I’m following up my First Look with Kiko Cushion with a more indepth in store review. Ultimately, I decided not to buy it, but although it isn’t right for me I think it’s a fantastic product that holds it’s own well next to the original.
With my Laneige Cushion in tow, I walked into Kiko Cosmetics to do a comparison and to test the application with a proper puff, not a brush.
The first thing I did was look at the cushions side to side. I will say, at this point the Sales Assistant (a guy this time) was really interested in what I was doing, he actually asked me to give my thoughts, wrote them down and promised to send them to head office. I was a bit surprised by that. Having worked in retail, I seriously doubt that anything is going to come of it, but it was sweet.
Anyway!
The Packaging
The Kiko Cushion is incredibly impressive considering it’s made in Italy. It’s not as sturdy as the Laneige, but it pretty robust in itself. They seem to have copied the Korean design, right down to making it look like it’s refillable, but it absolutely is not. Everything is moulded together in once piece, which I think is a bit of a shame. Though, after reading up on Kiko cosmetic’s business model, it seems like they bring out new collections and once they’re gone, they’re gone. I wonder what that means for this product?
Application
I washed my puff to make sure there was no transfer and I used one half of each puff for each cushion. I couldn’t tell any difference in the consistency using the puff, they both felt the same.
The puff is the way to use a cushion foundation, second best is using a wet beauty blender. If you’re going to buy a cushion but are worried about it being unhygienic, I suggest you invest in a Rubycell replacement puff from any Amore Pacific brand. If you’re going to use a brush to apply it, then there’s no point buying a cushion. You’re not going to get as much product for one (so money is wasted), and the formula if done right is going to be a lot lighter than a regular BB/CC cream.
Colour Match
Even though I’m closer to thirty than twenty, I’m still learning about makeup and I will freely admit I know very little about it. My knowledge is limited to what I know directly applies to me. So for example, MAC have two foundations NW45 & NC 50 which are the same level of brown, however the NW 45 is more red and the NC 50 more yellow. So even though I can (and at times do) wear NC 50, my undertones are more red, so NW 45 is a better match. If you look at the chart (which while useful is not exhaustive) you can see that even though someone can be the same shade as someone, they may be completely a different undertone which makes them look totally different.
Laneige Dark is brown enough for me, but it’s a little too yellow, the Kiko Neutral 90 is brown enough for me, but a little too neutral (or blue).
The line is pretty cool huh? I had to walk outside for a few minutes, then take a bunch of awkward selfies outside of a bank to finally see this!
Clearly the coverage is not the fullest, with this you’re going to get more a natural finish out of this not full coverage. It will not hide your larger dark spots, but it does do away with the smaller ones to give a slightly more even finish.
I found the Kiko was a more matte to the Laneige’s dewy.
I picked the side with no hormonal acne (damn you hormones!) to test out the Kiko so I wouldn’t be biased. It gave me a blue-ish gray dusty finish which is kind of cool. It’s wearable, I wouldn’t wear it, but you could make it work. I think this is because using a cushion forces you to apply in thin layers, so a slightly wrong colour or wrong undertone doesn’t look as off when you apply thick layers. I liked using it, but where I can get away with using the Laneige to give me a more sun kissed look, the Kiko makes me look slightly under the weather. Not great!
Neutral 90 is their darkest shade, their shade range is as follows:
- Warm Rose 30
- Warm Rose 50
- Warm Beige 30
- Warm Beige 60
- Neutral 70
- Neutral 90
so they are aware of the different undertones, I guess they thought that darker skins didn’t have undertones or they didn’t want to develop any other shade and have them not be bought? Ehh who knows!
If you’re looking to try this, it is at a really cheap price (£15.90) point. I’m not going to buy it, maybe later once it’s reduced to see if if I can make it work. But for now, all my hopes are pinned on Wednesday when the Lancome Miracle Cushion is released to see which undertone that favours! I think we’re due for a red undertone cushion now! There will be another comparison review! I think I’m more likely to buy that one (be still my wallet) as all reports (though who knows how accurate they are) say 06 Beige Mocha should fall somewhere between Teint Miracle 11 & 13, my shade is 12 Ambre, so that’s good news!
Know of any other darker cushion foundations? I’d absolutely love to hear about them! If you have this cushion or any experience with any cushion in a darker shade, I’d love to hear about it too in the comments below!
adoredee 
This is a good write up! I wish I understood undertones as much as you do!
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Hahaha, thank you! I don’t know much, I’m just learning as I go!
My mother (who isn’t represented on this chart) is Dark with yellow undertones and she’s always telling me that orange is her colour not mine. All my orange lip colours have found a home in her makeup pouch, but I will not give up the fight, undertones be damned I will find an orange that suits me! LOL!
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I love orange too!
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New reader to your blog! Love your posts (having been reading back through them for the last two hours) Noticed you started a skincare routine last year – do you think you’ll continue/complete it? I am interested to know your methods & product choices for the other stages after cleansing. We have VERY similar skin – oily/dehydrated so I’d love to know what’s been working for you.
Also I believe the Lancôme cushion came out this week, interested to know how it compares to these two (£29 though – eek!)
Anyway, AMAZING blog, you write beautifully 🙂
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Thank you Donna! I’m actually right in the middle of writing up a few posts/reviews about what I do right after cleansing, one should go up this week. I’m so sorry for keeping you waiting, I’ve been a little lazy in that department. The good news is that my routine is pretty stable at the moment and I think I’ve got products that I’m super happy with, so I have a lot to talk about.
Yes! The cushion came out today and I bought one! Absolutely in love with it so far, my mother actually got one too! The price is steep, but I don’t have any other foundation right now. The YSL one I bought like 3 years ago and I really probably shouldn’t be using it as most of the writing has rubbed off. So I’m kind of justifying it that way!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your kind words! 🙂
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I’m just waiting for my Kiko to do a side by side comparison.
Last weekend I discovered that the Lancome cushion to be released in Japan is actually a bit different to what was released in Europe. As in “better”. I’m going to take my “French” Lancome cushion to the counter, and do a comparison, if they let me.
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I just got the Lancome Cushion in the UK and it’s a great colour match for me! I’d love to see a side by side of the French and Japanese versions.
The ‘problem’ with the Lancôme version is that it’s not a BB or a CC Cushion, it’s a Foundation Cushion, so I kind of feel bad about comparing it to the Laneige. The formulation feels very much like the Teint Miracle.
I think your earlier comparisons were pretty spot on, the sponge IS way too porous which means you pick up a lot of product off the bat. Because the puff is not rubycell a lot of the product gets wasted in it 😦
The case also feels pretty cheap if I’m honest, much the same quality as the Kiko. But it feels kind of bad because you’d expect more from Lancôme. As a stand alone product, with no knowledge of the Korean Cushions. it’s pretty cool! I’m going to use it for a little bit longer then do a review 🙂
There’s another cushion out from It Cosmetics you might want to have a look at. It has niacinamide in it, and I can’t use that ingredient so I’m going to give it a miss.
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Thank you for replying!
I decided I will buy the Japanese version, oh well… hahaha! The pink beige color is much more suitable for me than the horrid 01 in Europe. The more I think of it, the more the Japanese version reminds me of Banila co “it radiant” cc cushion. The compact and the contents. And coming from the same manufacturer, it’s no huge surprise 🙂
I think what you guys got in Europe is nowhere near “foundation” in Korean cushions. It’s at best barely a CC cushion if we compare it to Korean brands.
Yes, I know of the IT cushion. and also of the Pur cushion. It’s hard for me to get them from the US 😦
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Hey, if you’re still interested they sell the PUR cushion in the UK!
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I tries the lancome product in store…the colours were just too light and the undertone ws either beige/neutral or yellow. Perhaps ul have a better experience x
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I bought the Lancome cushion! I really enjoy it so far and should have a review up by the end of the month ^^, I’m sorry that it didn’t work for you 😦
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Okay, glad you are finding it enjoyable. That’s okay, I have an odd colouring can never find my shade.
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Can I just ask where do you get/test the laneige cushions? Is this in the UK?!?
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No unfortunately not sorry! I had a friend send the Laneige cushion to me. Unless you find a private seller on eBay or have a friend send it to you, you can’t get this range anywhere but in Target.
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Thank you o much. Sorry for late reply…my pc crashed and I lost were I was and couldn’t find this page to reply:( Then internal rainfalls (leaks in the flat:) he he) kept me distracted, I am so sorry for tardiness.
I think I will ‘have’ to get a friend to send me one too. I was going to ask her to send some pain relief patches: I’m sure adding laneige cushion to the list will help ease the pain:)
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