Without a doubt the BEST foundation I have ever purchased, it brightens your skin, non oily, doesn't break you out, blends evenly (I use a foundation brush) a little goes a long way, highly pigmented yet doesn't look cakey, natural looking, lasts a pretty long time, the only drawback is it is kind of pricey, but hey if you find something you like it is worth it!!!!

FINALLY! My search is over! I have tried so many foundations, and I was liking the NARS Sheer glow for a while, but it still was not HG worthy for me because it just sat on my skin and was greasy.
HG for sure. I needed no powder touch ups, it felt natural all day, and blends like a dream. This review could be a mile long, but I will just leave it at this... I AM IN LOVE WITH SHU UEMURA'S ARCHITECT FOUNDATION.
TIP!!!: If you are finding a setting powder is making the foundation look too chalky, switch to a translucent powder (like too faced prime poreless) This foundation is meant to be a semi matte finish and not touched up through out the day.

I've used a ton of foundation products and since I have dry skin it's very hard to find one that doesn't cake after a long day. For awhile I was using MAC studio fix, but I didn't want to be using something so heavy on a daily basis. This foundation is really moisturizing and smooth. I've received compliments on my skin every time I have it on, people can't even tell that I'm wearing anything at all. It feels light weight, creamy and it gives me a natural glow. The coverage is great too!

After realizing that my MAC Face and Body Foundation doesn't match my skin tone anymore (I had bought it when I was more tanned), I decided to give this foundation a try instead of going back to the MAC counter.

I love it. It is slightly less liquid-y/run-y than the MAC Face and Body, is light-to-medium coverage, buildable, feels light, and does not make me break out. I stipple it onto my skin with a damp makeup sponge (to minimize the amount of makeup wasted) and, on areas where I need more coverage, I simply dab on some more. It blends well into my skin.


My only bad experience with this foundation was that I wasted my money on the first bottle: the shade was close to my skin tone but still a bit too dark (764). It's strange. Sometimes I notice the colour discrepancy, and sometimes I don't. I think this is because the colour was not a perfect match to begin with, and on the days that I notice the mismatch are the days when I feel I need more coverage, so I had put on more layers to build it up. I went back and purchased another bottle one shade lighter (774) and it is perfect. I'll be keeping the 764 in case I tan.


If possible, get a sample to ensure a good colour match. Otherwise, this is a very good light-weight, buildable, foundation that has never broken me out.
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I've bought this foundation a week ago and love it so far. The color match was PERFECT (I use 934), it is weightless and makes you look like a porcelain doll...though I have small skin problems like couple of pimples and big pores.
In some reviews girls wrote it doesn't stay long...well, it does stay long on me even though I live in Bali, Indonesia (I'm European) with humid tropical climate. I'm using l'occitane velvet concentrate cream under it (just a tiny bit) and don't use any powder on the top. I'm applying it with new MAC 130 brush, guess that might make difference, this brush just puts the foundation IN your skin, otherwise it just stays on the top mostly.
This product feels like NOTHING on, skin is silky smooth and I don't break out from it.

As other people have mentioned in their reviews, this doesn't work well in humid climates. It melts off your face in matter of hours and makes your face shine. However, in Canada and the States is a whole different matter. It makes my face flawless and i barely need any concealer.It is smooth and blendable, and a little goes a long way. I wear it for nights out as this makes my skin look a milllion bucks in photos. Love, love, love, however I wouldn't wear daily...it also comes with a hefty price tag...

Update 04/03/2011: After leaving it untouched on my vanity for 2 weeks or so, the foundation starts to separate, and it just does not get back to one consistency however much I shake it. Though looks alright after applied to the face, the whole separating thing shouldn't happen to Shu. I'm disappointed. won't buy again.

This product provides light to medium coverage. But I find the staying power of this is not very good, even with the Shu Uemura UV Base under it and loose powder over the top. I have fairly dry skin and I stay in the office all the time. It generally lasts quite nicely for 4 hours, and it starts to get flakey and gradually disappears.I've try it with and without a base, as well as with and without powder. I would say on me apply it with a base and without a powder works the best. Using base and powder at the same time is just too dry for me. The color I chose was 564, which matches my skin quite well.If you are very dark, you should probably skip this because it does not have a very wide range of colors.

Pros: Great color variety and match (especially for yellow undertones), very blendable, smooth, luminous but not oily, brightens your face, does not cause additional breakouts (at least not for me), great coverage.

Cons: last 4 hours max, T-zone area gets oily, does not cover flakes, rubs off SUPER EASY! (reason why I don't think it last very long), kind of just sits on top of the skin.

And now that it's summer, I keep getting oily every two hours and it rubs off soooooooo incredibly easy. But I love how well it matches my skin tone and brightens it! Soooo hard to give this up because it looks super for the first hour!

I bought the cream version and that one is waaaaaay too thick and doesn't sink into the skin either. In fact it is thick and sits on top of my skin and comes off easily as well...so I'm kind of at a loss as to what to do with it! Keep touching up every four hours I guess?

I really like this foundation. Unfortunately it is not easy to buy in NZ. You have to get it off strawberrynet without trying the colour. I managed to get half a bottle of our local version of ebay but the colour is slightly light on me but the correct tone. I got 974 so the yellow base it great as it cancels out my redness but I think I need to get a slightly darker colour.

Because of its unavailability, I will be trying other foundations first.

Like everyone says, it melts on the nose and cheeks after four to five hours but it feels like you have nothing on and it looks like your skin, especially when set with finishing powder (I've got Maybelline's dream matte powder in cream and it works just fine).

It blends really smoothly over a moisturizering base (either sunscreen or lotion). Doesn't really like mattifying bases although it will work if you blend quickly and work in small areas.

This feel of this foundation is comparable to my Chanel's Lumiere. Good coverage and doesn't break out on my extra-sensitive skin. However, it doesn't last long, and in a few hours, those hot spots are looking darn oily.

Good try but definitely not purchasing it again