Cushion & Tension Guide 2017 : Our Score Is....?
Cushion foundation probably is the most iconic product in Korean beauty.
It was first developed by IOPE and quickly adopted by other Korean brands such as Missha, Etude House, Hera, and even global brands like Yves Saint Laurent and Dior. Since cushions release just right amount & nicely layered foundation to the puff, they have made our skin makeup much easier than ever. Even without brush mastery or elaborate sponge technique we can make our skin ready in no time.
This time, I brought 7 cushions to review, and most of them are not sold on masksheets.com. In other words, this blog will be relatively objective and unbiased. (But I want you to know when I review products, I always try to be as objective as possible.) I will be a main reviewer as always, but for the first time this review is collaborated with Min (vice-president of Masksheets & Besfren Beauty), Eunji (Associate Curator), and JY (Designer & illustrator) for more diverse opinion. So, this M-Pick would be the biggest project ever and a good chance to look at the products that are not easily found in United States.
R: Randy
M: Min
J: JY
E: Eunji
1. Espoir Nude Cushion Dewy #Ivory Pure (Randy’s Best Pick)
Espoir is probably the most underappreciated brand in United States. Unfortunately, Espoir is simply not interested in selling their product outside of South Korea. Anyway, this cushion covers moderate complexion very well while it gives thin and lucent layer on your skin. It does give moisturized, dewy finish on your skin but it also has powdery texture as well, so it provides certainly longer coverage than any other “moisture” type cushion. It gives very natural look on your skin and has SPF 50+ / PA+++ sun coverage as well. If you like light textured cushion with moderate coverage with glow finish, this one is definitely worth to try.
R: 10 Point. (Flawless skin with perfect finish and prolonged look. Nice sun coverage is definitely a big plus as well.)
M: 9 Point (It goes very well with skin and nicely covers pores and lines as well.)
J: 7 Point (I like the cooling sensation of this product but I think this is BB rather than proper foundation.)
E: 9 Point (This is my second favorite after Missha’s tension. It feels so nice on skin with natural color.)
Ranking 1 / Total 35 Point
2. Missha : the Original Tension Pact Tone-up Glow #21 (Eunji’s Best Pick)
This product form Missha is not actually a cushion : cream textured foundation is embedded under the dense and fine filter. Therefore Missha's Orignal Tension Pact gives natural tone-up effect with natural glow on skin. It does cover light skin complexion and makes your skin naturally dewy. It gives lightly cooling sensation on the skin, so I think this will be an excellent pact for dewy, natural skin expression. Unlike cushion, it contains quite a bit of foundation under the tension filter so you can use this for longer time than most of the cushion.
R: 9 Point (I wish it had more SPF coverage than 30, but overall I love the texture and color.)
M: 8 Point (It does give nice and natural glow but I think this pact is better for non-oily skin.)
J: 6 Point (I need a little thicker foundation than this to cover complexion.)
E: 10 Point (I like the texture and it goes perfectly with light-toned Asian skin.)
Ranking 2 / Total 33 Point
3. Donginbi : Young Cushion BB (Min’s Best Pick)
Donginbi's Young Cushion BB has similar texture with Enprani’s Volume Up Covering Cushion but it does spread nicely. It has matt finish inside and bright, beige finish outside. It has second best coverage after Face 2 Change Photo Ready Cushion BB. The micro-powder particles in the foundation gives natural looking coverage and slightly glowing pink pigments makes your skin look rosy. It provides prolonged coverage but if you do not correct your makeup on time, foundation will coagulate and this doesn’t look pretty.
R: 7 Point (The initial presentation is very nice but you have to fix your makeup on time if you don’t want to look like melting candle.)
M: 10 Point (The color is radiant and bright and I like the semi-matt finish. The ginseng extract is definitely a plus for me as well.)
J: 8 Point (It is very similar to Enprani but I prefer the color of this cushion. It does cover well.)
E: 7 Point (It is nice but I don’t feel very moisturized after this.)
Ranking 3 / Total 32
4. HolikaHolika : Face 2 Change Photo Ready Cushion BB #21 Bright Beige
(JY’s Best Pick)
Probably, Face 2 Change Photo Ready Cushion BB from Holika Holika provides the most coverage out of the all cushion in this review. It feels a little thicker than Precious Mineral BB Balm because of the powder particles in the foundation and gives velvet- like soft finish after you wear it. I personally don’t like gray-pink pigments but if you have warm tone skin, I think this will be a good foundation for coverage. It doesn’t give any glow on your skin so if you like radiant and natural finish, you probably won’t like this cushion very much.
R: 7 Point. (If you have warm toned (yellowish) skin and need coverage, this will be a good choice but it definitely doesn’t give natural looking glow.)
M: 4 Point (It is just way too thick.)
J: 10 Point (It matches best with my skin. It does cover complexion and discoloration the best, and I like the moderately matt finish of this product as well.)
E: 7 Point. (It is a good coverage)
Ranking 4. Total 28
5. Enprani : Volume Up Covering Cushion Natural Beige
Volume Up Covering Cushion's apricot toned pigments give radiant look but the texture is a quite thick and matt so it doesn’t spread very well. This one doesn’t have grayish / Pink Pigments so gives you matt inside and slightly glow & rosy look outside. But it does not provide very good coverage regardless its thick texture. It is a mediocre cushion overall.
R: 6 Point. (I like the color but texture is too matt and thick.)
M: 7 Point (It has matt texture and color is nice. But it doesn’t give natural look.
J: 7 Point (It goes well with my skin-tone but I need a little more coverages on pores.)
E: 5 Point. (I simply cannot stand this thick texture. It is too matt inside.)
Ranking 5. Total 25
6. April Skin : Cushion Pink, #4 Beige
April Skin's Cushion Pink has the lightest and most watery texture among the cushions we reviewed here. It does give a little bit of tone-up but it does not provide any coverage. But it has SPF 50+ and PA+++, so it can be used as a correcting cushion after lunch or supplementary sun block over the makeup. If you are looking for coverage, I don’t think you will like this. But the puff is absolutely amazing, it keep releases foundation even after 6~7 times of stamping.
R: 6 Point (It can be a good supplementary Sunscreen.)
M: 7 Point (It gives quite a natural looking, without powdery and unnatural finish.)
J: 4 Point. (It doesn’t provide any coverage.)
E: 5 Point (I like the puff but it doesn’t cover anything.)
Ranking 6. Total 22
7. Etude House : Precious Mineral BB Balm Petal
Etude House's Precious Mineral BB Balm is a melting foundation type BB pact. I think this product was inspired by Age 20’s Essence Cover Pact. It has foundation layer and marbled with white & pearly pigments. This does have moisturizing texture and covers the moderate complexion but it gives unnatural skin expression with thick layer. The biggest problem of this product is that the BB doesn’t adhere on to skin well. So if you touch your face while this BB balm is on, you will make obvious fingerprint on your skin. I am sure you don’t want that.
R 4 Point. (Shit product in general but it gives quite okay look after 8~9 hours without correction. But it doesn’t mean this is a good BB balm.)
M: 2 Point (It does cover but it doesn’t feel comfortable on my skin.)
J: 5 Point (It is a okay BB balm overall but I think you have to use powder to prevent fingerprint.)
E: 1 Point (Simply the worst product between them.)
Ranking 7. Total 12
