I’ve heard so many great things about Chantecaille’s Future Skin Foundation for years and have always been meaning to try it out. Chantecaille is a luxury French makeup and skincare brand that markets its products as ‘botanical’ as they use botanicals and plant stem cells to provide sustainable ingredients. They boast products that have anti-inflammatory and soothing plant ingredients that boost the skin’s natural protective qualities. They also align their products with a cause that needs a platform and offer charitable support to certain organisations to positively impact nature and animals. Pretty amazing!

So this particular foundation is probably Chantecaille’s most famous foundation and has won numerous beauty awards. It’s crafted in Japan, is oil-free which is a huge plus and is supposed to have a very lightweight refreshing texture. The formula is supposed to be buildable and light-reflecting pigments ease the appearance of imperfections. It claims to be fragrance free (another big plus), parabens free, phthalate free and they do not test on animals. Its supposed to contain 60% water and seaweed to give the skin a hydrated glowy appearance. It also contains Aloe, Chamomile and Arnica that all help soothe the skin. It also has a number of antioxidants – Rosemary, Green Tea and Rice Bran. You are supposed to apply the foundation with either a brush or fingers for the best results. Their products don’t come cheap though and a 30g pot of this foundation costs S$135. The pot comes in a simple classy design with a silver cap. I was definitely expecting something more luxurious looking for the price I paid. Also I’m not a fan of foundations that come in a jar – it can be messy and unhygienic to dip your fingers in every time you want to apply the make up. And again with the price you are paying you do expect a pump. I got the foundation in shade ‘Aura’ which is the lightest shade with pink undertones. The shade ‘Porcelain’ is the lightest shade with neutral undertones. The lady at the store was nice enough to give me samples of both plus one shade darker which has neutral undertones (that was too dark for me).

The texture of the foundation is really light and when you dab it on your skin it has a refreshing cooling feel. It goes on and blends really nicely with a beauty blender but the coverage is really light – you would need quite a lot to build it up to medium coverage. The colour is still a bit dark for me even though it’s the lightest shade which is annoying. It does look gorgeous on the skin though, really natural and glowy with a skin-like quality. And it’s really moisturising and perfect for my skin that’s pretty dry these days because of the acne creams I’m using. Once I did the rest of my makeup it looked so gorgeous up-close and lasted literally the entire day with hardly any change and hardly any sinking into fine lines It looked so fresh and glowy even after 8 hours.

Is it one of the best foundations I’ve ever used? Yes. Would I get it again? Yes. But can you get foundations that are nearly as good for much less though? Yes again. I think it’s perfect for someone who wants a natural glowy look and has drier skin but definitely not for someone who wants flawless full coverage or has really oily skin. It’s definitely a foundation to wear on good skin days. I do think they could also improve on their shade range (They only have 15 shades) and even on their packaging (including providing a pump) esp because one pot costs so much! But overall it looks stunning and I will be continuing to use it! X

It’s been so depressing not being able to go out and have afternoon tea and not to mention being cooped up at home day after day. I have been ordering afternoon tea in for the last couple of months and it does make this time spent on lock down so much more bearable.

So I ordered a box of 4 cupcakes from Plain Vanilla over the weekend. I’ve tried their cupcakes before at the Telok Ayer branch and was really impressed. There are 4 branches in Singapore at Tiong Bahru, Cluny Court, Ion Orchard and Telok Ayer. They have everyday bakes (cucpakes, cakes, cookies, brownie, tarts and pastries) and celebratory cupcakes where you can even custom write stuff on each cupcake like ‘I love you’ – how cute!

On deliveroo you can order a box of 4 for S$19.80 or a box of 6 for S$28.25 and I chose 4 – red velvet, vanilla bean, cookies & cream and milk choc chip. They have other yummy flavours like salted caramel, carrot, strawberry white chocolate, earl grey lavander, chocolate hazelnut, dark chocolate ganache, milk chocolate banana and cinnamon brown sugar. Literally every delicious flavour you can dream of. They also do specials which vary which is such a good idea!

What I love about Plain Vanilla cupcakes is that they are so soft and moist and literally melt in your mouth. They are also full of flavour and the forsting on top is incredible. They are my favourite cupcakes in Singapore and my favourite flavour is milk chocolate chip! I love milk chocolate and the bits of milk chocolate chips in the cupcake is DIVINE. My least favourite flavour is vanilla – it was good but didnt taste much like vanilla bean and had a smokey aftertaste which was weird.

I would definitely order the cupcakes again! (is next week too soon??) And they make the perfect gift if you want to send some edibles over to a loved one during this crazy time. Definitely try it out! X

•