• Very natural
• Glowy finish
• Long lasting (with primer & powder up to 12 hours)
• Medium coverage - covers redness and evens out skin tone
• Buildable coverage
• Easy to blend
• Little goes a long way
• Smells devine
• Packaging has a pump
• Not expensive
• Gives a healthy and energetic finish

The cons

• Doesn't last 16 hours, like Bourjois claims 
• To make it really last, need to use powder and/or primer
• Gives greasy T-zone without powder (depends on skin type, though)
• No SPF

Would I repurchase this foundation? Yes! I would! But this time I'd buy the right colour. The foundation gives such an amazing glow and a healthy, natural finish. It's exactly how I want a foundation to be. I love how it doesn't accentuate the dryness on my face. Unfortunately it does get my T zone a bit oily after a few hours, but that's easily solved with some powder. Besides, I haven't found a foundation that doesn't get my T zone oily AND doesn't get me dry, flaky skin. And since I have to pick, I'd rather pick the oily T zone that I can easily give a little powder. Re-buy? Definitely. It's the perfect foundation for every day.

What is your favourite every day foundation?