Lancome Nude Miracle Foundation {Shade 530C} Review

Folks, a few days ago I decided to try my hand at re-organizing my makeup stash. And by reorganizing my makeup stash I mean I put some foundations in a box and then felt overwhelmed and went to go make some fried plantains instead…lol. But if you saw the BOX of foundations currently not in my makeup rotation (either because they’re winter or otherwise cooler weather formulas or I forgot I had them) you’d wonder why I continue to accumulate more either through what I buy or what I acquire through press samples. And it’s simple: I’m committed to trying as much as I can so you guys can make better makeup choices. That and I’m a foundation fiend…lol. Last week I picked up Lancome Nude Miracle Foundation in Shade 530C (described as being for very deep complexions with chestnut red undertones) and gave it a whirl.

So here’s the thing. I used to wear Lancome foundation a lot say maybe 10 years ago. I swear they had more neutral undertone shades in the darker spectrum but maybe I made that up…lol. Within the last 2-3 years anytime I go to a Lancome counter, I see PLENTY of deep shades some of which are even darker than my skin tone (see what foundations I wear in other brands here) but anything that comes close to me is either the wrong undertone or the right undertone but too dark or too light. I’d hear people rave about Lancome Nude Miracle foundation but I assumed I didn’t have a match. But good thing I was still nosing around the display at Sephora and picked up 530C. I was expecting it to be off for me (my undertones are on the neutral side) but it matched. My educated guess is that because the foundation formula is so lightweight, it matched because the undertones weren’t so apparent.

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Official description:

An ultra-lightweight, liquid-to-powder formula foundation that provides light to medium coverage and a natural matte finish.

With its groundbreaking soft-focus technology, Nude Miracle blurs imperfections, absorbs oil, and blends seamlessly for a second-skin, no-makeup look. The revolutionary liquid-to-powder foundation formula is 25 times lighter than traditional powder and contains special raw materials to absorb oil. It is so comfortable that 100 percent of women tested forgot they were wearing it. The result is minimized signs of fatigue, lines, and wrinkles for perfectly smooth skin.

As it says, it’s super lightweight and gives light to medium coverage with a natural matte finish. It did well to even out my skin tone but I still needed concealer to cover some dark spots and definitely needed concealer under my eyes to brighten the area. But the finish looked amazing—almost like I had nothing on at all. I set with Ben Nye loose powder in Nutmeg and the foundation held up all day even with it being super hot here in NYC. I’m oily and while I of course looked shiny as the day wore on, I wasn’t more oily than I normally am and the foundation still looked good. I naturally had to touch-up throughout the day with blot powder.

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Lancome Nude Miracle is great if you don’t need a ton of coverage and want something lightweight. I’d add it to my Summer Foundations for Dark Skin list.

BUT…

And this is just my experience—this of course might not happen to you—it broke me out :x I had a series of little pimples on my chin, a few medium-sized ones on my forehead and then a big one in the fold of skin in between my nostrils and my cheek. I thankfully got 90% of the breakouts taken care of over one night by using Bliss Multi-“Face”-Eted mask on the areas where I broke out and then to seal the deal the next night I used a Tony Moly clear skin sheet mask.

I’m of course not saying this will make you break out, just saying it broke me out. I don’t have sensitive skin either. Over the years I’ve found that a few foundations break me out the way Lancome Nude Miracle did (MAC Studio Fix Fluid—well, shoot most MAC formulas except for the powders, NARS Sheer Matte, and a version of Black Opal foundation that they no longer make) and I used to think maybe I had a sensitivity to dimethicone since it was the common ingredient but then dimethicone is in a lot of other things I’ve used that don’t break me out. It’s probably something used to make lightweight liquid foundations with matte finishes that my skin doesn’t like (yet Armani Maestro doesn’t break me out—hmmm).

Also, not sure if mine was a defect but the dropper in mine didn’t work. I wound up having to dip it in the bottle and then smear what I needed on the back of my hand before applying it on my face (I’m just used to using the back of my hand as a palette—no rhyme or reason to it).

OK—I’m rambling. Let’s end this here…lol.

Note: The foundation doesn’t make me lighter or changes my skin color—the light captures it differently with my naked skin vs the foundation.

No makeup on left; just Lancome Nude Miracle + powder on right

Just Lancome Nude Miracle + powder

Lancome Nude Miracle + full face

Bottom line: Lancome Nude Miracle performs well and is good choice if you have pretty decent skin and you’re looking for something that provides decent coverage but looks almost like you have nothing on.

Price and where to buy: $42 at Sephora (plus 4% cash back when you use eBates), Lancome.com, and Lancome counters.