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Armani

Luminous Silk Foundation.

Armani Luminous Silk Foundation
Foundation

About this product

A medium-coverage liquid foundation from Armani with a luminous, natural finish, known for a wide shade range and a comfortable, skin-like feel.

Foundation

The Guru Index verdict

78%

Approved

Approved · 78%
9Reviewers
7Approved
2Mixed
0Skip
#5 in Best Foundation

What the gurus are saying

Gurus consistently praise this as an iconic, beloved formula with a beautiful lightweight feel and natural finish that doesn't look heavy. The main split: those with normal to dry skin love its hydrating, serum-like texture, while oily-skinned reviewers appreciate it but note they must use minimal product or baking techniques to prevent excess shine. The recurring criticism is that coverage is genuinely sheer and won't build substantially, particularly when applied with a sponge, making it unsuitable for full-coverage needs. Color matching divides opinion, with some finding the range excellent and others reporting poor shade options for their undertone.
Synthesized from 9 expert reviews

Key actives & flags

SPF

Full ingredients

Aqua/​Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Glycerin, Isododecane, Alcohol Denat, Polyglyceryl-4 Isostearate, Cetyl PEG/​PPG-10/​1 Dimethicone, Hexyl Laurate, Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Phenoxyethanol, Magnesium Sulfate, Diphenyl Dimethicone, Cellulose Gum, PEG-10 Dimethicone, Disodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Acrylonitrile/​Methyl Methacrylate/​Vinylidene Chloride Copolymer, Parfum/​Fragrance, Methylparaben, Nylon-12, Trihydroxystearin, Aluminum Hydroxide, Isobutane, Acetylated Glycol Stearate, Benzyl Salicylate, Hexyl Cinnamal, Benzyl Alcohol, Limonene, Linalool, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Ci 77891/​Titanium Dioxide, Ci 77491, Ci 77492, Ci 77499/​Iron Oxides

Every take, in full

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

All takes Approved only Skip only Mixed only Hide sponsored
~Mixed
"Even the recent reformulation with Armani Luminous Silk, the lighter shades, though they did start to include a little bit more of the olive and ultramarine tones into their foundation, the pigments into their foundations were still quite orange. The shade Mont Blanc is a little bit too on the orange, yellowy orange side. The formula does feel quite nice, I have to say, like hydrating for a matte foundation."
All 6 takes from Alexandra Anele
So NARS has a new foundation…
"Even the recent reformulation with Armani Luminous Silk, the lighter shades, though they did start to include a little bit more of the olive and ultramarine tones into their foundation, the pigments into their foundations were still quite orange. The shade Mont Blanc is a little bit too on the orange, yellowy orange side. The formula does feel quite nice, I have to say, like hydrating for a matte foundation."
Are yall ready for a bridal makeup challenge??
"I'm an oily girl but I like Armani Luminous Silk. I just bake the hell out of it. I kind of gravitate towards like every type of foundation. I like all of them except for the extremely dewy ones because they'll just make me so oily. I use really small amounts of it."
Let’s see if these are REALLY Olive
"I have always kind of liked the Armani Luminous Silk foundation, but I have foundations that are just a better color match. So, I don't really use them that often. The formula looks thinner, and it has slightly more of a grip. It's not a heavy coverage foundation. It's not like a full coverage matte foundation. It tends to be soaked up by sponges. I just really like applying with sponges. I would rather go through a little extra foundation and be able to apply it with a sponge than a brush, but a brush might be better in terms of maintaining that coverage."
Let’s see if these are REALLY Olive
"The color has like neutralized the tone of my face a little bit more. So it's definitely not a perfect match, but that's not the end of the world. Because I am just like very yellow looking, I feel like I prefer the old color. It has a little bit more brightness to it, and when there's a little too much red in a foundation, that can make me and the olive in my skin look kind of like drab. It really just kind of like removes the saturation and the color from my skin. The coverage is fine. It's not definitely not meant to be like a heavy coverage or even really medium coverage foundation in my opinion. It's more so like a natural, like a very natural coverage. I went over this area three times and didn't really like build up coverage. However, I was using a sponge, and so if you do want to build up more coverage with this type of foundation, a brush is probably best."
You'll love these
"This is an OG for many people for a reason. It's a beautiful formula. Now if you're someone who's ridiculously oily you probably aren't going to like it. But I will say that it's gorgeous. This is a gorgeous, I would say medium coverage foundation. It is extremely hydrating without being like oily for me at least. As someone who does tend to lean a little bit more oily, I love this foundation for so many reasons. It feels like it has a serum feel and kind of a satiny feel. Like as you blend it out it gives a little bit of this moussey satin kind of feel. You can build it up a little bit but it's definitely not a full coverage foundation. It's more like somewhere between, I wouldn't say it's light. It's more of a medium finish."
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"I did try to go in with the Armani foundation on its own but it's very very light. I typically use that shade when I mix it with other things, so I ended up mixing it with the MAC and it was fine."
Approved
"It is quite nice. It does have fragrance though -- it is pretty fragranced, so if you can't do that, you will most likely want to pass on this. There are two sizes: the larger is 30ml and the smaller is 18ml. I went with the larger size because I thought if I like it, I have the bigger size to move on with. I'm actually quite impressed with this. It's really nice, I actually quite like it, and it's very lightweight."
Approved
"This is a beautiful foundation. I love it. But I did not want that on my wedding day. It's very sheer. It literally just takes out redness. It's basically like your skin, but better without redness because I have rosacea. Obviously, it needs to be blended out with a Beauty Blender."
~Mixed
"The one thing I have learned though with foundation you definitely don't need nearly as much as you need when you put on like a BB cream. You need a lot with the BB cream, but with the foundation it's just a very tiny amount."
Approved
"This is the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation. I feel like one of the world's most favorite foundations and I've heard such good things about it for so many years. It's what people wear on their wedding day, it feels like skin and looks like skin all day long, it never fails them. No matter how much texture your skin has, this foundation lays over top and doesn't emphasize it. It makes skin look smooth and glowy. It's one of the things I always look for in a product: would you wear it on a wedding day, would it look good on a wedding day on somebody else. I know so many people that say it's their Holy Grail Foundation forever and ever."
All 4 takes from Allie Glines
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"The Armani Luminous Silk is one of those iconic formulas that I feel like will never go away. I feel like these are going to last a lifetime and beyond as far as just products that will never be discontinued. I personally don't get as much use out of the Luminous Silk, but I love it because it has a more sheer finish, which is great when you want to shear out the coverage of foundation. I think that's where being mindful of the amount of foundation that you're using really does matter so you still look like yourself."
Reusing AMAZING New Makeup 😍
"It has a cooling feeling and then you can feel it get really smooth on the surface of the skin which is nice. This one smells like clean laundry, it's not as overpowering of a fragrance as some of the high-end brands that I've tried but it's still there. It's really interesting because most go for a super floral scent, but this literally smells like fresh laundry to me. I honestly don't mind the smell, though my skin usually minds having fragrance in products. This looks pretty on the skin. It's super lightweight, still gives coverage, but looks like skin."
Reusing AMAZING New Makeup 😍
"It smells like clean laundry. It's not as overpowering of a fragrance as some of the high-end brands that I've tried, but it's still there. It's really interesting. Most I feel like go for a super floral scent, but this literally smells like fresh laundry to me. I honestly don't mind the smell. This looks pretty on the skin. I feel like it's super lightweight, still gives coverage, but looks like skin overall. I'm really into that vibe. It has less coverage than a lot of my other go-to foundations, like less coverage than my Nars one for example, and it's just a little more fresh looking too. That's really pretty. I've been using this a few times actually and I do like it so far. It's got a bit of a tacky finish to it, like you can see how it kind of pulls at the skin, which I don't mind. I feel like that actually allows it to really adhere and blend beautifully."
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"This is the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation. I feel like one of the world's most favorite foundations and I've heard such good things about it for so many years. It's what people wear on their wedding day, it feels like skin and looks like skin all day long, it never fails them. No matter how much texture your skin has, this foundation lays over top and doesn't emphasize it. It makes skin look smooth and glowy. It's one of the things I always look for in a product: would you wear it on a wedding day, would it look good on a wedding day on somebody else. I know so many people that say it's their Holy Grail Foundation forever and ever."
Approved
"I use Armani foundations which I just absolutely love."
Approved
"It's the perfect foundation for a light to medium coverage for someone with normal to dry skin. It's not great for super oily skin, but it has a beautiful finish to it. It's very skin-like but it's very very radiant and it just wears like a dream the whole entire day. You will look flawless. It feels very high-end. You can see through it, it doesn't look like makeup. It's lovely."
Approved
"This has been probably our top foundation for so long, so many years. I've used this on everyone because I know exactly what I'm getting with this foundation. I know what it's going to look like on camera, I know how it's going to wear, I know how it's going to interact with most skin types. Even people with more oily skin, I'll put a little bit of primer with it, I'll set it with powder and it still performs beautifully. Don't let the fact that it has luminous in the title deter you if you have more oily skin. I think this is like just one of the best foundations it's ever been formulated and put on the market. I personally think the Armani Foundation really straddles the line of being a skin tint and a foundation. That's what makes it so beautiful. It gives you that actual coverage but it's so sheer in some ways, it's so light."
All 2 takes from Mixed Makeup
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"This has been probably our top foundation for so long, so many years. I've used this on everyone because I know exactly what I'm getting with this foundation. I know what it's going to look like on camera, I know how it's going to wear, I know how it's going to interact with most skin types. Even people with more oily skin, I'll put a little bit of primer with it, I'll set it with powder and it still performs beautifully. Don't let the fact that it has luminous in the title deter you if you have more oily skin. I think this is like just one of the best foundations it's ever been formulated and put on the market. I personally think the Armani Foundation really straddles the line of being a skin tint and a foundation. That's what makes it so beautiful. It gives you that actual coverage but it's so sheer in some ways, it's so light."
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"I use Luminous Silk by Armani and I absolutely love how this feels on my skin."
Approved
"If I do wear foundation, I've got a few favorites. For something very light and sheer, I like Armani -- I think everyone does, it's just great, and I think the color matches are beautiful. The rumor I heard from the Pat McGrath counter -- actually not a rumor -- is that Pat McGrath designed it. She was signed to Procter and Gamble for a long period of time and at the same time was moonlighting a little bit on Armani as well."
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