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Tuesday 21 February 2012

Leichner Camera Clear Tinted Foundation Review

While having a cheeky browse on Fragrance Direct, I spotted this foundation for the silly price of £3.50 for 30ml. I really like stage makeup for certain things, and my palette of Screenface cream foundations has probably seen better days. I thought I’d never heard of Leichner before (I realised later that I have in fact used some of their products before!) and my curiosity was piqued by the ‘all day moisturising ‘ claims, so I picked up a few shades despite reviews online being few and far between. If nothing else I can use them when I do my friends makeup instead of my more expensive kit makeup (sorry, mates!)

Leichner Camera Clear Foundation
Leichner camera clear foundation packaging
Leichner camera clear foundation packaging 2
leichener camera clear foundation packaging 3
The product comes in tubs with a screw-top and a little cover to keep it all neat n’ tidy. Tubs aren’t ideal, but at least they’d be easy to depot from – I don’t think I’d want to carry these big clunky containers in my kit. But they seal up nice and tight and feel very sturdy.
leichner camera clear foundation swatches 2
Leichner Camera Clear Foundation Swatches
Top row, L-R: Blend of Biscuit, Blend of Porcelain, Blend of Rose.
Bottom row, L-R:  Blend of Almond, Blend of Copper, Blend of Beige.

As you can see, these have a thick cream formula. Some of the ‘swatches’ on the website are reasonably accurate, some are really not, so don’t go by those if you can help it. I’ve read that the colours dry lighter than they appear, but it’s hard to tell once you’ve blended them out, which I always do to see if they match. If I do see it when I use it on others, I’ll update the post but right now I’m not seeing it.

Let’s see how it applies, shall we?
naked face
Here’s my face with no foundation or base on. As you can see, I got a pretty ugly situation going on round my chin, and there are some small blemishes on my cheeks as well.
Leichner camera clear foundation applied
Here I’m wearing Blend of Porcelain with no primer, concealer or powder. I think it’s evened me out quite nicely and while it’s not got rid of all the nastiness on my chin, it’s done a decent job. The spots on my chin were quite dry, and it didn’t accentuate the flakiness I have there or cling to it nastily. I’d say this was medium coverage? It leaves a slight dewy finish, but it doesn't set at all, so I’d really recommend powdering over it, especially if you want to apply powder blush as I don’t think it would play very well directly on top. You’re better off using your (clean!) fingers or a stippling brush with the foundation – sponges eat it and paddle brushes can leave it looking a little thick/streaky. I wouldn’t say this was really very buildable and as it's so creamy, you have to be careful to use creamy products over it or it won't blend. For example, using a stick concealer over the top would be a nightmare!

Essentially, this product is a like thick tinted moisturizer with decent coverage. I wouldn't say it moisturized my skin all day, but it certainly feels good on my skin, and I feel I need to use less moisturizer in the morning if I'm going to be applying this afterwards. I've only been wearing it for a few days though, so we'll see.

If you have even slightly oily skin, I’d steer well clear. I’ve not tried with a primer yet but even on my dry skin, it last only around 4-5 hours before I notice a shiny t-zone (I have a horrible very dry face/chin slightly oily t-zone combination, however.) I can’t comment too well on how it photographs as I’ve only used one shade on one model with wonderful skin, and I didn’t have time to thoroughly peruse the unedited photos. From what I saw, it looked true to application but I don’t think the name ‘Camera Clear’ does the product any favours as I think it gives you an expectation of a flawless skin. It’s a nice dewy looking finish, but I wouldn’t say with my limited experience it’s great for photography.

UPDATE: How well it photographs varies. I do use them fairly often, and it's been interesting to try it out with different powders.

All in all, I really like this product. It’s great for dry skin and it was worth the price.  The only major downside is the scent – it’s very floral/powdery/Grandma smelling. It doesn’t bother me too much, but it’s not what I’d class as pleasant. It does fade on application though, and I do notice that lots of stage/screen foundations can smell similar.
It’s a shame that it’s not that well known a product or widely distributed a product, so will be difficult for most people to find a match.

49 comments:

  1. Hmmm I've never heard of this brand before, but it DID do quite a nice job of evening your skin! It looks really natural as well! x

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  2. I love love love stage make up! Heck if it's good enough for an A lister then it's good enough for me :p

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  3. It looks like it's done a wonderful job of evening your skin tone while still looking natural, and I love the idea of how moisturizing this is! However, I'm pretty sure I would have no luck finding this product over here in the state... A quick google search turns up a lot of .co.uk urls! Bobbi Brown has a foundation that looks very similar (like a heavily tinted face cream) that I have been dying to try, but I can't get over the price tag, even when I've found it at an outlet! Thanks for the review, I'll definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for this.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's a British brand. I don't know that Kryolan or Mehron or any other bigger stage brands do a similar thing... but like RaeRae commented below a BB cream would probably do much the same!

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    2. the brand is not british, is german, it is produced in Berlin, as Kryolan.

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  4. You know what a reasonable coverage tinted moisturiser is almost? A BB cream :P

    Also it looks good on you! I'm not oily but I am combo, otherwise I would be tempted.

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    Replies
    1. Oh, duh, I suppose it is quite like a BB cream, at least a Western 'BB cream.' I'm an idiot.

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  5. Looks nice and at that price it's great for a MUA kit :)

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  6. Haven't seen this stuff in years! My mum used to use it. She had really dehydrated skin and loved it.

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  7. What is the goldy/beigey eyeshadow you've got on? It's gorgeous!

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    1. I *think* it's Darling Girl Gargoyle and it's a little more green irl, but don't quote me on it!

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  8. Thanks for the review - I was tempted to buy this from a website, but I'm a bit dubious about the colours usually. My skin colour is very similar to yours, so I have more confidence in buying the porcelain now! On the whole I have pretty good skin - albeit some dry eczema patches around my eyes at times; which I find normal foundations end up aggravating. Based on your review this sounds like a good potential...currently I'm using the Nivea tinted moisturiser, which does a pretty good job on me, but I'm always open to trying new brands. I also feel a bit resentful some of the prices for BB creams which are often just glorified tinted moisturisers (i.e. the Garnier BB for £10), so I would be more than happy paying under a fiver for!

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    Replies
    1. It's certainly worth a shot for the price! It need setting and it can take a while to figure out how much to use as it's super creamy, but it's so cheap it's worth it.

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  14. Hi, I'm of an age where Leichner used to be one of the top brands when I was young and growing up, like Biba and MaxFactor back in the day (definitely '70s and 80s) and cake eyesliner and mascara was the norm. I recently scoured the net for these cake products and they are STILL great and fantastic value for money. You can't find them in shops. I thank God you can find such gems on-line. What a great review!

    I have just ordered the copper. I have dark skin and I am hoping it has enough red/copper tones in it to give me glowing skin in the summer.

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  15. Oh and I forgot to add in my last post that Leichner is not stage makeup. Like I said back in the day it was a go to brand. I am not sure what happened as it would have been in all the department stores like Debenhams, even Boots. The packaging is still the same :-)

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    1. Copper certainly is pretty red so hopefully it works well for you! Lots of brands are for both stage and regular use - Leichner was originally established as a theatrical brand at the start of last century. Lots of brands we use now actually started that way - Max Factor (iirc!) actually used to work for Leichner, and Borjois started as making makeup for actors as well :)

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  16. Great product I have used this for apprx 20 years. Its a bit oily but you only need to wear very little of it. I use copper for tan skin. The colours look darker in the tub. I recommend you put powder over the top then it looks great.

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  17. Thank you so much for your review, it helped me a lot. I think will buy the porcelain shade since I have a quite similar skin tone to yours. Btw, you have a really nice eye colour. Keep up the good work!

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  18. Which is the lightest shade? i am VERY pale and need the lightest shade in everything my skind is pink toned also, please help x

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    Replies
    1. Blend of Porcelain is the lightest, but it's still yellow tones and not VERY light. If you're super pale I wouldn't go for it, but they're pretty inexpensive if you want to gamble.

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  19. I used a much lighter in texture and colour porcelain liquid make-up by Leichner (non-cream and in a glass bottle with a screw cap which opened to show a small black plastic paddle to apply the liquid foundation attached to the underside of the cap) I loved it as it was one of the few make-up colours that matched my very pale skin...I have trawled the internet for it but have not actually bought it since my teenage years in the 80's....does anyone know if it still exists?

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  20. Thanks for the review I've tried it before in a different shade which didn't work well for me and made me go orangey, my skin tone is closer to yours so hopefully the shade should work better, fingers crossed!

    Because of the texture of the product would you recommend wearing a primer with it? I get dry skin so am a little unsure :)

    Thanks again! x
    Anna
    http://littleannasbeautytips.blogspot.co.uk/

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