Few products come with such high expectations as the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation. Not only does it promise a lot by claiming to give luminous, glowing skin, a silk finish, even skin tone, and skincare benefits, but it’s also one of the most expensive foundations we’ve tried. It has garnered almost a cult following, as a result, while also winning multiple awards.
And in the most part, it lived up to these expectations. The coverage and finish definitely live up to the claims. In fact, we’d go as far as to say they exceeded our expectations and did what we had previously deemed to be impossible – offer the almost perfect balance of radiant, yet velvet-smooth, balanced and even skin.
Despite being lightweight, the foundation lasted better than we expected, too. Patches of oil did start to appear as the day wore on, as did areas of redness, but not to the extent other similarly lightweight foundations have in the past. In fact, this medium-coverage foundation lasted better than some of the best full-coverage foundations we’ve tried.
The foundation even lived up to the claims of offering skincare benefits. Over our six-week Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation review period, our skin was noticeably more plump and hydrated. It felt and looked more balanced and was less inflamed and red. It didn’t completely solve our skincare woes, but it definitely made a dent.
The biggest downside is that all of these benefits come at a price. At £45 – or even £27 for the 18ml travel-sized version – this foundation will be out of reach of many people. This is a huge shame because it does live up to the hype and we feel a lot of people would love it. If you can afford it, it’s a worthwhile investment.
Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation alternatives: If you can’t afford the Luminous Silk foundation but want a cheaper option with similar coverage, finish, and benefits we highly recommend the L’Oreal True Match (£9.99); Physician’s Formula The Healthy Foundation (£14.59).
| Armani | From £27 |
| Lookfantastic | £45 |
| Sephora | £45 |
| Boots | From £27 |
In my Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation review, I put the cult foundation to the test to see if it lives up to the hype and is worth the money – or worth avoiding
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How I tested Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk
Armani Luminous Silk foundation shades
Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation swatches
How to apply the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation
Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation: Before and after
UPDATE: There’s a new product in the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk range – the Armani Luminous Silk Cheek Tint.
Inspired by Armani’s lipstick formulation, this cheek tint has been designed to create a natural-looking colour that lasts up to 12 hours.
It changes from a liquid to a fine film as it’s being applied and this means it blends into the skin, without messing up your foundation underneath. It can also be layered to achieve subtle, or more glam looks.
It comes in four shades – Bold Pink, Flaming Red, Intense Berry, and Vivid Coral – and costs £36.
We’ve ordered the Bold Pink version and will put it to the test as soon as it arrives.
In the meantime, keep scrolling to read our full Armani Luminous Silk foundation review.
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Original Luminous Silk foundation review continues below
Giorgio Armani isn’t just a designer fashion brand, it also sells a high-end makeup line aimed at giving premium results (albeit for a hefty price.)
A lot of its makeup products are aimed at more mature consumers and promise to meet a range of needs by combining the best formulas with added skincare benefits.
One of its bestselling products is the Giorgio Armani foundation Luminous Silk which is part of the wider GA Luminous Silk range.
This range also includes a concealer designed to create a luminous, radiant, and silky finish, even and natural-looking coverage, coupled with anti-ageing and hydrating skincare benefits.
This Armani foundation has developed a cult following, it’s won multiple awards and is said to be a makeup artist favourite, but does it live up to the hype?
To find out, I recently embarked on a six-week Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation review.
Read on to discover what I thought of the coverage, finish, staying power, and skincare benefits to see if it’s really worth the £45 price tag.
I also explain more about choosing the best shade in our Luminous Silk foundation shade guide.
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mamabella | mamabella There is a growing number of products in the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk range, joining the original Armani foundation (pictured), Luminous Silk and the Luminous Silk concealer
There is a growing number of products in the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk range, joining the original Armani foundation, Luminous Silk and the Luminous Silk concealer.
The Luminous Silk foundation range is described as offering buildable medium coverage with a luminous finish. If you prefer a different coverage or finish, the wider Armani foundation range includes:
If you’re not sure which foundation you need, take the Giorgio Armani foundation quiz.
mamabella | mamabella The Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation provides a luminous, natural finish. Available in 40 shades
What is Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation? A favourite among makeup artists, the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation is – as the name suggests – a silky foundation that provides a luminous, natural finish. It promises glowing skin that “improves texture and blurs imperfections”, and it contains glycerin for hydration. Available in 40 shades.
Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation price: £45 (30ml)
How to apply Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation: Armani recommends applying the Luminous Silk foundation with a foundation brush (it recommends its own Maestro Signature Blender Brush) before buffing it out for an even finish. You can add more layers if the coverage isn’t enough, or you can mix with a highlighter to accentuate the glow.
Who should use the Armani foundation Luminous Silk? Suitable for all skin types but it’s a particularly good foundation for mature skin, as well as for dry complexions.
Where to buy: Armani | Lookfantastic | Sephora | Boots
Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk alternatives: L’Oreal True Match (£9.99); Physician’s Formula The Healthy Foundation (£14.59)
WANT TO KNOW MORE? Best concealer | Best makeup brush | Best foundation brush | Best eyeshadow palette | Best foundation | Best foundation for dark skin | Best foundation for oily skin | Best foundation for dry skin | Best contour kit | Best lip gloss | Best lip liner | Best mascara| Best primer | Best highlighter | Best brow pomade | Best blusher | Best setting spray| Best makeup sets | Best false eyelashes | Best eyeliner | Best setting powder | Best eyelash curlers
For my Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation review, I used it as my main foundation every time I wore makeup, for a review period of six weeks.
I typically test foundations for a month, however, given the fact that Armani talks about the Luminous Silk Foundation having skincare benefits, I wanted to give it time to make a difference. This is because skin tends to renew itself every six weeks meaning it can take a while to see the benefits of any skincare products. You can read more in our How we test skincare to see if it lives up to its claims.
I applied the foundation using a foundation brush before using a damp beauty blender to melt it into the skin. I also applied it using a stippling brush followed by a soft powder brush, as well as with my fingers to see which gave the best results.
The rest of my makeup routine remained the same. This allowed me to more accurately see how the Armani foundation looked and lasted compared to other foundations I wear regularly.
mamabella | mamabella The 40 Luminous Silk shades are divided into three undertones and five skin tones
There are 40 Luminous Silk foundation shades available. Each one has either a Cool, Neutral, or Warm undertone within Fair, Light, Medium, Tan, and Deep shades. The Luminous Silk foundation shades are explained below and in the image above.
The image also shows which Luminous Silk concealer best matches which foundation shade and Armani suggests buying a shade lighter than you need if you want to brighten the skin.
We also show the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation swatches below the shades list.
We explain more about finding your perfect shade in our foundation shade match guide.
Cool skin types usually have pink, red, or blush undertones.
Neutral skin is neither cool nor warm, meaning it has a balance of pink and yellow undertones.
Warm skin tends to have yellow, orange, or gold undertones.
If you’re still not sure, Armani also allows you to virtually try each Luminous Silk shade by clicking the Try It On button.
In the image below you can see each of the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation swatches as well as the respective undertone for each number.
mamabella/Giorgio Armani This image shows the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation swatches from Light on the left to Deep on the right, each with their respective undertones
Armani recommends applying the Luminous Silk foundation with a foundation brush before buffing it out for an even finish.
During my Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation review period, I tried several different methods of application and the best results I got were when I used a flat-top buffing brush (I recommend the £15 Morphe M6 Pro Flat Buffer Brush) before using a damp beauty blender.
FURTHER READING: Best foundation brush for liquid and powder foundations, concealers and more | Makeup brushes 101: How to use different types of makeup brushes
The image below shows my Luminous Silk Foundation before and after results. I have light skin with neutral undertones so opted for the shade 4.5 which was a great match. Probably one of the best foundation matches I’ve ever had.
mamabella | mamabella The Luminous Silk foundation gives medium coverage and a natural finish
Living up to its name, the GA Luminous Silk foundation creates a luminous, naturally radiant finish that feels and looks like silk when first applied. This is no mean feat.
The majority of luminous or radiant foundations we’ve tried have a sheer finish that tends to look almost shiny. While foundations that smooth and mattify the skin as well as this Armani foundation, tend to flatten the complexion.
Being able to almost perfectly balance the two means the Luminous Silk foundation creates one of the most natural-looking and healthy finishes of any foundation we’ve tried. We’d even go as far as to say it makes me look youthful. Its lightweight formula also means it doesn’t settle into my wrinkles or fine lines, and the subtle luminosity brightens my eye area while helping to lift other shadows across the face.
As you can see in the before and after photo above, one pump of the foundation is enough to cover imperfections, blur the complexion, and reduce redness, creating a balanced, even finish. This is the perfect balance for me because my 39-year-old, acne-prone, oily skin doesn’t like full-coverage foundations. They tend to feel heavy, look cakey, and have my skin screaming at the end of the day.
That said, if you prefer (or need) fuller coverage, this foundation is buildable allowing you to create the perfect, desired coverage.
mamabella | mamabella This is the Luminous Silk foundation in the shade 4.5 – which is for neutral, light skin. On my hand it comes up slightly peachy, but on my face it was a much closer match
I say that the Luminous Silk “almost perfectly” balances coverage and finish because, over the day, the overall effect does tend to drop. By midday, oily patches on my nose and forehead started to peek through and by the end of the day, my redness became more noticeable. That said, this foundation didn’t make my skin feel greasy at any point and to look at us, you’d barely notice these changes. I only really saw them because I know how good my skin looked at the start of the day.
Throughout my six-week Luminous Silk foundation review period, I also noticed that my oiliness and redness improved generally. Even when I wasn’t wearing the foundation. Again, not enough to shift the dial and solve all of my skincare concerns, but enough to notice. What’s more, as my oiliness became more balanced, the foundation’s coverage and finish lasted much longer throughout the day.
This suggests that if you have combination skin, or skin that is oily but not overly so, this foundation could help balance your complexion. It may not be suitable for really oily skin though, as it tends to melt off. Even when setting powder and spray are applied.
Another complaint is that while the glass bottle makes this foundation feel sleek and luxurious, I almost smashed it twice when it fell over in my makeup draw. This is a very minor, and possibly unique problem to me, but at the price of this foundation, it had me worried each time. It also worried me when I put the foundation bottle in my suitcase for a mini-break.
Elsewhere, the pump dispenser can be a bit tricky to control. It’s easy to dispense more product than you need, leading to potential wastage. Again, at the price of this foundation, any wasted product is annoying.
Buy now from Boots
@victoria_woolly_web Day 53: @GiorgioArmaniOfficial Luminous Silk – this one is pricey but popular it seems #fyp #fypシ #SuperShow #foundations #mamabella #foundationtest #foundationreview #giorgio #giorgioarmani #luminoussilk ♬ Sunroof – Nicky Youre & dazy
@victoria_woolly_web Based on previous hydration tests, this is around average. Not too drying but doesn’t flood the skin – given its price I expected more but given that it promises a silk finish, this score seems about right #fyp #fypシ #viral #mamabella #foundationtest #foundations #foundationreview #foundation #bestfoundation #bestfoundationuk #bestfoundationever #bestfoundationforoilyskin #bestfoundationformatureskin #giorgioarmani #luminoussilkfoundation #luminoussilk @D @. ♬ BREAK MY SOUL – Beyoncé
Few products come with such high expectations as the GA Luminous Silk Foundation. Not only does it promise a lot by claiming to give luminous, glowing skin, a silk finish, even skin tone, and skincare benefits, but it’s also one of the most expensive foundations we’ve tried. It has garnered almost a cult following, as a result, while also winning multiple awards.
And in the most part, it lived up to these expectations. The coverage and finish definitely live up to the claims. We’d go as far as to say they exceeded my expectations and did what I had previously deemed to be impossible – offer the almost perfect balance of radiant, yet velvet-smooth, balanced, and even skin.
Despite being lightweight, the foundation lasted better than I expected, too. Patches of oil did start to appear as the day wore on, as did areas of redness, but not to the extent other similarly lightweight foundations have in the past. This medium-coverage foundation lasted better than some of the best full-coverage foundations we’ve tried.
mamabella | mamabella Over my six-week Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation review period, my skin was noticeably more plump and hydrated. It felt and looked more balanced and was less inflamed and red
The foundation even lived up to the claims of offering skincare benefits. Over my six-week Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation review period, my skin was noticeably more plump and hydrated. It felt and looked more balanced and was less inflamed and red. It didn’t completely solve my skincare woes, but it definitely made a dent.
The biggest downside is that all of these benefits come at a price. At £45 – or even £27 for the 18ml travel-sized version – this foundation will be out of reach of many people. This is a huge shame because it does live up to the hype and I feel a lot of people would love it. If you can afford it, it’s a worthwhile investment.
Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation alternatives: If you can’t afford the Luminous Silk foundation but want a cheaper option with similar coverage, finish, and benefits I highly recommend the L’Oreal True Match (£9.99); Physician’s Formula The Healthy Foundation (£14.59).
The following list of ingredients is taken from the INCI Decoder website. You can hover over each ingredient to find out more about it.
The numbers next to each ingredient represent its Irritation Rating (the number to the left of the comma), and then Comedogenic Rating (to the right of the comma).
Both ratings are scored out of five and the higher the number, the higher the chance of it causing irritation, or comedones (spots). Green means it has a low rating so is less likely to cause problems. Yellow and red numbers represent high ratings and are more likely to cause problems.
sii|h 0 0, Isododecane emo|solv, Alcohol Denat 
amic|solv|vc, Polyglyceryl-4 Isostearate emu, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone emu|surf, Hexyl Laurate emo, Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate vc, Disteardimonium Hectorite vc, Phenoxyethanol pres, Acetylated Glycol Stearate emo, Magnesium Sulfate vc, PEG-10 Dimethicone emu, Trihydroxystearin vc, Cellulose Gum vc 0 0, Nylon-12 vc, Limonene perf|solv, Benzyl Salicylate perf, Benzyl Alcohol pres|perf|solv|vc, Linalool perf, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate aox|pres, Isobutane, Diphenyl Dimethicone emo|emu, Acrylonitrile/Methyl Methacrylate/Vinylidene Chloride Copolymer, Parfum/Fragrance perf, Disodium Stearoyl Glutamate surf, Methylparaben pres 0 0, Butylphenyl Methylpropional perf, Aluminum Hydroxide emo|h|vc, Hexyl Cinnamal perfHover the mouse / tap over an ingredient for short explanation. Read more on INCIDecoder.
Victoria is founder and editor-in-chief of mamabella, freelance journalist and Mum. She has a passion for empowering people to feel beautiful whatever their age, size, skin type and budget
