KBeauty Review: TheFaceShop x My Other Bag CC Ultra Moist Cushion

A few months back I vacayed in China and Thailand, which was an amazing eye-opening experience and, ofc, there was obligatory weight-gain from all the mouth-watering food I have gorged down. I also brought back some souvenirs for my family, friends, co-workers, etc.- which I kept minimal, very minimal. They were not offended in any way though because they knew, as per usual, I had another priority to fulfill. I had to save luggage space for something more important- BEAUTY PRODUCTS *o*

I know I can just order them online when I’m back in the states, but it’s just different ya know. I enjoy going to the actual stores to take in the beautiful product displays, be assisted by the beauty associates, sampling products, and shopping the better in-store promotions.

I happened to pass by TheFaceShop while I was in Guangzhou, China and got a few items on promotion that I wanted to try out. They are a Korean beauty brand, but I’m sure they’re like all over Asia by now with the current Hallyu/Kbeauty hype. I tried to exercise some self-control, but, gurl, you have to understand how hard it is when they’re priced so damn nice and packaged so darn cute.

Of my hual, I will be doing a review of the TheFaceShop x My Other Bag CC Ultra Moist Cushion today. TheFaceShop was running a promotion, so for RMB 99.00 (~UDS 14.33), I got the CC cushion with a free cushion refill- not a bad deal at all ^_^

A little background on this CC cushion, the original cushion looks like this:

But TheFaceShop launched a collaboration with My Other Bag and upped their game in the CC cushion’s packaging, while the CC cushion formula remains unchanged.

The cushion comes in this fancy little drawstring ❤

As you can see, the CC cushion has been revamped with inspiration from My Other Bag‘s Sophia tote. I’m in love with the packaging and I’m not gonna lie- it was the chic packaging that pushed me to make this purchase. The little drawstring that it comes in is super handy, it fits the CC cushion as well a number of other items, so I now use it as my makeup bag.

The product is kept in the white plastic area of the cushion, which can be pushed out entirely from the bottom when you are done & ready to refill. I don’t know how much a refill retails for, but I assume it would be cheaper then buying another CC cushion- otherwise I just don’t see the point of refills.

The refill I got for free with this purchase is wrapped in this shiny foil package and, thank the lord, there are pictures explaining how to replace the refill. I would have clawed at the cushion for hours without the picture instructions, since almost everything is in Chinese which I, sadly, can not read.

Now that I have bombarded you with enough pictures of the packaging, lets talk about the actual CC cushion formula. This cushion runs in 2 shades and I purchased the lighter one, #v201 Apricot Beige. However, I felt like I should have purchased the darker shade instead- my face has gotten noticeably darker from the time that I have spent in the sun (it may have been all snow and cold in NYC, but it was blazing hot in Guangzhou & Pattaya). Since I don’t want to scare people with a ghost white face, I apply this to the higher points of my face and let it aid me in my contouring.

The formula is on the light-weight side and because it’s more on the moisturizing side, as the name suggests, it gives my skin a subtle glow/dewy look. This formula doesn’t help much in covering the more pigmented blemishes and acne scars, so a concealer is def needed if you have some bad boys to hide.

On the plus side, this works great on evening out your skin tone to give you a nice uniform finish. I applied the cushion on the right half of the back of my hand above, and you can see the visual difference. The formula is light enough, so that even when I zoom in on the area that I have applied the cushion, there isn’t a visible layer of product caked onto my skin. I think one of the reasons that the product applies onto my skins so naturally is due to the super soft & smooth cushion sponge.

The CC cushion holds a generous amount of product and it comes out easily onto the cushion sponge with a little pressure. As a FYI to prevent over-packing the product onto your face, the cushion sponge holds more product then it looks like it is. Pressing the sponge into the cushion roughing 2 times, maybe 3, is enough to cover my entire face.

After 6-8 hours, I noticed the product starting to move. Because I have oily and combination skin, the product started collecting on the creases of my skin and the drier areas of my face- NOT a cute look -__- Thus, if you expect a long day out and about, I recommend a touch-up after the 4-5 hour mark (before the products moves to a point beyond fixable with just a quick touch-up).

As for the scent of this CC cushion, it has a nice, refreshing fragrance to it. It’s nothing too overpowering.

I give this CC cushion a 3.75 out of 5. It’s great for creating a natural look, like for work or a daytime outing- but I don’t think that this will fly well for your nightime clubbing adventures. You’re going to glow like a ghost under those colorful club lights. The packaging is 10 out of 10, but I just can’t with products that start to collect in my skin creases. Like, it’s fine it the product just rubs off my face over time due to oil-blotting or me unconsciously touching my face, but please don’t all crowd into my skin’s imperfections and make them all the more apparent.

***Bonus: I also got a free pack of extra cushion sponges because I spent over a certain threshold at TheFaceShop with my haul. Aren’t they just to die for? Winnie the Pooh-themed cushion sponges, how can they shake my heart like this T_T

These are great for this CC cushion because their refill packs do not come with cushion sponges of their own. I can also imagine using these super soft sponges with other products.

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Clinique Skincare and Makeup Review

I received a gift card to Clinque a while back from work (thank you, work, I knew I had you for an important reason- FREE GIFT CARDS!! <3), so I finally used it to pick out a few items that I’ve been meaning to try out. I’m not really a heavy Clinique user (or actually a Clinique user at all), so this is my first impression of their line of skincare and makeup. I have purchased a good number of items and here are a few of which that I have used enough of to generate a somewhat reliable review of:

1. Moisture Surge Intense Skin Fortifying Hydrator (Clinique and their excruciatingly long product names -_- smh)

My skin is a combination of dry and oily and it drank this up like someone who was stranded in a desert for a week. The gel/creme-like texture went on to my face really smoothly and despite being a heavy duty facial moisturizer, it didn’t feel heavy at all. Glad that it did not clog up my pores because that was my main fear of using overly heavy moisturizers.

This is what’s left of the product- an empty jar. That’s how much my skin loved it. I pat myself on the back for choosing such a awesome moisturizer out of all the other stuff Clinique had to offer 🙂

2. Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+ (Don’t ask- I don’t know why the product name has a + sign. They just do, I didn’t make a typo, but maybe Clinique did.)

This really is dramatically different, that is- dramatically worst that the first product I just reviewed above. It has a similar consistency, maybe slightly heavier, but it makes my skin feel so greasy, like it I masked with a thin layer of oil. On the days that I used this, I had to blot my face like crazy through out the day. I even gave this lotion a 2nd, 3rd, and a 4th try (in the case that my skin was just acting up from the sudden change in my skincare routine), but to my disappointment, no 😦

Unlike, the empty jar of Moisture Surge Intense Skin Fortifying Hydrator, I still have 75% of this thing, and it will most likely stay that way for the rest of its life (which is before I trash it or gift it to someone I don’t like very much).

3. Even Better Makeup SPF 15 (01 – alabaster)

I normally buy BB cream over foundation, but this sounded like a BB cream with more coverage to me. It has SPF 15 and it supposedly brightens and corrects my skin tone. I have a few acne scars that’s visible on my face, but nothing that won’t fade with time. I wanted to try this product with the hope that it will speed up the fading of my scars. Cuz, you know, I need my milky white skin to complete my fabulous-ness.

I haven’t notice much difference in this from other foundations that I’ve used, which might be because I don’t use this religiously enough. I mostly use this when my skin is acting out because it does have better coverage than my BB creams. I try not to use this unless I need to because it makes my makeup look thick and dry, so I strongly advise not to use this around the eyes. It will make you look like you aged 50 years.

 4. Redness Solutions Makeup Broad Spectrum SPF 15 with Probiotic Technology (Calming Alabaster)

My skin is always on the redder side because it’s so sensitive, so I thought this would be wonderful if it really does what it claims to with their “technology”. It does cancel out my redness, but not as much as I wanted it to. It was only slightly better than using normal concealer. On top, of that, it left my complexion looking a little unsettling, like I could go film a kdrama’s sad hospital scene (where I am the patient ofc).

Let me know about your own experience with Clinique or if there were any good products that I am missing out on.