{"id":16694,"date":"2016-09-19T08:30:20","date_gmt":"2016-09-19T00:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/?p=16694"},"modified":"2018-08-04T15:29:38","modified_gmt":"2018-08-04T07:29:38","slug":"korean-cushion-foundation-comparison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mywomenstuff.com\/2016\/09\/korean-cushion-foundation-comparison\/","title":{"rendered":"Cushion Foundation Week 2 – The K-Beauty Edition : Round up and Comparison"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ok tell me now, which day of Cushion Foundation Week 2 (the K-Beauty edition)<\/strong> did you miss?! LOL I’m sure not everyone was following every single day, and honestly I don’t blame you. It was quite a challenge for me as well, as it does involve a lot of work, as you can imagine. But I hope you found it useful, one way or another.<\/p>\n

A problem I faced when compiling CFW2 (the K-Beauty edition) is the lack of information. I discovered very quickly that Korean brands update their cushion foundations very often, and have confusingly similar names, and a confusing lack of clarity in their product names and description. So, I was operating with a handicap right away. This was further borne out when I realised while doing my research, that a couple of the cushions I had, had been reformulated or repackaged and even renamed by the time I featured them. It was very frustrating for me because I bought most of the cushions this time around, and I just didn’t know about the changes when I got them just a few months back.<\/p>\n

\"cushion<\/p>\n

Due to the avalanche of requests from the last Cushion Foundation Week<\/a>, I focused on Korean brands this time around. I was very fortunate this time to have been gifted with the Laneige (Pore Control and Whitening), Sulwhasoo and Mamonde, which was really why I decided to do this back-to-back comparison, just to see how they all fare against each other. With these therefore, the information I have is current. With the others that I bought online, I only have whatever online information I have to go by and as it turned out, it was out of date. I found that very frustrating, and that will be your frustration when you too, try to buy online.<\/p>\n

So, I’m done with cushion foundations for a while, but as I have received so many queries on Instagram about how they stack up next to each other, here is my round-up and final thoughts on the Korean cushion foundations that I own and that I’ve featured here on MWS. You can chime in too of course!<\/p>\n

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Korean Cushion Foundations<\/h2>\n

There seems to be a little confusion about whether these cushion foundations are foundation or BB cream. Their names don’t help. Laneige calls theirs a BB Cushion which implies theirs is a BB cream. The other brands I’ve featured call their product a plain cushion… \u00a0which doesn’t tell us very much.<\/p>\n

Personally speaking, I categorize cushion foundations as foundation or base makeup. They are basically a light textured liquid foundation in a saturated sponge cushion, that is made portable and easy for touching up. In fact, if you like touching up your makeup, I’d say that cushion foundations are really what you should be carrying, instead of powder foundation. The light liquid texture is more flattering on skin, and when you use it as a touch up, you will get the coverage you need anyway, as it usually goes on top of your existing base makeup.<\/p>\n

If you are the lazy sort who needs a smack for not using a separate sunscreen<\/a>, then you’d better be touching up at least every hour. If not, use sunscreen. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you that you can use a cushion foundation with SPF50+ PA+++ in place of sunscreen. If you do, and you burn or develop sun spots, look in the mirror and blame yourself \ud83d\ude1b I’m sorry, no sympathy for you from me! \ud83d\ude1b<\/p>\n

I started out my experiment thinking that most Korean cushion foundations would be similar in texture and performance. After 7 days, I’ve realised that they are just as varied, even if almost all the cushions I featured come from the same mother company!<\/p>\n

\"cushion<\/p>\n

All the cushions on the left – Iope<\/a>, Laneige (Pore Control<\/a> and Whitening<\/a>), Hera<\/a>, Mamonde<\/a>, Innisfree <\/a>and Sulwhasoo <\/a>are all brands under the Amore Pacific brand. Iope featured in my previous CFW but I’ve brought it back because it is a Korean brand after all!<\/p>\n

The one that’s different, and the black sheep, is April Skin, which doesn’t come under the Amore Pacific umbrella. However, as you have seen over the week, the quality and performance of the cushions within the same umbrella brand are all quite different.<\/p>\n

I also realised, as I’ve said above, that Korean brands move very quickly, and reformulate often, with confusing names and descriptions. So I cannot be sure that a product called Water Glow Cushion is the same as Water Fit Cushion (by Innisfree) or that the Hera UV Mist Cushion that has no description on mine, is the same as the Hera UV Mist Cover Cushion now available on the website. I don’t know, and I probably won’t know since we don’t have Hera here.<\/p>\n

Sunscreen protection : Usually at least SPF50 PA+++<\/h2>\n

Needless to say, the sun protection offered by all the Korean brands are very high. This is impressive and really sets the standard for base makeup that is functional.\u00a0Most, if not all of them use\u00a0Titanium Dioxide and\u00a0Zinc Oxide as their UV blockers.<\/p>\n

If you use enough therefore, theoretically, these would make excellent sunscreen touch up products. Not as a primary protection, but for touching up through the day.<\/p>\n

The Packaging & Refills<\/h2>\n

Because I cut my cushion foundation teeth on Laneige back in the day, I had the impression that all Korean cushion foundations come with refills. All the compacts have\u00a015g of product if I’m not mistaken, and including a spare refill usually brings it to 30g, that is a more common size for foundation.<\/p>\n

However, I was very surprised therefore to note that it wasn’t the case. Ironically, it was the cushion foundations in the more affordable brands that did away with the spare refills. I found that surprising, but at the same time, clever.<\/p>\n

By not packaging their product with a spare refill, the brand could reduce the price of their product, thereby giving the impression of affordability. If a cushion foundation set would cost e.g. RM159 for a case + 2 refills, and the brand could sell you a case + 1 refill at RM90 it gave the impression you were paying less. In fact, you end up paying more in the end.<\/p>\n

For this reason, I found myself a little prejudiced against Innisfree and April Skin. While this also meant I didn’t have to slog through a 2nd refill of a formula I did not like, it did not give me the perceived value. Once I buy the product + refill, the price would essentially be the same as, or maybe even higher than a mid-high range brand.<\/p>\n

However, as most of the brands are under the same umbrella, I did note in the individual reviews that some of the cushion refills fit into some other brand’s cases.<\/p>\n