IOPE Air Cushion XP Review

Hello guys!

So today I finally bring my review for the IOPE Air Cushion! *fireworks*
Sorry it took me so long. I was playing it with different combinations to figure out the best way to wear it... at least for me. I will explain as I go :)

So IOPE and Laneige are all under the same company-- Amore Pacific, if I am not mistaken. Essentially (from what I'm told), IOPE is like a more expensive/mature version of Laneige. My IOPE cushion smells exactly like my Laneige foundation... and for that one awful moment I was scared that the IOPE cushion foundation is exactly the same thing as the Laneige Snow Crystal Dual foundation (not the Laneige Snow BB Cushion!!! Haven't tried that yet) but just in cushion form... LOL. But it's not. Haha. Anyway, without further ado, let's just dive into the review!


I went for N21 :)

21 is a pretty good match for MAC NC20. But if you're between NC20-25 or NC25 you might want to go for 23. 

As you can see, there are two cushions included (15g x2). I got mine at my local Hmart and it was $40 excluding tax. Which when you think about it... each cushion refill is less than $20 if you take into consideration of the cost of the case... so not a bad price at all in my opinion.


I prob should've gone for N23 cuz nowadays I feel like I'm more in between NC20-25... not quite NC25 yet, but I do think N21 is a bit too pale for me at the moment.

Inactive ingredients:


Active ingredients:



Comes with the case that already contains the cushion, and a refill.



Package insert

When I first saw this... I was like there is no vitamin P WTF LOL. But I Googled just to make sure... apparently vitamin P is an old term from the 1930-50s for flavonoid. Interesting. Haha.



There are two lines to the IOPE Air Cushion-- if it starts with C, it stands for "Cover," and is catered for people who prefer more coverage. For ones that start with N, it stands for "Natural," which means more natural finish/coverage. There's also an S one for shimmer and I think that one just acts as an illuminating base?? Not sure if that one has any coverage.






Here comes the actual product!

I actually really like the packaging, it's so pretty! But it is quite bulky. Not the most travel friendly if you want it for touch-up. Personally I really can see how this product is great for touch up-- the application of this product is just so easy and it blends so nicely. But I personally don't like to double-dip in my base makeup... I think it's quite disgusting. I will only use the puff on a clean face.


Comes with a large mirror


The plastic closure does close firmly


There's a sticker seal




I actually had to use a tweezer to peel the seal open XD




Now you've seen the packaging, here come the application photos!

Naked face

Blackheads making a comeback (●*´Д`*)ノ


Blackheads are like my best friends... they've never failed to find a way to come back to me for as long as I can remember... har har har.


Was just wearing this foundation alone (no sunscreen or anything)

Half face application. The color is slightly pale on me at the moment, as I am getting tanned T_T


The consistency of this cushion is super light and thin. It truly blends like a dream.


This side without the cushion foundation.


Half face (left with. Right without)


Left side with foundation. Right side without.

You can see that it covers the blackheads. It definitely has better coverage when compared to the Laneige liquid foundation (which when used alone... cannot cover the bumpy texture of blackheads). That was one thing I really didn't like about the Laneige liquid foundation, that it does not cover the blackheads. But I have no idea if the Laneige BB cushion has better coverage than the Snow Crystal Dual foundation.


I am actually quite surprised at the finish-- it's really not as dewy as I thought it would be, especially after reading/hearing so many reviews about how this is a really dewy cushion foundation. I mean just look at the pictures, it definitely gives a nice glow, but in my opinion I would not consider this cushion anywhere near dewy. In fact, I think the YSL Touche Eclat foundation is much much dewier than this cushion. See it for yourself here, or in here (please refer to the pics where I was reviewing the Anastasia Brow Powder Duo). If you're looking for the finish that's kind of "wet"/shiny and super super dewy, this cushion will not do it for you.


One thing I really like about this cushion is the shade. While it does give you that nice, pale/bright healthy skin a lot of Korean/Asian girls look for, it does NOT make your face look pink while doing so. It makes your face bright without trying to brighten your skin tone by adding pink to it. Does that make sense? You can easily see that when compared with the Mamonde Real Skin Founder. When you look at the overall effect pictures of Mamonde, it makes my face look noticeably pink compared to the rest of my body. Whereas IOPE just brightens my face very nicely.

By the way, between Mamonde and IOPE, in terms of texture/consistency/application, I definitely prefer IOPE. IOPE just blends so easily and I don't have to worry about over-doing it as I do with Mamonde. Mamonde is not hard to blend, but its thick consistency makes it extremely easy to look caked on. Plus IOPE does not come off pink. However if I use a wet BeautyBlender for Mamonde, then it really doesn't make that much of a difference. It's just when I use the puff that comes with the product, IOPE is easier to work with.




Ohh the healthy glow.


I'm actually quite curious about the Cover line... If I could use C21 and achieve the same coverage with even less product?




I will say I used a good amount of product to achieve this coverage. I prob go in the cushion with the puff 4-5 times to get this coverage. Although I only get small amounts every time I do so. It's definitely buildable, but usage-wise, it's not the most cost-effective if you want to look at how much you use vs. how much coverage you get.




I was thrilled with the initial finish. It's not as dewy as I anticipated (Kind of want to try the shiny face finish XD hahaha) but the brightening effect is so nice and gives me a super healthy and glowing looking complexion.


HOWEVER


2 hours later -_-

It made my nose EXTRA OILY. And the oil doesn't meld in with the cushion foundation either... it just sits there. The few times that I wore this cushion alone, my nose was extra oily all those times. Other things I want to note that are not shown in the pictures:

1. If I want to use powder in order to prevent my nose from getting so oily, I found that I have to use more than usual amount of powder-- meaning yes, it does make my nose produce extra oil. And frankly, I don't like to top this cushion foundation off with powder-- I feel like that takes away the beautiful finish and will start to make your makeup look slightly cakey/heavy.  If I want to wear that much powder I'd rather just wear powder foundation alone.

2. It creases easily. This foundation kind of just sits on top of your skin? Like it doesn't sink into the skin. I notice it creases very easily on the outer corner of my eyes (If I'm only wearing foundation that day then it's super obvious. If I was wearing eye makeup then usually it's not that big of a deal). Of course, it creases easily on my eyelids-- but all foundations do. It also creases in my under-eye fine lines... which is a little bit more problematic. So I would say you might want to selectively powder down your face to maintain the finish of this foundation, while keeping the foundation from creasing in certain areas.

3. The product claims to be sebum-absorbing, and I'm not sure where I read this from, but it's supposed to be sweat proof? And I regret to inform that neither claims are true. First of all, you already saw that it makes me extra oily. Second of all, the times I went to the gym while wearing this foundation, it cakes up pretty badly. Like you can see where the beads of sweat that broke through the foundation.

4. I tried spraying this foundation with facial mist (just water), it helps with the evenness of the oiliness, but it does not stop the foundation from creasing all over the place.

In conclusion, for my combination skin (normal/oily), this is NOT a foundation that I can wear alone. I would say it's probably the best for ppl with normal or dry skin. You probably want to be prepared to use a good makeup base or makeup setting spray with this foundation.

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Okay, another day-- was wearing the Dior sunscreen underneath. Just think about this as wearing a oil-controlling base.

Initial finish


Initial finish.


Initial finish


About 4-5 hours later

Don't mind the eyeliner. Was testing the Benefit They're Real! Push-Up Liner. You can see I got a bit oily but unlike before, this time the oiliness is spread out evenly XD instead of that awkward patch of beady oiliness when I wear this cushion foundation alone.


Another close-up. Slight cakey-ness.





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Okay, this is another day where I used only the Urban Decay de-slick makeup setting spray to set the foundation. Like I said before, I really hate setting this cushion with powder so I decided to get a setting spray and see how it works.
****Update: I returned the makeup setting spray. Although it does make a difference, I don't think it's worth the $30 price tag. I would suggest use a good makeup base!****



Okay, one thing I really have to say-- the De-Slick makeup setting spray is advertised to "mists on weightlessly to control oil, deflect surface shine and keep skin looking beautifully matte." It absolutely does NOT set your makeup with a matte finish. It adds A LOT of dewiness to the skin. If you compare these pics to the pictures where I was wearing this cushion foundation alone, you will see the finish is not nearly as dewy as here. Ironically, the finish I get with the de-slick makeup spray is kind of what I was expecting from this cushion foundation. Lol.




See how much more dewy it makes my skin look?




2 hours later



Still a bit of oiliness seeping through, but compared to when this foundation was worn alone-- significant improvement!

Compared to Dior sunscreen though I think Dior does a better job keeping the oiliness at bay. 


Again, you can see slight foundation unevenness from the oil.


Another thing I want to say about the de-slick makeup spray is while it adds dewiness to the skin, it also adds stickiness. Don't know if you noticed some of my hairs sticking to my face

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So I thought, if I use both Dior AND the setting spray, would that be even better?!


Haha, again, hairs sticking to the face thanks to the Urban Decay makeup setting spray -_-


Might I just add... Dior sunscreen+Urban Decay setting spray= ultimate dewiness. Use the combination with caution friends XD Especially on hot summer days you can easily look oily instead of dewy lol




Look how shiny my skin looks, LOL.




Unfortunately I don't have the photos of how the combination wears. But the interesting thing is, this combination doesn't improve/enhance the wear at all. I'm not sure why, but when I wear the two together, the cushion foundation tends to get patchy and settle into my pores. It's really weird. So anyway, my conclusion is either wear it with a makeup base, or with a setting spray, but NEVER wear this foundation alone, otherwise it WILL move and crease. Another thing I want to add-- this is definitely a foundation you'd NEVER want to wear to the gym-- even with a good base and setting spray, it still gets mega patchy and cakey.

So what are my overall thoughts of this cushion foundation?

I can't deny how I absolutely adore the finish, and I just LOVE how easy cushion foundations are to use! Seriously, I think cushion foundation is lazy girls' new best friend. I obviously liked the finish enough to actually went out and buy a makeup setting spray to see if I can make it work. I can't say I hate it because of its poor longevity (and that's usually super important to me), but I was able to make it work to some satisfaction/to the point that I'm okay with. I guess we'll have to wait and see after I'm done with both refills to come to a conclusion about how I really feel about this foundation. But for now, I do really like using it, and I am super interested in trying out more cushion foundations/BB cushions now =D I actually went ahead and purchased The Face Shop Cushion Screen Cell foundation... ummm... that was completely an impulsive purchase T_T Don't know what I was thinking. Well actually I wasn't. Haha -_- But I do want to try out cushion foundations from Hera, Innisfree, and Etude House!

Do you guys like cushion foundations/BB cushions? If so, which one is your favorite?

I hope some of you found this post helpful... sorry it's so long XD lol. I'm starting to feel kind of lazy with blogging again >.<  Hmmm not sure what I'm gonna post about next. Maybe an empties post? Any suggestions welcome =)

Until next time, happy Friday and have a lovely weekend ^_^



<3 Frances