Bourjois Air Mat Foundation: Review, Comparison, Test

Bourjois, the drugstore base of all foundations, has topped itself over and over again with new products. Always in movement with the trends, Bourjois knows how to treat their audience's needs. Air Mat Foundation is still quite freshly squeezed out of Bourjois machinery and it serves up fully matte looking skin. It's a love-hate relationship to say the least but I've managed to turn this stubborn matte foundation serving me right on a daily basis. How and why? Well, it's a long story...

SLO

Bourjois, drogerijska baza vseh tekočih pudrov, znova in znova presega samo sebe. Vedno v teku s trendi, Bourjois vedno preseneti svojo publiko in zadovolji vsakršno zahtevo. Tekoči puder Air Mat je še dokaj sveže iztisnjena novost iz njihovih laboratorijev, ki poskrbi za dolgoročni ''mat učinek'' na vaši koži. Zame je Air Mat v nekakšnem ljubezensko-sovražnem odnosu, saj sva porabila kar nekaj časa preden sva se ustalila na pravem mestu. O čem govorim? No, o moji skokoviti izkušnji s tem trmastim tekočim pudrom...

TEXTURE, FINISH & LONGEVITY

Lightweight texture seems to be pretty dreamy at first, but all-around matte effect battles with my dry, winter skin. Especially, if you're skin is naturally dry or normal, Air Mat might not be the best bet. It's true, matte and lightweight at the same time, but can accentuate small lines and dry patches (especially around the nose area). My problem areas with this Bourjois Air Mat foundation are nose, chin and dry under eye area, which you can inspect more clearly with enlarging the lower face picture (keep in mind I had to lightened it with Stargazer White Foundation). Foundation tends to cling around my nose, dry patches and textured areas. Other than that, foundation leaves my skin feeling matte but still soft on the touch. Glow on my face can be fully attributed to a powder highlighter. Which also brings me to the next point. Air Mat could be actually a perfect fit for combination and oily skintypes. It balances excessive oils, leaves skin feeling fresh and matte and prolongs the wear in humid weather. Another point is also, that this foundation might collect better reviews if it was released back in the summer time. It's fully reliable when it comes to sweating and the longevity is pretty impressive too. It stays on your face for the entire work day without any major budging or transfer and that's why it started to slowly grow on me. Although the matte finish is not perfect for my dry skin, Air Mat prolongs and extends the wear of my regular moisturizing foundations. I add a small squeeze to my usual foundation and I'm settled for the day. Coverage is medium as it covers pretty well but once it settles, it gets a bit more translucent and natural than full coverage bases.

TEKSTURA, PREKRIVNOST & OBSTOJNOST

Čeprav se na prvi vtis zdi lahkoten a prekriven tekoči puder Air Mat kot sanjski izdelek, se dokaj močan ''mat učinek'' malce bojuje z mojo zimsko, suho kožo. Težave nastanejo, če imate kožo naravno suho, saj Air Mat izpostavi suhe predele, še posebej pa luskave dele in kožo, ki se lupi (govorim o suhem nosu po neštetem brisanju zaradi prehlada). Moji težavni predeli so nos, brada in pa tudi predel okoli oči zaradi suhosti. Bourjois Air Mat mi tako malce izpostavi te problematične dele, kar lahko s povečavo moje slike oziroma samega testa preiščete bolj podrobno. Sam sijaj obraza je bil dodan z osvetljevalcem. S suhimi predeli se sicer bojujem z nanosom hranilne kreme Weleda Skinfood pred samim pudrom. Če damo ta primankljaj na stran, bi lahko rekla, da sicer Air Mat tekoča podlaga pusti matirano kožo, ki je na dotik vseeno mehka in žametna. Kar me prinese do naslednje točke. Namreč, Bourjois Air Mat je torej odličen partner za kombinirano ali mastno kožo, obenem pa bi bil bolj cenjen v vročih, poletnih mesecih. Nanj se lahko popolnoma zanese v vročih dneh, če se veliko potite ali iščete močno obstojnost čez dan. Na obrazu zdrži celoten delovni urnik, hkrati pa se ne prenaša zlahka z dotikom kože. Moram priznati, da mi je z meseci prirasel k srcu in ga z največjim veseljem mešam z mojimi tekočimi pudri za suho kožo. S tem podaljša obstojnost hranilnih pudrov, obenem pa doda malce več prekrivnosti. Ko že ravno omenjam, Air Mat poda srednjo prekrivnost, ki na začetku prekrije vse, a se z minutami prelevi v malce bolj transparenten in naraven zaključek.

COLOUR MATCH & COMPARISON

Another thing I want to address is the colour. I got loads of questions about shade range and where exactly Air Mat fits in. The thing is, while Bourjois Healthy Mix in 51 Light Vanilla still kind of matches my pale complexion in winter, Bourjois Air Mat is a totally different story. The lightest shade of Air Mat, 01 Rose Ivory is actually a shade or two darker than expected. While it might seem like a perfect match for your extra fair skin, it oxidizes with application into two shade darker foundation with slightly orange/yellow undertone. And that's also the prior reason I've started to mix it with my regular foundations. You just can't pull it off if you're on the fair side. I like to mix it with other lighter foundations while also adding a drop or two of Stargazer White Foundation or The Body Shop Lightening Shade Adjusting Drops. The upper picture of foundation demo is made with Bourjois Air Mat 01 and Stargazer White Foundation. For reference, I usually match Bourjois Healthy Mix 51 (full review and comparison here) or MAC Studio Waterweight in NW15, usually they're perfect in summer. While MAC Studio Waterweight NW15 (full review here) is slightly more on the neutral side, Bourjois Air Mat is more yellowish and orange than normal yellow-neutral Bourjois Healthy Mix. Still, it can be worked with, especially if you're striving to achieve matte finish and have warmer or darker complexion.

ISKANJE ODTENKA & PRIMERJAVA PUDROV

Naslednja točka, ki jo želim poudariti, je barvna lestvica. Kar nekaj punc me je spraševalo po sami kompatibilnosti odtenka z mojo ultra svetlo kožo. Namreč, Bourjois Healthy Mix v odtenku 51 Light Vanilla (ocena je tukaj) se še vedno dokaj ujema z mojo zimsko poltjo, le malce bolj je puder rumen a se lepo skrije ob natančnem nanosu. Bourjois Air Mat v odtenku 01 Rose Ivory pa je dejansko za odtenek ali dva temnejši od moje polti. Kljub temu, da ob prvem iztisu deluje dovolj svetlo, se z minutami po nanosu počasi spreminja v temnejši, bolj rumen ton. Kar je tudi glavni razlog, da sem ga začela mešati z ostalimi pudri. Kljub temu moram dodati grahovo velikost belega pudra, najraje Stargazer White Foundation ali The Body Shop Lightening Shade Adjusting Drops. Tudi spodnji demo na moji koži je mešan z belim pudrom, zato bodite previdni pri izbiri. Ponavadi se moja koža lepo ujema z odtenkom Bourjois Healthy Mix 51 in malce bolj nevtralnim MAC Studio Waterweight NW15 (ocena tukaj), predvsem v toplejših mesecih. Če primerjam vse tri odtenke, ima Air Mat vsekakor najbolj opazen rumen podton, medtem ko svetlejši Healthy Mix dosega mejo nevtralnega a rumenega tona. MAC Studio Waterweight NW15 je malce bolj roza a nevtralen. Bourjois Air Mat je lahko kljub temu odličen puder, če iščete ''mat učinek'' in imate toplejši ali temnejši ten kože. 

Everything brings me to a pretty warm and cold conclusion. While Bourjois Air Mat is not the best for extra fair skintones, dry skintypes and dry patches, it is most certainly great for oily and combination skintypes, those who want a reliable longwearing foundation and those with warm or tan skin. Don't get me wrong, Air Mat is not bad. It's just that I need to put a little more effort into it due to my fair complexion and dry skin. It goes perfectly well with all my foundations and mixes like a dream. Adding a drop or two of Air Mat into your regular foundation will help you combat the day with prolonged wear, helps to reduce smearing or smudging due to mattifying micronized powders. Skin still looks fresh yet foundation is more securely locked to the skin and skin texture might look a bit more perfected on rough, textured areas. It would probably look great over acne scars or textured skin as it's truly lightweight but longwearing. You can buy Bourjois in almost all drugstore across Europe, but it's also available on Asos or FeelUnique.

Celotna izkušnja je doprinesla dokaj topel a tudi hladen zaključek. Medtem ko Bourjois Air Mat ni popolna izbira za zelo svetlopolte, suhe tipe kože in suhe predele obraza, je puder vsekakor primeren za masten in kombiniran tip kože, za temnejše/zagorele polti in tiste, ki iščete obstojen tekoči puder. Ne razumite me narobe, Air Mat lahko služi odlično, le malce dodatnega dela je potrebnega pri tem obstojnem pudru. Meša se odlično, prav tako pa se obdrži na koži z matirajočimi mikro delci suhega pudra. Koža izgleda ''mat'', obenem pa še vedno sveža in žametna z lahko teksturo. Tekoči puder se giblje nekje med 11-13€ in je na voljo v vseh DM in Muller poslovalnicah.