L’Oreal Nude Magique Cushion foundation

Of course I couldn’t leave out writing a full review after Sunday’s L’Oreal Brand Bites video. In that video, I already mention this foundation and say a little bit about it. However, that is not as elaborate as if I were to write a full blog devoted the review of the L’Oreal Cushion foundation. So today, I’m giving you the full lowdown.

L’Oreal Nude Magique Cushion foundation 01 Porcelain

The L’Oreal Nude Magique Cushion foundation is bang on trend. Slowly but surely, the cushion foundation is making its way over from Asia and now even a high street brand such as L’Oreal is carrying it. It is not a cheap foundation as it costs €17.99 for 14.6 grams of product. That is as expensive as a regular foundation, perhaps even a hair more expensive for half the amount of product. Most foundations come in 30 ml. That means you’d have to buy two of these to get the same amount of product, which actually puts this in the range of my high end foundation by Chanel and Dior than other L’Oreal foundations.

The Cushion foundation as a concept however could make up for the fairly hefty price tag. Let’s start with the packaging which is clever and handy for on the go. In the lid you can find a decent sized mirror. The foundation comes with a sponge which you can use for applying the foundation. I prefer using a brush with this and keep the puff for touch ups, but if you wish you can just use this product as is.

Underneath the sponge is a little latch and when you open it, you are first greeted by a sticker. This is a nice touch I find: this way you can be sure that nobody in store has fiddled with your product and it is so much more hygienic. The instructions tell you to take off the sticker and close the latch carefully after each use. This will help the foundation to maintain its ingredients and stability as a product.

When you open the latch you will find the sponge or cushion that gives this foundation it’s name. What you get is a very bouncy yet saturated sponge through which the foundation is dispensed. You could use fingers if you’d like, or the sponge that comes with it, but like I said, I simply dip my brush in and use it like that.

Apologies to anyone with that ‘fear of little holes’ anxiety, but I thought I’d show you just how saturated the sponge it when you first open the packaging. You can see the foundation glistening onto the surface, which means it will be easy to get to the product at all times.

In the pan I thought this product looked too dark for me. The color appears to be on the yellow side of the undertone spectrum and those are usually not my favorite foundations to use.

Swatching this foundation, I found the texture to be quite thin and almost watery. It is a pleasant consistency that blends well (see picture) and that has a light to medium coverage. Cushion foundations are supposed to give a very natural look, so don’t expect every bit of redness on your face to be covered by this.

The shade doesn’t seem to be too offensive once swatched and blended out. But mostly my arms are a tad lighter than my face, so let’s see what that looks like and what kind of coverage this gives.

Left: nothing – Right: foundation applied to left side of my face

On my face, I really like the effect this gives. It is a very dewy foundation that has fairly good coverage. It covers what I want to cover in any case. My main concerns are some redness and some dark spots on my cheeks. The line down the middle is barely noticeable as it blends into my skin so easily.

full face

Full face, I think you can barely see I have anything on. That’s how flawless this looks. The shade match is spot on, it evens out my skin tone, yet still looks natural and not cakey at all. This has got to be one of the most natural looking foundations I own. I do have to say that my skin has been really good lately, but so far so good.

Full face incl rest of my make up

After adding concealer and some powder, this foundation truly complements my face make up. I found it lasts an okay amount of time, but for a dewy foundation like this, I do expect to get a little bit shiny throughout a long working day. That’s what this also did, but that is something that is easily solved with a touch of powder.

To sum up, there is only one drawback I can find: the price. The L’Oreal Nude Magique Cushion foundation is expensive for a drugstore foundation. For that price tag however, you do get a very lovely foundation that is great if you like natural looking foundation like me.

Have you tried cushion foundations yet?