Put Your Glow on: Glowing, Dewy Makeup Base - Review M21

When Mac introduced its first strobing makeup-base, Strobe Cream, the market was not so interested in this innovative product. It contains shiny and pearly strobing particles that makes your skin glowing. The problem was its purplish pink particle made skin look very futuristically metallic (seriously) if you applied improperly. So, many people use foundation and powder to mitigate this overly prism-look.

          (Go Hyun-jung)                       (Lee Young-ae)                       (Jun Ji-Hyun) 

In early 2000, this makeup product brought a new era of dewy look in Korean beauty industry. Natural makeup muses such as Go Hyun-jung, Lee Young-ae and Jun Ji-Hyun appeared in the media with their beautifully glowing, porcelain like skin. The secret was to mix this strobing cream with foundation and preferably with small amount of moisturizer or facial oil, rather than layering them separately. More importantly, skipping the whole face finishing powder and only applying them on the edge of their face to prevent hairs stick on.

Now, we do not even use strobing cream. The problem of mixing method is that it is hard to cover the blemishes and you have hard time to fix your makeup during the day since it lacks the layering. We are not celebrities, so do not have makeup artists following you whole day to keep your makeup fresh. So, mixing method was just simply impractical. Furthermore, we look for even more natural and healthier looking skin. So, there were lots of researches and trial of new products for the dewy, glowing look. (In Korean, it is called "물광", meaning the "water-lighting makeup".)

I picked up some of makeup products for naturally glowing makeup. They are easy to use and instantly give you dewy look without much layering. If you want to cover some of the blemishes, you can simply add concealing products under your makeup.

1. Etude House: Glow on Base

In late 2016, Etude House introduced these two glowing makeup bases, Glow On Base Hydro/ Oil Volume, and the Koreans just addicted with that. They are definitely inspired by Guerlain’s L’or Radiant Base. It contains transparent jewel particles (for hydra) and gold particles (for Oil Volume.) It prepares your skin excellently before your foundation or BB, and leaves natural glow for the finish. It makes your make-up stay longer since it makes the pigment particle adheres to your skin like a glue. There is a saying between Korean beauty gurus “there are people who didn’t try Glow-on, but there is no people who use this only once.” It’s just a holy-grail of the year. (To me as well)

2. Elensilia: 1-Carat Diamond Tone-up Cream

This strobing, light textured finishing cream from Elensilia makes your skin instantly brighter and pearly glow. It has micro diamond particle, makes your skin shine like a diamond without leaving the thick layer on your skin. As it says in it's name, Diamond 1 carat tone up cream, it contains 1 full carat count of diamond powders in a jar, giving you pearly and radiant look. It falls under the category of “Bare-makeup” cream, so you can use this as a simple last step of your skincare. You may mix this with sunscreen and finish your daily makeup routine if you don’t have much discoloration. You can also mix with this with your foundation for natural strobing effect.

3. April Skin: Cushion Pink

I’m sure many of you already know this product. This Magic Snow Cushion Pink from April Skin instantly gives you cooling sensation when you apply it on your face. The watery, light texture of this cushion is one of the best part of this product and the tension pressed puff is just so soft. There are 4 different colors for the skin-tone correction (purple for yellowish, pink for pale, green for red and beige for all skin type.) Since it does not cover any of your complexion, make sure you use concealing products under this. It is very lightly textured, so you can very easily reapply on the top of other makeup without much discomfort. It’s an excellent product for the ones who don’t like thick makeup.

4. Innisfree: Mineral Glow Fixer

In terms of convenience, I think Mineral Glow Fixer from Innisfree win this “Pick.” What it does is to fix your makeup like hair-spray, leaving your skin radiant and glow. It does contain some oily ingredients so more adequate for dry skin in a non-humid atmosphere. It makes your skin dewy and glow for a long time and because it is a spray type product, you can always reapply this product on your skin anytime you want. However, due to its excellent glowing effect, it makes your skin look very oily if you apply too much. So, don’t be greedy, just one or two spray for entire face is more than enough.