My mom is the kind of beauty consumer who gets convinced of one foundation per decade. Giorgio Armani Designer Lift is the current decade’s pick, and after watching her wear it for a year I understand why. It is the rare medium-coverage foundation that does not collect in fine lines — and at sixty-plus, that line about a ‘lifting’ foundation is the only one she pays attention to.
The formula is liquid but more like a serum-foundation hybrid. It glides on with either a brush or a damp sponge; the brush gives a slightly fuller finish, the sponge a more natural one. Coverage is buildable from medium to a comfortable full, and the finish is satin — not dewy, not matte, the in-between that flatters mature skin.
What surprised me on her: the way it does not settle into the deeper laugh lines or the under-eye creases the way other ‘anti-aging’ foundations always do. Whatever silica blend Armani uses here, it stays put. She does a very light dust of Laura Mercier translucent powder over the T-zone and that is the entire base routine.
It is expensive. The 1 oz bottle is north of $90 and a foundation rarely costs more than a serum, but for the right skin profile (mature, dry-leaning, demands cover, hates settling) it is one of the few that delivers on the marketing copy.
Shade range is decent in the medium-light to medium-deep band, less great at the extremes. If you fall outside the bell curve, color-match in person.
Want to check the line yourself? ArmaniBeauty.com • Armani Beauty foundation category.
Related reads: Dermalogica MultiVitamin Power Serum — my mom’s serum of choice under this foundation — the two play well together on mature skin.