Your Future Skin (according to Chantecaille...)

There’s something about Chantecaille that is just divine. Of course the fact it’s clean and collections are often in aid of endangered species or similar is a lovely thing but it’s more than that. On a basic level you just want to use it because it’s beautiful but it delivers on the face too. The only thing I’ve felt let down by was the brow highlighting pencil, but we’re not talking about that here.

I want to talk about Future Skin. Chantecaille’s oil-free gel formula comes in a sleek plastic pot — to be honest, I’m not mad about the pot. Pots are largely less clean (dipping in introduces bacteria to the remaining formula), but they do allow you to get the most out of your foundation by scraping it clean.

I like to apply this with my fingers so it really does feel messy and the pot/lid end up with foundation fingerprints when I close it to prevent a spill before I’ve cleaned up my hands.

However, it’s a lovely foundation. It should be for the price (currently £70 and I swear it's gone up since I last bought it...). Unlike some oil-free foundations which are water based and run all over the place, it’s got a really nice gel consistency on the skin. You don’t really need a primer for it, I’ve found, and despite the oil-free nature it doesn’t take away glow. Though I am naturally relatively oily so, if you’re more on the dry side, I’d suggest perhaps prepping with a base of Embryolisse, and then this on top. Et voilà! You’ve got a bright and truly skin-like look. If you’ve got any really noticeable imperfections or stubborn red marks it’ll go a little way toward covering them but you’ll probably need a small lick of concealer on any imperfections that are more substantial than a faint red mark. For this, I recommend Hourglass’ airbrush concealer. It is a recent release from the cruelty-free and high end brand and is beautiful (smells a bit weird actually but I can deal because it makes me face look awesome. I’ll write about this separately...).

Chantecaille markets it as medium-full but I’d say it’s more light medium. It’s hard to know what to compare it to exactly because I don’t own a foundation that feels the same. I’m sure there are dupes, but this feels cooling and calming - it doesn’t feel like foundation. It sometimes is still a little greasy after I’ve oiled up naturally during the day but with some powder this sits pretty well and isn’t a problem.

In a way, it’s like a really REALLY nice BB cream but that would be doing it a disservice if left at that and I don’t believe it has any SPF so it’s definitely in the foundation bucket.

I used to use the Kiehl's BB cream until they discontinued it. Nothing they’ve released since has quite hit the spot. The old colour of “Fair” was the perfect one for me. I mourn it regularly.

Once I accepted the Kiehl's was dead and gone, I moved on to Guerlain’s baby skin foundation. The finish of the Guerlain is similar to this, but it feels totally different. The Chantecaille feels less like paint and more like skin care. I also prefer it to how the Kiehl's felt but, to be fair to Kiehl's, the BB cream I religiously used had 50+ SPF, which obviously adds a bit of clagginess and a feeling of wearing something on the skin but made me feel totally safe and it looked awesome.

The Kiehl's smelled of SPF, the Guerlain is perfumed and the Chantecaille smells of very little. This is no bad thing, particularly for those with more sensitive skin. but what smell is there I really like. It feels kind to skin, which it is supposed to be. Funnily enough I’d expect it to compare best to la Mer’s foundation but the smell of the La Mer puts me off so far. La Mer also doesn’t quite work on my skin tone last time I tried. I thought the same about Chantecaille and lamented that it wasn’t one I could try, due to the lack of fair pink undertone shades. And then? Then they brought out Aura in Q4 of 2019 and everything changed. Aura looks in the pot like it will have the same problem the others have but, actually, once on the skin it isn’t as pigmented as it appears in the pot.

On the skin, it smooths things out but I don’t feel painted or made up. I’d say it’s best for days when my skin is feeling great but it’s also more reliable than some on a less delightful day in the life of my face and I don't think it makes my skin feel worse. If anything, a couple of days of Future Skin improves my skin underneath it which is like music to my ears as someone whose skin refuses to behave consistently.

Future Skin kind of makes you feel like Rosie Huntington-Whiteley or a VS Angel, with your skin living its best life. This is particularly the case on a great skin day (the holy grail) when it really feels like it emphasises that you have been blessed with a wonderful complexion. If you’ve got a flawless complexion you may not wear foundation anyway, and if you do perhaps you’d need the assurance of SPF (though this has titanium oxide so that would suggest it might have some but isn’t marketed as such...). But if you have a good complexion that you just want to give an oomph for the day or an evening this will lift it, give it a little life while blurring pores and other bits and pieces and make you feel a little more confident. Is some of that psychological because it’s an exclusive-feeling product (given the price tag and the brand) but I think it’s because you’re putting something that feels light as air, is cooling (imagine the summer months), and doesn’t feel like it’s clogging you up. It won’t work miracles but if you’re not looking for a cakey or “full face of makeup” look, it’s a really good bet if it’s in your budget.

I put it on at 7:15 this morning and at 11pm when I got to wiping my face clean it still didn’t feel cakey and it hadn’t disappeared but it wasn’t quite flawless. Show me a non-mask foundation that looks airbrushed still 15 hours later without flaring up a pile of acne or making you feel like washing it off will take the rest of your lifetime and that you may as well have been in a west end musical for the amount of stuff on your face.

I’m sure I could make my skin look less imperfect, but most of the time I want to look like me. Is this what I’d use for a photoready finish? possibly not unless my skin is really in a good patch. But, if it is, having started my routine with a Tilbury goddess clay mask to make my face feel baby soft and as smooth as anything I’d definitely give this one a try on a low-profile event to start with until I’m sure.

Do you need it? No. Even splurging on it might be nonsense. And if you’re looking for something lightweight that doesn’t feel like makeup try The Ordinary’s serum foundation first. It’s beautiful on the skin and I wore it with flu and looked remarkably on point so it has a permanent place on my shelf (until they change the formula!). It also caters for a large range of skin tones and colours and fits my undertone perfectly so IMHO everyone should have one of these in their arsenal. It's a no-brainer.

What I will say, is that what Future Skin does that The Ordinary (and very few competitors) can't is feel truly clean on your skin. At first of course you know it's foundation but for some reason I don't really feel the same way about it as I would my Lancôme Teint Idole or YSL Touche Éclat Le Teint. It's thinner than the Lancôme and you can't really compare directly but my comparison to the Guerlain seems fair - they are both relatively light but this feels comforting and cooling. It just takes the damn prize for foundation you actively WANT to put on your face rather than begrudgingly feel you can't face the world without.

Is it partly psychological because of the clean ingredients and the concept that it's looking after your face more than the average foundation? Maybe. But I don't feel like I'm just applying a pigmented liquid, or paint. I feel like I'm applying something divine and so I'll keep it in my hall of fame and I only wish I could afford to have it on my face every day of the year!