Below is the Althea infographic on this product.
They didn't run out of claims easily, didn't they? Now, on to the actual review of the actual product!
From the packaging alone, you can tell that this is a product meant to be used once in the morning and then left at home because retouching would be unnecessary. It's very sturdy but a bit bulky, so petite makeup bags wouldn't appreciate this cushion as a guest.
I was surprised to see it come with a black sponge, as all of my compact powders and powder foundations have had cream or white sponges so far.
I got this in Shade No. 23, which is meant for "natural skin tone," according to the infographic. Herein is the one downfall of Korean facial base products━there is such a limited range of shades.
The first thing I noticed about this, even upon opening the compact, is that THIS STUFF SMELLS REALLY GOOD. I don't know if the scent is fruity or vanilla-y, it just smells really nice!
Upon use, I realized that the sponge's material is perfect for the cushion formulation. It really just picks up the product from the cushion for it to be patted onto your face. It was rather easy to apply, even for a first-time cushion user like myself, and to my relief it oxidized quickly and blended well enough into my natural skin tone.
As you can see, it effectively brightened up my skin without making me look too white. True to the promise of the cushion compact trend, it did the job of a concealer, foundation, and powder in just one layer of makeup. Since today was an ordinary day at the office, I didn't care to try and build up the coverage, but from the photos above you can see that my blemishes, even the red ones, were neutralized, and it covered up my dark circles well enough. I'm not sure if it's noticeable on photos, but I also see the pore care going on. Of course, I did use the W-Lab Black Kill Pore Cleaner just two nights earlier.
Now, let's move on to the product's claims of mattification and sebum control. I have to admit that I was disappointed on that aspect. If you look into the eight claims contained in black circles in the infographic, it claims the following: brightening, wrinkle care, UV protection, strong persistency, mattifying, coverage, sebum control, and pore care. Moreover, the product's "battle cry" seems to be, "Fight against greasy face!" Thus I expected an above-average mattifying effect from this cushion, which wasn't the case on my very oily skin and Ilocos summer━note that the first statement on the infographic is, "Perfect for summer!"
While the product did have a matte finish on my face upon application, it sort of went downhill from there. I had my air conditioner on in the room, but before I even left the house, I felt the need to top off my face with powder. I lightly dusted some Ben Nye Luxury Powder in "Banana" on my T-zone and decided to leave the rest of my face unpowdered.
You can see how my face progressed throughout the morning:
Here, I have on only The Face Shop's Jeju Aloe (99%) Soothing Gel, which I use as my daytime and nighttime moisturizer.
This is right after applying the Chica-Y-Chico cushion.
The last photo was my final look before I left the house, further complemented with the staple "selfie angle." Other stuff used were: Maybelline Fashion Brow 3D Brow & Nose Palette in "Dark Brown," Maybelline Blush Studio Cheeky Glow in "Creamy Cinnamon," and L.A. Girl Matte Flat Finish Pigment Gloss in "Fleur." I'm not one for overly noticeable makeup, so I skipped the nose contour today and purposely tried to make my blush less obvious.
Back to the cushion: By around 10a.m. or so (I left the house at around 7:55a.m.), I felt my face oiling up really bad. I used my Gatsby Oil Clear Sheet (I don't care if it's supposed to be a men's product, because my oily face really calls for it!) and mopped up quite the amount of sebum from my T-zone despite its claims of "powder out, blotting paper out." Mind you, I work in an air-conditioned office.
Once I blotted, though, the cushion went back to being its sweet self━the coverage stayed throughout the day, and it still felt lightweight, unlike when I use Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream (will do a review on this sometime). So, while this isn't the best oil-controlling facial base makeup there is, it still beats the Missha, which I constantly see hyped as "the best BB cream for oily skin," in my book.
Here are my end-of-the-day photos, after having blotted my face twice (at 10:00a.m. and then at 12:45p.m.) and patting my face with tissue paper when I arrived home (past 5:30p.m.). The photos, however, were taken at past 8:00p.m.):
As you can see, the coverage stayed despite the blotting, so it's really only that sebum control that's off with this product.
Here are my end-of-the-day photos, after having blotted my face twice (at 10:00a.m. and then at 12:45p.m.) and patting my face with tissue paper when I arrived home (past 5:30p.m.). The photos, however, were taken at past 8:00p.m.):
Overall, despite its failure to live up to its claims of all-day mattification and eliminating the need to use oil blotting paper, this is an okay product. I still can't skip my powder nor forgo using an oil blotter when I have this on, but I can skip using sunblock, primer, concealer, and BB cream, which does save time, so I do see myself opting for this when I have to get face-forward ready in a short period of time. Perhaps I can even skip my moisturizer next time. I'll have to experiment, and if I see better results without using moisturizer, I will definitely report back.
For my first experience using a compact cushion, I would say that this was okay, especially since I got this at a sale price of Php610.00. For its full price of Php1,920.00, though.. ehh. A bit too pricey in my book, especially since I still ended up having to use powder and blot my face later in the day. This is a perfectly fine product, not too disappointing, but a bit on the expensive and not-quite-worth-it side for me to deem necessary in my makeup arsenal.
That's that. Thanks for reading!
<3 Mizsheee
