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Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation Review, Photos, Swatches

Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation
Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation

Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation ($53.00 for 1.0 fl. oz.) is described as lightweight, imparting a “radiant glow,” and is supposed to “work as a base prior to [applying] Terracotta Bronzing Powder.” The whole idea is that it’s supposed to help the skin look warmer, radiant, and smoother. It’s available in five shades, and the one I tried was Natural, which appears to be the second in the range.

The coverage is light to light-medium, which seems to be in line with Guerlain’s description of “appearing make-up-free.” The consistency is somewhere between a thicker liquid and a thinner cream, so it is able to spread and blend out on the skin without feeling heavy, but it isn’t quite as spreadable as their other liquid foundations (in glass bottles). I feel like I end up using more product with this formula to get an even layer all over the skin. Applied, it gives my normal-to-dry skin a more even, smoother-looking appearance while also darkening and warming up my natural complexion. The finish was very natural-looking; not totally matte but not really luminous or dewy. You’ll want to ensure you blend down your neck, as this is adding warmth and slightly darkening the skin tone, so making sure everything is seamless is key. It has a very lightweight, wearable feel on the skin, and it lasts about eight hours on me before starting to visibly break down.

It is very, very heavily scented with Guerlain’s “Tiare Flower” fragrance, which is just so over-the-top that it’s something I can smell all day long, even eight hours later, and feels really heavy, like a cloud of florals all around me. You have to really love scented base products, and you have to really love the scent of the foundation in general to love this formula. I liked it, but I prefer Lingerie de Peau or Parure Lumiere infinitely more for its more spreadable consistency and coverage.

Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation
Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation

Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation
Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation

Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation
Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation

Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation
Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation

Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation
Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation

Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation
Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation

Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation
Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation

Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation
No Foundation / Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation

Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation
Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation

Makeup Look
On face:
  • Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation
  • Guerlain Les Voilettes Loose Powder
On lips:
  • : Lancome Corail Cabriole Lip Lover

62 Comments

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Sunny Avatar

Hey Christine, this looks lovely on you!

I got a sample sachet so I also gave it a go. It doesn’t “darken” my skin tone per se (I think I am just a little bit warmer and darker than you), but it does change my undertone somehow. Definitely a good idea to blend down to the neck! I also smell quite a bit of the fragrance, but not really for 8 hours (mind you, my nose isn’t that good). All in all I like it, but I’m not sure I like it enough to shell out the money for a full-sized tube!

Christina Avatar

I liked this foundation, but it added too much warmth to my fair, fair skin! The moment I swatched it, I knew the lightest shade wouldn’t work for me, as I wear 31 Ambre Pale in Guerlain, but I was hoping it would work for me anyway. I thought the texture was lovely and the scent was nice (though strong). It’s too bad there isn’t a lighter shade, as I would have picked it up right away.

Adetoun Avatar

I got this foundation a couple of months ago, I took it on vacation to Jamaica with me along with mufe face and body. It performed marvelously, and held up superbly under the humidity. Funny enough floral scents trigger migraines for me but after I put this one I can’t smell it anymore, it’s now one of my top foundations especially for the summer.

Christine Avatar

You’re very sweet, lol! I promise you it is not, but good lighting always helps one look better than usual. 🙂 I really use… whatever? in the sense that I use a product until it’s out, then I switch in a new product and rarely reuse anything over and over again! Each type of product changes out every 2 weeks – I use everything for 6-8 weeks, but something new gets rotated in every 2 weeks (so my skin doesn’t have to adjust to ALL new products, just one at a time). The only constants in my routine are prescription products, which are the only things that ever helped me!

Larissa Avatar

It looks lovely on your skin, but that’s an intense scent! I also swatched this in-store and by my eye the lightest shade looked a bit too dark for me. It might work if I had a serious tan going, but otherwise, I’m going to stick to my summertime Dior BB Creme.

Wednesday Avatar

This looks sooo soooo pretty on you! I find myself curious and wondering if a shade lighter would work for me . I like the finish; not too dewy, but clearly gives you a hint of colour and a hint of a glow. Very nice! I’m not one typically for heavily scented beauty items. This is one I would prefer to track down a sample before buying.

tzwiggy Avatar

Just checked out some swatches off all the shades and OMG YELLOW! Their regular (more beige and cooler toned) foundations makes me look jaundiced, so this one will definitely not work for me.

My main problem with this product, though, is the fragrance. What the hell were they thinking? Like their other products aren’t too heavily scented. Ugh!

Hannah Avatar

I adore their tiare scent.. and that product looks so gorgeous on!.. Wonder if it would be worth it to splurge on it although I have my beloved foundation I wouldn’t exchange for the world mmh.. I will go check this out in store!

Kris Avatar

Oh, it has become my Holy Grail daily tinted moisturiser! I’m wearing it right now 🙂 I actually think it smells heavily of sunscreen too, so it reminds me of summer and I actually quite like it.

I find that I don’t expect to behave like Parure Gold or Lingerie de Peau, but more like a tinted moisturiser/BB cream with reasonable coverage. I use one pump for my whole face and spread it around really thinly with my fingers. I love that it dries down and doesn’t slide around like most BB creams. It provides a unified face that is perfect for the warmer months.

Deb Avatar

I had a sample of this and loved it for the first couple of days…and then it caused havoc with my skin. The third ingredient is alcohol and my skin doesn’t do well with those kind of products. It triggers more oil production in me and then I broke out on my chin.

I love the finish of Guerlain foundations but they’re too pink for me. I had high hopes for this one; I wish they hadn’t used alcohol in it.

Trish Williams Avatar

I tried this in Ebony a few weeks back and the color, while gorgeous, wound up lookig too *dark* on me too 🙁 ‘m an NW43 btw. Seting it w/ my Guerlain Terracotta bronzer in #4 made it look even darker. While I love the color effect, it doesn’t look natural on me right now as I haven’t turned my ‘summer color’ yet. I do love the smell tho’ but for now I’m sticking w/ my NARS tinted moisturizer in Martinique.

Marjo Avatar

I tried this Guerlain foundation and it is definitely too orangy for me. On you it looks great though, but so does almost everything! I’m following your blog for two months now (you are really inspiring), and you always look lovely. How do you do that? English is not my native tongue, so please forgive me my mistakes

Jenn Avatar

Yes, the scent is strong. At first I smelled it and I thought it was a bit weird since it wasn’t the typical Guerlain violet scent. Odd, this does not darken my skin (yes I’m using Naturele, but it could be I darkened up) or bronze it. I feel like it doesn’t have much coverage. How did you get more coverage with this? I think the old Terracotta skin may have worked better. I do agree with how unspreadable it is against their actual foundations where Lingerie de Peau was a 1 shoter VS a 2 shoter JT.
DIAMOND POWDER?!?
Usually a pump from their foundations is enough. (My head is about 8 in. or smaller. An Angry Bird plush was bigger than my head- which was the 8 in one.)

persephoney Avatar

With the thick consentency of this makeup you have to swatch it on your face starting with the lightest shade for your complexion and blend. Especially during the warm months of the year your hand will be too dark to swatch. I made this mistake and ended up returning my original choice because on my face it looked like a dark mask. Once I chose the right shade it blended right into my skin and was luminous like the picture above that I did not require a highlighter to bring out my contours when applying bronzer Nx the act of applying bronzer warmed my face. This makeup is beautifying, looks smooth, and the face appears younger. Its worth every penny.

Alice Avatar

Hello, I make a query … I use Tenue de Perfection of Guerlain # 03 Beige Naturel, which Jolie Teint you recommend me? Naturel ?? Thank you for your help!!

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