MAC recently launched its first ever cushion foundation, the Matchmaster Shade Intelligence Compact. The foundation itself is not new as the liquid version of Matchmaster first debuted in 2011. I've never tried the original Matchmaster foundation so this review is just for the compact version.
MAC claims that this:
- provides instant hydration
- controls oil
- instantly blurs lines and wrinkles
- instantly reduces appearance of pores
- long-wearing, eight hours
- oil-free
- provides stay-true colour
- non-caking, non-streaking and non-settling
- sweat- and humidity-resistant
- water-resistant
The 'sheer liquid formula lends true-to-life shade perfection and coverage,while letting your natural skin show through, ... providing a natural finish and sheer to medium buildable coverage". To be honest, I haven't used MAC foundations in many years as they never performed well on me, but just put it in a cushion compact and I'll definitely give it a spin.
This retails at a US$36 for 13g/0.45oz, whereas the liquid version is the same price for 35ml/1.18 fl oz, with refills available at US$28. Made in Japan, this comes in 12 shades. The SA matched me to the lightest shade 1.0, which means that paler skintones than NC20 will probably have difficulty finding a match. MAC recommends applying this with their new 197SH square duo fibre brush. I purchased the brush too but have not tried it with this foundation yet.
Below is a pic of my bare skin. My face is naturally a different color from my neck, mainly due to its tendency towards splotchy redness. Since incorporating Pixi Glow Tonic into my daily skincare routine, I do not get big acne eruptions anymore but my pores still get clogged mainly around the T-zone.
Using the included sponge applicator, I found that this applies sheer at first but it does provide some coverage of pores and skin redness. It feels beautifully lightweight on the skin without any discernible greasiness or powderiness. The oil control was much better compared to the Philosophy Take A Deep Breath Foundation, although there was still a bit of oil breakthrough on my T-zone around the four hour mark. There was also some minor streaking around the sides of my nose and between the brows, so I wouldn't say that this provides completely flawless wear for eight hours. Nevertheless, it did stay largely intact without visible oxidisation or descending into a greasy mess for the ten hours that I wore it (which included taking a nap). This could be partly due to the severely cold and dry weather we've been experiencing this week (around -10° C) so my skin is not as oily as usual.
Overall, I think this performed decently for the price and better than the Philosophy and Physicians Formula versions. Still, I'm pretty sure I would not repurchase it as there are always tons of new foundation releases to try out.
Ingredient list below.
Ulta will be offering all Philosophy's foundations at the special price of US$29 on Saturday 9 January. My local Ulta had the sign up yesterday by mistake so they sold the new Take A Deep Breath Cushion Foundation to me at the sale price (usual price is US$40).
This is made in Italy and contains 15g of product with broad spectrum sun protection of just SPF20 (Octinoxate 4% and Titanium Dioxide 4.83%), significantly lower than the typical SPF50 found in Korean-made cushion foundations.
Philosophy describes it as being based on 'clean air technology' with a blend of antioxidants to neutralize skin-agers while forming a unique moisture barrier on the skin to lock in hydration. This is supposedly has a 'breathable finish'. The instructions advise reapplying at least every two hours but I suppose this is necessary only if you are depending on only this foundation for sun protection.
Although it is called a cushion foundation, it is not the usual Korean design of a porous sponge soaked in liquid foundation. Instead, there is a mesh net covering what looks like a chunky block of creamy foundation that has slid to one side of the space under the net. The included applicator is just a standard foundation sponge, instead of the slimmer Korean cushion sponge variety. The case design is similar to the usual Korean cushion cases though, with the black plastic insert popping out easily although individual refills are not sold by Philosophy for now.
I picked the lightest of 8 shades available, #3 which on hind sight is a tad too pink-toned for me.
I also purchased the Take A Deep Breath Cushion Color For Cheeks in Shade 5.5 (US$30), a very wearable sheer peach pink with subtle shimmer. This also has a mesh net covering the blush. I usually just take a dab of the product from under the lid instead of touching the mesh.
The packaging is virtually identical to Stila's Aqua Glow Watercolor Blush (top in pic below), which is made in Korea whereas the Philosophy blush is made in Italy. The Philosophy version contains slightly more product - 7ml versus 6.1ml for Stila which retails at US$26.
The Philosophy blush is more sheer and easily wearable as it melds effortlessly into the skin for a healthy tint of glowy colour without any obvious shimmer.
My first impression of the Philosophy cushion foundation is that it has a nice, lightweight cream texture that is easy to apply and blend, with light to medium coverage and a soft matte finish. It does a decent job of evening out my skin tone but does not completely conceal all the pigmented spots on my cheeks. It is probably more suited to dry and normal skintypes as on my oily skin, its oil control properties were pretty dismal. My T-zone and cheeks started showing significant oil breakthrough by the 4-hour mark, even though I did not use a moisturiser beforehand (only toner and a Shiseido primer). The redness at the sides of my nose also re-surfaced.
Overall, I can't say that this has truly wowed me and I'm glad that I did not pay full price for it. I'm more taken with the Cushion Color For Cheeks, which I can see myself reaching for more frequently.
Ingredients list for the Philosophy cushion foundation is below.
Below is a video showing the makeup collection in action.
Cushion foundations are the new BB/CC cream craze for 2016 in the Western beauty marketplace. I recently purchased the new Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Talc-Free All-in-1 ABC Cushion Foundation SPF50 in Light. The 'ABC' stands for Airbrushing, Blurring and Correcting.
This normally retails for $16 at CVS, which I think is overpriced for a drugstore brand but it came with a $4 instant rebate coupon and there was also a buy-1-get-1-75%-off promotion. Nevertheless, the cute blue compact does make this more appealing than L'Oreal's cushion compact offering, although L'Oreal offers four times the number of shade options as PF. It is not stated anywhere on the packaging where this is made.
Contrary to my initial impression, the plastic cushion tub does pop out of the case albeit with some effort. However, PF is not selling individual refills at the moment.
The included applicator is alright. Below is what it looks like after a week of daily usage.
The size is pretty similar to my Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion and Hera UV Mist Cushion Ultra Moisture compacts.
However, a closer look soon reveals that the PF cushion sponge is coarser with bigger, more irregularly-shaped wells compared to the high-end Hera cushion and the more budget-priced Etude House.
Below is a close-up of the PF cushion, which holds 14ml.
Hera cushion below - notice how much finer and uniform in size the wells are?
Comparison swatches further reveal how dark the PF's so-called 'Light' shade actually is. PF only offers three shades for this cushion compact - Light, Light/Medium and Medium. Obviously, Light will be too dark for those with porcelain/alabaster skintones.
The foundation is easy to apply and blend, with a slight cooling sensation on the skin. It goes on sheer at first but can be layered for up to medium coverage. It does help to smooth over my pores without looking mask-like. My T-zone does get shiny after a few hours (which is normal for me) with the foundation breaking up in the more problematic areas such as around the sides of the nose. It works fine if I'm just going out for a few hours, but I can't see this lasting that well from morning to nighttime without touch-ups.
Ultimately where this foundation falls short is the shade, which is a tad too dark for my MAC NC20 skintone. It does not oxidise as badly as Cover Girl's Outlast Stay Luminous but it's not so unworkable that I would rush to return it as I did with the Cover Girl foundation. Etude House's Precious Mineral Cushion is much better for a similar price point.
Pic below taken by the window in direct sunlight.
Ingredients list below.
The latest addition to my stash of cushion foundations is Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion Pearl Aura. This latest incarnation of their popular Any Cushion is infused with Pearl Brightener (those five white spots that you see in the compact) to help create glowy, pearly aura skin. It has already won a coveted spot on the Allure Editors' Pick list in May 2015, yet another sign of the K-beauty fever currently gripping the US market.
I purchased this a few weeks ago at the Vivocity store in the shade Natural Pearl Aura, which is slightly darker than the other Light Pearl Aura shade. The refill was only S$16 for 15g. I picked one of the cute limited edition Dreaming Swan cases (S$18) to house it. It is also available with the 'normal' case for S$32, while on the Etude House official website (which ships internationally and lists the ingredients), it is retailing at US$21.60 (refills are US$12). The refill comes with the standard white and blue cushion sponge. The pic below was taken after at least 8 uses, so it is in less than pristine condition and the white pearl spots have faded slightly in the areas that my sponge usually touches.
Since purchasing this, I've been wearing it pretty much every time I go out as it's just so easy and convenient to use. In Singapore's hot and humid weather, I usually just freshen up my face with toner before applying the Any Cushion Pearl Aura. For most cushion foundations, it is advised that you pat it on with the sponge but for this cushion foundation, some light blending motion is required to mix the white pearl brightener with the beige foundation on the skin. As this has SPF50 PA+++, I usually skip applying a separate sunblock as my skin can't take layering of too many products in this weather, plus I don't spend that much time under the sun. While many cushion foundations boast a high sun protection level, these should be taken with a heavy pinch of salt as it is unlikely that one would apply enough foundation to achieve that stated level of protection. If you are going to be outdoors for a prolonged period, it is best to use a proper sunscreen.
What I like about the Any Cushion Pearl Aura is that it gives my skin a healthy glow while providing a light level of coverage to even out my skintone. Although it promises full coverage, this definitely did not completely cover up skin pigmentation spots and red blemishes although it did conceal the usual redness around the nose. If you have oily skin and dread any hint of shine on your face, this is NOT for you. One really should not expect a foundation marketed as having a glowy finish to provide significant oil control. However if you have normal to dry skin, this is worthwhile checking out if you are looking for something that is lightweight with a slightly dewy finish.
My skintype now is more combination with dry areas on the cheeks. I still need to blot my T-zone after a few hours of wearing this, but it really depends on the type of environment that I'm in. In an air-conditioned environment, I can go 4-5 hours without significant oil breakthrough on my T-zone but outdoors in the normal heat of Singapore, my T-zone gets oily within a couple of hours and the dreaded enlarged pores become more visible. I think this will work well for the autumn and harsh winter months when we are back in Illinois.
On 27-28 and 30-31 July, Etude House is offering this Decoden kit with purchase of a Any Cushion Pearl Aura, or with any S$50 nett purchase at their Vivocity store. The Pearl Aura cushions are not yet available at the Etude House store at Changi Airport, which sells the normal Any Cushion refills for only S$12.61. Etude House as a brand is very hit-and-miss for me, but I have found several products that I love from them. For the Dreaming Swan collection, I highly recommend the Veiling Pact powder brush and cushion cases but the lipsticks are a total miss for me as they were drying and did not apply evenly. The Dear My Blooming Lips formula is much better than the Dear My Wish Lips.
I haven't purchased anything from Cover Girl since my experiments with their Lash Blast series of mascaras a few years ago. This past week, I've been testing out their two newest summer releases, the Super Sizer Mascara and Outlast Stay Luminous Foundation. Both were relatively inexpensive. The mascara was about US$6 while the foundation was going at between US$10 to US$11 in the supermarkets and drugstores.
The Super Sizer mascara promises to increase lash volume by 400%, with its unique lash styler that is wider at the tip than the base. I purchased this in the shade Black Noir but it turned out to be not as jet black as my usual Japanese mascaras.
The brush was easy to use and pulled out of the tube cleanly without excessive product on the bristles.
This did provide good lengthening and definition as well as holding up the curl of my lashes. However, it was slightly prone to clumping. If over-layered, my lashes would stick together. It did perform well in adding definition to my almost-nonexistent lower lashes. There was no smudging or flaking. There are also no fibres in this mascara. All in all, this was a decent performer for the price.
Below is the ingredient list. This is made in the USA.
I had high hopes for the Outlast Stay Luminous foundation based on initial raves on MakeupAlley. Upon application, it looked pretty good too. The finish was not overtly glowy, just a healthy satin finish without any powdery dry down. This was easy to blend, provided light to medium coverage and did not pool in the pores. My shade was Buff Beige, the third lightest shade of the 6 shades currently available.
However, four hours later, I caught my reflection in the car mirror and was taken aback by how much it had oxidised until my face was significantly darker than my neck (by at least 2 tones). This was, simply put, a deal breaker. There is also an odd artificial scent that is noticeable upon application but dissipates soon after. I couldn't see myself using it again (after testing it out for 5 days) and so I returned it for a full refund at Walgreens with no questions asked to my surprise. Americans are so fortunate to have stores that take back used cosmetics. Nowhere else have I encountered such a generous return policy.
Other products used for this look include Suqqu Blend Color Eyeshadow EX22 Yukiichigo (from Holiday 2014) and YSL Glossy Stain #201 Dewy Red. I'm tempted to pick up more of the Pop Water Glossy Stains but I'm restraining myself as I have about a dozen Glossy Stains still begging for more love in my drawer.
