Naturally Eccentric

The L’Oréal Magic Nude Liquid Powder is described as a ‘revolutionary liquid that transforms on contact, leaving a soft powder like finish.’ The Giorgio Armani Maestro Fusion Makeup is described as ‘an ultra-lightweight formula that applies easily with an unforgettable sensation, leaving skin moisturized and conditioned for a flawless complexion.’

I first purchased the Giorgio Armani Maestro Fusion Makeup about a year ago. It was unlike any foundation I’d ever tried; down to the dispenser. The texture was like silk and reminded me of argan oil. Initially I was worried it wouldn’t work with my oily skin type, but much to my surprise, it actually helped keep the oil at bay for a few hours. The coverage in general is sheer, but it can be layered to a medium coverage. Another thing I like about the Maestro formula is it never feels heavy and makes my skin seem near perfect. One downside to this formula is it will accentuate dry patches or texture from things like acne in the process of healing.

The L’Oréal Magic Nude Liquid Powder retails for about $13 and is available in most drugstores. The beauty junkie in me is always in search of new products to try so I picked it up on a whim. The bottle design made it a bit difficult to choose a color match but I lucked out and picked the right shade for my skin. When I first applied the foundation I realized the similarities to the Maestro foundation instantly.

L’Oréal Magic Nude Liquid Powder in shade 332 Soft Sable vs Giorgio Armani Maestro Fusion Makeup in shade 10.

As you may be able to tell from the photo above, the shade is pretty much the same in both products. They both use Octinoxate 3% as a sunscreen, which seems to work well with photography. Also, the Magic Nude applied and wore just a well as the Maestro formula. Aside from the packaging and a slight difference in the amount of product received, it was impossible for me to tell them apart.

After realizing the two products were nearly identical, I did some investigating. I discovered that Giorgio Armani Beauty and L’Oréal Paris are both owned by the same parent company. With that said, it would stand to reason that the formulas could be so similar. There are however, a couple of differences that are a bit of a big deal.

First is the price. The Maestro Fusion Makeup comes in at $62 for 30ml were as the Magic Nude is about $13 for 27ml. The second is the shade range. The Magic Nude is available in 12 shades where as the Maestro formula has 18 shades. There are 11 shades lighter than mine in the Magic Nude formula, where as there are 15 lighter than my shade in the Maestro foundation. My shade in the Magic Nude is the darkest available but there are two deeper shades available in the Maestro foundation.

I imagine there’s probably some other shades that overlap between the two formulas as well so there’s a chance at a major savings money wise. Unfortunately if your shade falls outside of the 12 L’Oréal offers and you were looking to purchase this type of formula, you may have to shell out the $62 for the Maestro foundation.