Skin of a K-Pop Star: Laneige BB Cushion SPF50+ Review

Have you already tried a cushion foundation, the newest innovation in the world of face make-up? Well, not THAT new, really - I first heard about them from Kar Yi about a year ago (here's a link to her video review comparing two different cushions), and at that point they had probably been on the Korean market for a while already. Cushion foundations were recently brought over to the American and European markets by way of Lancome's newest base, no doubt influenced by their creative director Lisa Eldrige's frequent travels to Asia. But I personally hadn't tried any, even though my curiosity was certainly piqued; that is, until this Laneige BB Cushion SPF50+ Broad Spectrum Sunscreen* ($30 for 1.05 oz/ 15 g x 2, available at Target in-store and online) landed on my desk a couple weeks ago.

If you haven't heard about foundation cushions, they're basically compacts housing a sponge saturated with a liquid base which come with a round puff/ firm sponge to tap and blend the product into the skin. The Laneige BB Cushion comes in a beautiful, heavy compact with a large mirror, and the sponge with product is protected by a plastic door that can be firmly closed. In the box, you'll also find a refill sponge to put in your compact once the current one runs out - I've heard that this type of base runs out a bit faster than standard liquid or cream foundation, so I think it's great that you have a second one included in the package.
When you first open up the compact, the cushion is sealed to prevent drying out - I'd recommend removing the seal only once you're ready to regularly use the product; I don't think it would fare too well being stored in a drawer between uses for long periods of time. I was also quite surprised at the high quality of the application sponge: it's easy to hold the puff securely by slipping your fingers under the ribbon, and the texture of the side you use to pick up and blend the BB Cushion reminds me of a Beautyblender.

The actual BB cream that saturates the cushion has a very thin, liquidy consistency. It's quite easy to control how much you pick up on the application sponge by varying the amount of pressure you use when pressing down the cushion with a puff. What surprised me the most was how much coverage I was able to easily achieve on my face (medium plus), while retaining the look of absolutely no product on the skin - isn't that what we all dream of in a higher coverage base?

The finish of the BB Cushion is definitely glowy; not by means of any actual shimmer in the product, it's just that the liquid remains quite moist on my skin and doesn't really set a whole lot. I will admit that this is not my personal preference as I have combination skin, and the Laneige BB Cushion ends up feeling a bit tacky on my face, although not heavy by any means. Even when lightly powdered, my face still looked very dewy, reminding me of the finish preferred by most Korean pop stars and actresses.

I could definitely deal with the slight tackiness on the skin of this BB Cushion, since I loved how naturally perfected and healthy my skin looked after application, if it weren't for two things: the shade and the short wear of this foundation. Unfortunately, the lightest shade Light is about two full shades too dark for me; even after self-tanning my face, neck and chest, it still gave me a bit of an identity crisis every time I passed by a mirror - you can see in the photo how hilariously pale and undead my hand looks compared to my BB-cushioned face. I'd estimate the Light shade to be about NC20-25 in MAC terms (I'm about NW10-15, depending on the season).

L-R: Laneige BB Cushion in the shades Light, Medium and Dark, swatched on NW10-15 skin.

As for the wear, it just didn't look pretty on my skin by the end of a long day - contrarily to my expectations, it didn't get too terribly shiny on my T-zone (but then again it was quite shiny all over to begin with), but actually looked a bit cakey and accentuated pores on what I assume are the most dehydrated parts of my face (chin, nasolabial fold). I guess I could have kept fooling myself that in the middle of the summer, the shade would somehow start matching my skin, but the unsatisfactory wear kind of sealed the deal and made me realize it's not the best base for my skin type.

I'm a bit bummed - I really wanted to love this BB Cushion and planned to wear it in the upcoming months; I mean, c'mon, SPF50+ in a combination of chemical and physical sunscreens seems ideal for the summer, am I right? But it's just too much effort to try to make the shade work by self-tanning or bronzing up the rest of my body, or layering the right skincare, primers and setting mists to make it wear nicer on my (clearly dehydrated) skin.

Laneige BB Cushion in Light after 4 hours of wear (lightly powdered through the T-zone, no highlighter)

What are your thoughts on cushion foundations? I'd love to hear your experiences (and recommendations, especially for fair complexions!), and if you haven't tried any, if that's even something that interests you. What is your favorite foundation product with a higher SPF?

Disclaimer: Item marked with an asterix (*) is a press sample I received from the brand's PR for review consideration. All links are non-affiliate. All opinions are 100% honest and unbiased, no matter if the products featured were purchased with my own monies or provided as free press samples. Thank you for reading!