L'oreal Nude Magique Cushion

Hello everyone.. Welcome to my second blogpost in 2017. Talking about 2017, do you have resolution to complete this year? I have some points to do this year. Regarding beauty, I want to use all my make up evenly. There are a lot of untouched items in my drawer and I think what's the point buying them if I don't use them. It is not possible to finish them, so let's do more rotation.

Sometimes I do not follow the standard of expiration that I saw few times around my Pinterest. My standard is not about time, but about the quality of the product itself. How do I know? I usually look at the color and the smell and of course if it does not create any problem to my skin, I usually consider as okay.

Cushion is one of the items that I like to finish fast. I don't like to keep more than 6 months after opening. So eventhough I have a lot of cushions, I prefer to open only one at a time. After finishing my Laneige half year ago, I did not open any cushion yet except this L'oreal cushion.

I bought this in Munich Airport in August 2016. I believe this is the Europe version of the Lumi Cushion. I don't understand why they give different name if this is really the same product. The shade numbering is also different.

In the UK version, the shade number is printed in the seal, so when I open and throw away the seal (long time ago), there is no way I could know the shade, and honestly I'm not sure what number is this. It is shade number 9 if I'm not mistaken.

The packaging is a typical cushion case. The case is in metallic pink, with a mirror inside, an applicator tray and the sponge. But you cannot change the refill because it is permanently attached to the outer case. So what you can do when it is finished is you can buy DIY cushion sponge, throw away the old sponge, clean the case (wash and wipe with alcohol to sanitize), and fill with your favorite foundie + moisturizer + sunblock. I learn from korean DIY cushion.

As usual when open the cushion for the first time, there will always a product seal that prevent the product from drying. It contains 14.6g of product, a bit less than usual korean cushion which is 15g. 

In the store, the testers were only available in two light shades so I (think that I) grabbed no 9 which is Beige that I think will be neutral and close to my skintone. For your reference, my inner arm is way lighter than my face. 

The texture is not runny and not too thick. So first apply will be a sheer coverage and can be built into a medium coverage. It also contains SPF 29 so when in hurry, I don't need to put extra sunscreen on my face.

It makes my skin looks brighter and glowing. It does not emphasize my pores or dry patch. It stays for 5 hours in my combination skin before it start fading. In the end of the day, it still looks good on skin but some part of my face like in my T-zone start to looks oily. I just hope that there is complete tester in store so I could find better shade match.

I don't really like western cushion, but this one is quite good. Is that because it is made in Korea so it adopts K-beauty technology really well? I hope L'oreal will make it refillable and for L'oreal UK will put the shades name in the case, not in the plastic seal.

Thank you for reading.

Givenchy Teint Couture Cushion

Woo hoo! Givenchy is joining cushion games!! Who's excited? I am not a cushion addict honestly. I only have one other cushion at the moment. It's Laneige BB Cushion (reviewed here). 

Cushion is too cute. I always attracted to buy some, but don't know why I always step back. This Givenchy Cushion design won my heart. When it first launched in Singapore in December (worldwide is on January or February?), I quickly ordered one. Despite of the high price SGD83 for 14g with no refill (compared to other cushion 15g + 1 refill), I still give my money to it.  Is that worth it? Let's discuss with me..

The outer part is just like other cushion. Round with flip lid.. It comes in black color which add a touch of luxury. Usually bb cushion is fancy, but this one is gorgeous!

When opening the lid, you will find the applicator in white with black strap. The difference with other cushion is usually inside you will get an additional applicator tray that has function as protector too, so that the product not easily dry. 

This time no flipping tray provided. When you take the sponge, you are facing a metal plate with tiny holes form up in the shape of Givenchy logo. So pretty! The product will dispense from that holes after pushing the metal for few times (only for the first time use). Next time, you only need to push once each time.

That plate also keep the products' hygiene, since our applicator will not have a direct contact with the product. I could tell this is genious. Maybe other cushion need to adopt this technique. Enough saying about the design. Let's start talking about the products.

The texture of the product is a bit thick for liquid, but when blended well it has very sheer coverage. The finish is not as dewy as other cushion from Korea. I have shades no 2 (Fresh Shell). They have 4 shades in total. It oxidize soon after applied (around 30mins), so Fresh Shell is perfect match for me. 

The applicator is a total fail for me. I don't know what's wrong. The products won't blend and won't set. I spent 15 minutes tried to blend the product on half face (In the picture it is part on your left) and failed. It creates patches, not covering any imperfection and in fact make it worse. After that 15 minutes in hell, I leave the applicator alone, then continue using my fingers.

(Sorry for the pic tone. I use only natural sunlight, so whenever the cloud is coming, the tone of my picture changes. But I don't use filter so I hope you could imagine the real situation here)

It is not buildable. To reach coverage like in above picture, I need a lot of effort. If you want to cover your dark spots, dark circle or scar, you definitely need concealer. It won't help you cover anything. It help to minimize the visibility of my pores and help to smooth out my skin though. 

Make sure to use good primer, concealer and setting powder whenever you use this Teint Couture. Because without them, this baby maybe would make you dissapointed in some ways. Like for me, it won't set in some areas of my face (upper browbone, undereye, and lip corner). In my opinion, it also not perform well on people who easily sweating like me. 

It claims to be good for touch up. When there is a risk of being cakey, Givenchy promise it won't be happening with this cushion. I did try to to touch up with this and I don't like the result. Eventhough it is not cakey, it is really difficult to blend it out. I tried using my beauty blender and still failed.

I have high expectation to this product, but sadly this is not my favorite. I'm so sorry Givenchy.. Some friends love it to the bit, but it doesn't work the same way to me.. Other products used listed below. Thank you for reading.

Products:

Givenchy Teint Couture Cushion #2 Fresh Shell

Coty Airspun Loose Powder #Transluscent

NYX Eyebrow Pencil #DarkBrown

Urban Decay Naked 1 #Sin and #Smog

Bobbi Brown Gel Liner #DenimInk

Too Faced #ChocolateSoleilBronzer

Too Faced #SnowBunnyBronzer

YSL RV #32 Corail Jalouse

Laneige BB Cushion SPF 50+ PA+++

This is my first BB Cushion, bought because I love the case.. Lol.. Yeah that's me, sucker for packaging. Another cushion that I have (not a BB) is from Etude Magic Any Cushion which is a make up base/primer/corrector and also bought because of the case, the Minnie Mouse edition. Don't judge me!! Hahaha...

This set includes a case with two refills, one is already attached and another one is inside a sealed packaging. 

My case design is a Playnomore Large Heart with Whitening BB Cushion refills. Actually I want Pore Control refills but this is already set. No choices, I bought this one instead of another design that I'm not interested in, Playnomore Three Small Hearts with Pore Control refills.

I choose shade no 21 Natural Beige which I think is most suitable with my skin tone according to some swatches on Google. Each refill consists of 15 grams of product. So basically in a set you have 30 grams of product in total, same with a size of normal bb/cc cream or foundation in tube/bottle. 

While a bb/cc cream or foundation's tube/bottle is designed to keep the moisture and not easy to dry eventhough you maybe forget to close the cap, bb cushion works slightly different. It is so easy to dry if you are so careless and forget to close the lid and protector. 

The case is strong and sturdy and is very cute with white and metallic pink as dominant colors. The lid closure is a click type and mine works perfectly.

Inside we got a mirror attached to the lid with a playful eyes sticker. There is also tray to put the applicator that functions as a product protector too. Once the seal is removed, make sure that you close the protector tray properly to prevent the product from drying.

The applicator is a white-blue thin sponge with a strap that helps the application process. Just put two fingers inside the strap and then continue pressing it to the cushion to pick the product. The amount of product picked is just perfect.

First impression is that it's bit too dark for my skintone. When you see the picture above you will know that it looks darker than my usual foundation and also a bit yellowish.

Your Left: After. Your Right: Before

But when applied, it blends perfectly and creates a dewy and natural finish. No signs of wrong shades at all. It covers my imperfection and brighten my complexion. 

It also smooth out my pores, the result is visible in the picture above and below. You can zoom the picture to see how big my pores before I applied this product. It covers signs of fatique and some dark spots. The coverage is not that high, still need concealer though. It is buildable up to medium coverage while still looks natural.

The texture is not too sheer or too thick. It is easy to apply and blend. I don't find any signs of breakouts even after hours. It is light enough to use in the morning and quite long lasting on humid weather, around 7 hours before start fading. 

It has SPF 50+ PA+++ which means that it protects skin from dangerous sun light. And with that high SPF, this product is non oily and non sticky.. Seriously, this needs to be considered. Sadly the case is limited edition, you can buy the regular case instead.

Thank you for reading..