Review: Laneige BB Cushion Pore Control

Tada! The highly raved BB Cushion, across Asia and non-Asia. I was so excited to finally get my hands on this BB Cushion (late to the game, I know) because I've heard so much good stuff about it and I have friends who swore by this. I took a long time to research on the type of BB cushion that is suitable for my oily skin and read thousands of reviews before finally deciding to purchase this. This "Pore Control" BB cream is suitable for oily skin to combat the pores and oil on skin. 

BUT. It did not perform up to my expectations :(

At first I thought I liked it because the colour match was perfect. Mine is in No. 21 Beige. I'm light to medium skin tone.There was a strong powdery perfume-ish smell and I didn't really mind cos if my face can smell nice, why not right? I also thought the application and finish made me look flawless. It made me look brighter and healthier. Those were the first few times I used it. I loved it! 

However, the more I used it, the more I felt that it applied patchy, especially around the nose areas. It was so hard to get product evenly distributed and applied to the nose areas. And the more I tried to fix it, the more patchy it gets. Application wasn't as easy as I thought (that was why I contemplated so long before getting a BB cushion because I've always thought this whole cushion thing was gimicky). The sponge did not get product evenly when I press into the cushion, even when I press it a few times to try to get more product to get on the sponge, it just doesn't get on evenly. Thus, when I apply it to my face, it first applies in patches too. The best way to smoothen it out is to pat it into your skin, do not drag it across.

It's also hard to get product applied under my eyes because the shape of the sponge makes it hard to get all the way in, and because the first dab on the skin is patchy, it makes it harder to blend out the foundation underneath the eyes with the sponge.

I would rather just stick to liquid BB creams or foundations and use a brush or my fingers to blend it out. It's so much easier than trying to use a tiny sponge and dab your life away, which still won't give a seamless, even application. :(

The finish was semi-matte. It was not dewy-looking at all. Mostly it sets matte but it doesn't look too matte that your skin looks deadly. I find that it doesn't feel tacky or sticky, so there's no need to set it with powder unless you have oily skin and wish to prolong the wear of the foundation. I do like the finish.

Regarding the wear time, I notice the product started to break up about 3 hours in without setting it with powder. And it looks pretty obvious. When I tried to touch up in the middle of the day, layering on the product was super patchy. It made my skin look super cakey and very unflattering. It also settles into my smile lines after long wearing. Not cute :(

For oil control, I did not notice my face turning too oily after wearing it for a long time. So it does do a good job at oil control.

I used to find the scent nice, but after awhile, I did not like it as much. I got sick of the smell. lol.

Also, I find that when I apply bronzer or blush on top of this product, it makes me blush/bronzer application look patchy even though with other foundations and bb cream, they wouldn't. Therefore, I usually just wear it on its own without any blush/bronzer. This sucks because it means I'll never get to have a proper made up face when I wear this foundation.

The coverage is light to medium, which would be a tad better if it were at least a solid medium coverage. It doesn't fully cover my dark eye circles and my blemishes.

Some swatches below.

1. Finger swatch (feels really oily)

2. After spreading the product out with fingers.

 
3. First dab of product using sponge.

4. Blending the product out with sponge.

Overall, this BB cushion has good oil control and I love its finish, matte but brightening. However, what I did not like about it is that its wear time isn't very long and when it breaks apart, it makes my skin look hideous. Layering on the product to touch up makes the patchiness and cakiness look worse. The coverage is light to medium, which is a little too light for my liking. I usually go with a medium coverage foundation.

Would I recommend it? For it's price, I wouldn't. If you just wish to try out this BB cushion to test it for yourself, then of course go ahead.  If you would like a simple and "convenient" (no need brushes or clean fingers) product which has light to medium coverage, then go ahead too.

Would I repurchase? No :(


My rating: 5/10

Review: H&M All-Day Liquid Foundation

I got this liquid foundation during school exchange (aka 6 months stay) in Sweden. It was the winter when I arrived and apart from a BB Cream that's wayyyy darker than my "winter skin tone" (funny how I'm saying this, because in Singapore, this term is non-existent), I only had one other powder foundation with me. So I went out on the hunt for a foundation that would match my skin tone and wouldn't emphasize those dry peeling skin of mine. You know, winters + unfamiliar climate conditions = dry skin + peeling skin. Well, my skin wasn't entirely super dry. Only certain parts like around my nose and mouth, and eyebrows were very dry. My T-zone still gets oily.

I was contemplating between Maybelline, Loreal and H&M foundations, but I eventually went for the H&M one. I think it was because it was cheaper than the other two. The shade that I got was "Cool Beige". Now, I gotta say, shade matching was SO HARD because the lighting in the store was terrible (I'm sure many of you understand that). And I have never tried matching foundations for myself before so it made things even harder. So after fumbling around and trying on a handful of shades, I decided on this one. I think I could have found a better match, but this one isn't THAT bad really.

I found that application of this foundation with my fingers, which is normally how I do it with my BB cream, made my peeling skin look worse. So I went out to buy a H&M flat foundation brush, hoping that it'll help with the application. And viola, it did help. A LOT. It made application easier and more even. It does leave a bit of streak marks but you can easily smooth it out.

This foundation has a matte to satin finish. Its consistency isn't too thick nor too runny, it's just nice. On application it doesn't feel too dry nor heavy. It feels pretty lightweight. It isn't sticky and tacky on the face as well, so you do not need to set it with powder. However, for people with oily skin, you might still want to set it. The coverage is medium, and it was able to cover my blemishes and dark eye circles without a concealer.

 

There is a powdery scent. For people who are sensitive to scents or people with sensitive skin, you may want to keep that in mind. The scent isn't super overpowering but it isn't subtle. You can definitely smell it when you apply the foundation. The smell does fade after awhile.

Lastly, about how long this foundation lasts. Unfortunately, it's not a very long-wearing foundation unlike its name "all-day foundation". I found it to start breaking apart only 2 hours into the wear time, which is pretty damn fast! Also, I wore this foundation only when I was in Europe, which meant that my skin was drier and less oily than when I'm in Singapore, yet the foundation still breaks up so fast. It does not only break up around my oily areas (T-zone), but on my cheeks as well.

I was quite disappointed that it didn't last very long because otherwise I would have loved this product. I thought its finish was quite nice, not too dewy and not too matte, and it could cover my blemishes and dark eye circles pretty well too. And I actually do love the scent. However, even though it breaks up very quickly, it doesn't look super patchy or disgusting at the end of the day. It's just that at very close proximity, I could see the broken apart foundation.

Overall, this product get just a pass from me, because I do like the finish, coverage, consistency and scent. The only down side is that it breaks up in 2 hours and that's not cool :(


My rating: 5.5/10