TLDR: I would highly recommend this product to anyone that wants a medium to full coverage, easy to apply, high SPF foundation. My only qualm is that it does get a little too "dewy" for individuals with oily skin. If you're on the oilier side like myself, remember to bring your blotting papers or powder to touch up! It can get really, really greasy.
Even though I've been posting off and on for five years, I've been a pretty consistent fan of Laneige throughout my blogging journey. I was pretty disappointed when they revamped their pore care line and after I moved back to Vancouver/Seattle it became increasingly hard to find Laneige. My usual go-to strategy was actually to smuggle an insane amount of vials and boxes of Laneige in my suitcase after visiting Taiwan. I distinctly remember one time being pulled aside by the Canadian border agent, them x-raying my suitcase and demanding to know what all the bottles in my suitcase were. I just cried and they let me go.
Imagine my surprise when I walked into my local Target to find a huge display of Laneige with their BB Cushion Compact front and center on display! Now I don't have to pay exorbitantly high fees for shipping or risk being detained by Border Agents.
So what exactly is a cushion compact?
It's a sponge housed in a sturdy plastic container that has been soaked in BB or CC cream. Iope, a child of the enormous Amore Pacific cosmetics corporation, was the first brand to release a cushion compact. Amore Pacific did an insane amount of research on what sponges to use to house the product. The sponge in the container makes sure that the components of the BB cream don't separate, allowing for even and consistent application each time. The powder puff applicator that comes with the compact is also different from any powder puff you've seen before. It's dense, thin, and has a unique texture that doesn't absorb too much product. Supposedly, the sponge is also anti-microbial!
I've been dying to try out a cushion compact, mainly because of my obsession with the Korean beauty phenom Pony, but I wasn't willing to shell out $60 on the Amore Pacific CC compact. The price point of the Laneige BB Cushion is much more palatable at $34.
I was super pleased when I opened the box and saw that the compact came with an extra refill. I'm pretty lazy about sunscreen so the 50++ already built into the the BB Cream makes me feel slightly more secure that I'm not letting the sun blast UV damage all over my face.
The compact is hefty and well made. There's two levels to the compact, an upper level to house the sponge applicator and a lower level that houses the BB Cream soaked cushion. The divider that separates the two actually seals the lower chamber so that the BB cushion doesn't dry out.
You can also see that Laneige seals the cushion with a sticker to prevent any premature drying of the product.
Right now "cushion compacts" are huge in Korea and and almost all Korean Brands, including innisfree, Tony Moly, 3 Concept Eyes, etude house, etc., have their own versions of the cushion compact for sale with different finishes! Only Amore Pacific, Laneige, and Lancome offer easily accessible cushion compacts in the states. However, you can also buy Korean branded cushion compacts from independent sellers on Amazon, eBay, and G-Market.
The biggest advantages of the cushion compact are the ease of application, the benefits of increased SPF, and because of it's creamy new compact form companies can jam more nutrients for your skin into it.
Now for the application...
I woke up like this. |
I did one layer of the BB Cream on my chin and forehead and I did around three passes on each cheek. It left me with a slightly dewy look, which looks quite nice on camera! However, since my face is a small OPEC nation the "dewy" look can quickly evolve into full on grease-face. To combat this, I dusted a light layer of my finishing powder over the BB Cream to set my makeup and take the dewiness away.
This is my completed makeup with all the other steps finished. I went to an amusement park after putting this makeup on and it did a pretty good job holding up throughout all the sweating, screaming, and water rides my friends and I went on.
My Cousin Jom |
Even though this is a pretty horrible photo of me, you can see that the BB Cream held up well.The one thing I probably could've done was touch up with some blotting papers or some powder foundation. After a while, the BB Cream does get pretty greasy.
Edit: Aug 26, 2015 Here's what my makeup looked like when I got home. I found this photo hiding in my computer. It looks like it help up alright. =D
My only other qualm with the BB Cream is hygiene. The sponge applicator and cushion compact seem like germ farms to me, but they do advertise the sponges as being antibacterial. Nonetheless, I still like to wash my makeup applicators at least once a week and I tried to wash the sponge applicator that came with the compact. It was a bit tough to wash and I felt like there was a lot of product buildup held within the sponge. Also post-wash my once pristine sponge looked like this:
I've been using this compact for a month now and I've found that the product tends to gather in the edges of the compact. If you think you're out, try the corners before you switch to your refill!
In general I highly recommend this product!
Purchase Link:
Target (non-referral)
LOL "I just cried and they let me go." Sorry, that must have been terrifying.
ReplyDeleteIt looks really nice freshly applied. I guess the portability and longevity go hand in hand then. Are you planning on trying the Lancome version that just came out?
@The Beautylogues Haha! It was scary! I'm glad they didn't want to deal with me though...
ReplyDeleteI do want to try the Lancome Version! I've also heard great things about the Amore Pacific Version though...I want to try all of them hahahaha. OBSESSED.