YSL All Hours Foundation

Today I have a review and some swatches of one of my all time ex-favourite foundations! I can no longer use this foundation as it is not cruelty free. Yves Saint Laurent is owned by L'Oreal and they choose to sell in mainland China thus making the brand NOT cruelty free.

I used to love the All Hours Foundation, in fact - I finished both of these bottles! 

I'll start with the outer packaging. Like all YSL beauty products - this comes in a beautiful chrome golden box. Inside, the bottle is heavy and feels luxurious. The bottle is glass - frosted glass. The lid is a shiny black with the YSL logo in gold, everything about this bottle is beautiful.

Although the packaging & bottle is stunning, the bottle only contains 25mL and is $89 AUD - NOT COOL!

Another MAJOR issue is that there are only 15 shades available in Australia, I believe there are 40 shades elsewhere but the shades even in the 40 shade range are seriously appalling - in what world is that even remotely suitable!? There are foundations less than $20 that have a better shade range. YSL needs to do better.

The shades I have to show you are B10 & BR30! As I previously stated, the shades are very lacking. I had to mix these two constantly to make a good match. I can't imagine how annoying it would be trying to find the correct shade being a deeper skin tone.

Above is the shade B10

Above is the shade BR30

Above is the shade B10 left to dry for a few minutes (left) and freshly applied (right)

Above is the shade BR30 left to dry for a few minutes (left) and freshly applied (right)

It doesn't oxidise THAT bad, I've definitely had worse oxidisation! The formula is really good, if I could compare it to anything it would be a thinner, more matte version of NARS Sheer Glow! It also lasts way longer.

This is overall a really good foundation BUT for the small amount for the ridiculous price I would argue that the majority of your money is definitely going to the brand name, it is very obviously not going to shade development.

This foundation has been around for a long time now and has become quite popular. I am a light skinned, olive under toned person and still - with two different foundation shades - couldn't find a match. I got close enough by mixing two shades.

Below I have added a swatch photo of the full range from Sephora. The shades range from a very poor selection of fair shades to a huge variety of light and tan shades and then an absolutely embarrassing jump from light/tan to a poor selection of deeper shades. If I didn't already stop supporting YSL for their choice to continue barbaric animal testing - this would be what did it for me. I will admit my photos and this review are long overdue, these photos have been waiting in my blog folder to be used in a post since September 2018! 

Hopefully this was helpful for anyone interested in this foundation!