Shu Uemura Skin:Fit Foundation
The trend towards lightweight, skin-like makeup is still very much in vogue, and this summer, Shu Uemura has the perfect solution for beating the heat whilst keeping the makeup intact. The new Skin:Fit Cosmetic Water Foundation promises to keep your complexion looking fresh for 12 hours and remains lightweight and breathable throughout!
Shu Uemura’s Skin:Fit Foundation is a new bi-phase foundation that is completely oil-free. It contains a refreshing cosmetic water made from mint and pomegranate extracts that keeps the skin feeling refreshed and has antioxidant benefits to prevent aging dullness. Suspended in the cosmetic water is a special triple powder complex that is formulated with airlicium to absorb excess sebum and keep the face matte; perlite to absorb sweat and prevent the makeup from fading; and soft focus powder to help blur any imperfections.
To apply, first give the bottle a good shake. There are little ball bearings contained inside the bottle to help distribute the contents evenly, so make sure to shake hard enough that you can hear them rattling. Thereafter, simply pour a few drops into your hand. As you can see from the swatch above, the Skin:Fit Foundation has a very runny watery texture.
To aid application, Shu Uemura has designed a special dual-sided sponge to be used specifically with Skin:Fit. By now, this should not come as a surprise, as Shu Uemura has been introducing a unique sponge with every one of their foundation releases for the past few years. The Skin:Fit sponge is very light and fluffy (spongey comes to mind, but I realize that sounds rather silly), unlike the dense sponges that accompanied the Lightbulb foundations [reviewed here and here]. It has a flocked peach-colored “brush” side that is intended for picking up the foundation and applying it to the face. Thereafter, the other white-colored “sponge” side is meant to be dabbed over the foundation to absorb excess water from the foundation and set it into the skin. The pointed pentagonal tip is to make it easy to reach the sides of the nose and other crevices around the face.
Skin:Fit offers a light to medium coverage, although I find it falls more on the lighter end of the spectrum, and there is a limit to how much you can layer on. But it helps to even out skin tone, brightens, and minimizes the appearances of pores. What is really nice about Skin:Fit is that it gives a very lovely glow to the face, one that I personally consider to be a trademark of Shu Uemura. It gives a matte finish that is almost powder-like, but not cakey in the least. And on my dry skin, it actually lasts throughout the day without fading or creasing!
I’m sure many of you are curious as to how Skin:Fit compares with Dior Nude Air [reviewed here] which I had been favoring up until now. The 2 are actually diametrically different – Dior Nude Air is an oil-based foundation that does not contain any talc at all; whereas Skin:Fit is a water-based foundation with powder contained in it. Consequently, in terms of texture and application, the 2 feel very different. Although both are runny, Skin:Fit dries much faster, and does not apply well with fingers. It did take me a little bit of experimentation, and I eventually found that I favored applying it with a synthetic kabuki brush (the tiny Chanel one that came with the Vitalumiere Loose Powder foundation worked marvelously). The sponge that came with the foundation worked well, but I found the edges where the “brush” surface was attached to the body of the sponge to be somewhat scratchy.
Also, for my dry skin, I needed to ensure my skin was very well moisturized prior to application. It also helped to use a illuminating primer such as this one, or a very lightweight BB/CC cream works well too for that additional emollient base and coverage. For ladies with oily / combination skin, I believe Shu Uemura Skin:Fit would be a wonderful foundation for daily use as it is quite good at controlling shine and keeping the oilies at bay. However, those with super dry and flakey skin may have to approach with caution.
For those who are curious, I have attached the ingredients and other information from the back of the box. Shu Uemura Skin:Fit Foundation comes with SPF30 PA+++ to protect against sun damage. It is out at all Shu Uemura counters now, and retails for SGD68 for 30ml. The sponge is available separately in packs of 4 for SGD18.
This post featured a product that was kindly provided by Shu Uemura Singapore for my consideration. Regardless, all opinions expressed here are my own honest, unbiased views.
i just want to send a big thank you your way for posting the ingredient list! the nearest shu uemura counter is almost 500km away from me, with some products it’s hard to find a reliable source for the ingredient list, and i don’t always want to wait for an east asia trip to buy shu uemura… with my sensitive skin, this is super helpful.
You’re welcome!! Glad it’s helpful!
As a dry skin person, I would give this a pass due to its containing alcohol high up on ingredient list. Linda, was also wondering whether you happened to get the Shu Palette, or are you not a fan of Shu’s e/s?
Hi Alison, I would say this is a bit fussier for dry skin people, so that’s probably a right decision. I am a big fan of Shu’s e/s!! I’ve reviewed quite a number of their palettes in the past, but I passed on the Shu Palette simply because it’s really big (size-wise) and mostly brown neutrals. I’m firstly not very into neutrals (although that seems to have changed recently!), and secondly not into big palettes (the only exception were the NARSsisst palette and the By Terry Smokey Neutral). The Shu Palette is wonderful value, be sure to check it out if you are that way inclined!!! PS: I think i have swatches of it somewhere in my hard drive that I never posted. Let me know if you’d like to see them!
Would you believe I haven’t tried any Shu Uemura foundations before? I tried their mousse thingy (can’t even remember what it’s called) and it was OK. So far, Shu hasn’t managed to make my heart go pitter patter 🙂
Hahaa…. i’m not surprised, really. Tbh, i don’t care very much for their under base mousse…. I tried a couple, they just didn’t sit well on my skin. But I liked their Lightbulb oleo-pact, it’s the first product I hit pan on in a very long time! And this Skin:Fit is great for oily skin types in our humid climate. It’s very convenient to wear if you’re going to be out and about all day long and don’t have to worry about touching up. But personally, I found Dior Nude Air to look better on my skin.
Thanks for the review Linda! Very interesting, I like the combination of different powders and anti oxidants – pomegranate can be so good for the skin! I have combination skin with blemishes and Dior did not work for me at all, so maybe this one will. I am actually using Laura Mercier’s tinted moisturiser at the moment (which I have to report is amazing) but I will keep this in mind to try out, as it sounds good : )
Hmm… interesting… I didnt have a great experience with the LM tinted moisturizer when I had combination skin and if I remember it’s a dewy finish? Thats quite different from skin:fit. But if you can, i recommend you try this out!
Yes the LM finish is quite dewy but there are two versions: the illuminating on (which I use only as a highlighter and I do not recommend it for combo skin) and the oil free one, which controls oil. And it exactly does that on my skin, so I get less oily in my Tzone. I need to blot once in the afternoon and that’s it.But I think it’s a summer base more that anything, I remember not liking it in the colder months. Will try Skin:fit – sounds interesting! x
Let me know how it goes for you!!!
Thank you for the wonderfully indepth review! Sounds like I def should try get a sample or test it out at the counter. The most similar foundy I can think of to this is the Erno Laszlo one, which I enjoyed for a little bit, but soon found it too drying on my skin due to its high alcohol content. You even found a grest use for the tiny Chanel Kabuki! I find it too small for the powder so I just use the tetracable one.
Oh I’m intrigued by Erno Laszlo! I’ve heard so much about this brand, but it’s hard to access from Singapore. I’m currently testing out the cleansing oil and bar soap…. not too bad, but not exactly my fav either. Yeah the chanel kabuki is too small and dense for powder, but perfect for this!
I tried out Erno’s Cleansing oil and mud soap thing too, and while it did its job, the recommended way to use it is quite alot of work, aint got no time for all of that. Also tried out one of his eye gel-cream things, and liked it enough, but I guess not enough for me to buy again.
Hahaa… i’ve been using cleansing oil and the CDP bar soup for a while now, so it no longer bothers me. But I must say I don’t really care about the EL oil’s viscous texture, and the soap doesn’t foam up well.