Chanel Vitalumiere Fluide Makeup

The good news is that two or three years of brightening creams, serums and religious use of sun blocks have most definitely worked. The bad news is that my beloved foundation no longer matches my skin, which is back to its original weird color.

Chanel Vitalumiere Fluide Makeup has been my Holy Grail foundation since 2002. I've always had a bottle in Beige (intensity 2.0), even when flirting and supplementing with other products. It was perfect for me, both in color and texture, gave me the light coverage I wanted and a natural lively finish- not matte but not shimmery or shiny. I think it's labeled as "dewy". Over the last few months I've found myself mixing and diluting my Vitalumiere to the point it was no longer effective. I had to face it: beige was way too dark for me.




An emergency trip to the Chanel counter at Bergdorf Goodman was in order. I was lucky to meet there with Jennifer, a regional Chanel rep, who was as knowledgeable as she was patient and passionate about the brand. She worked with me, tested, swatched, applied, wiped and reapplied until both of us were happy. I was quite shocked by the result- originally I thought I had to go down one shade and wear Shell. But that was still too dark and too yellow. The color that worked was Cameo (intensity 1.0). My skin hasn't been this color since the early 70s, and probably not even then, as it was before anyone even thought about SPF 45.

My new Chanel Vitalumiere foundation has the same texture and finish I've always loved, my skin looks significantly better and I'm sending a Thank You letter to the good people in Shiseido, Nars and Labortoire Remede, who are all responsible for restoring my face.

Chanel Vitalumiere Fluide Makeup ($54) is available at select department stores.

All photos are mine.