A Cushiony Craze

AP Cushion Mood Shot

If you haven’t yet hopped aboard the bandwagon, here’s your short crash course to the latest craze to sweep the beauty community. Say hello to the cushion-type product, which first originated from Korea beauty giant AmorePacific, which houses a multitude of beauty brands such as Laneige, Sulwhasoo, Innisfree, IOPE, Etude House, Mamonde, Hanyul, Hera, and more.

The very first cushion-type product made its way into the market in 2008 in the form of the IOPE Air Cushion. 6 years down the road, there’s simply no stopping this trend that has seen AmorePacific selling more than 30 million units in Korea and overseas as well as achieving awards such as Korea Technology Innovation Management Award in 2012 and World Class Product of Korea in 2013.

What is it?

Despite looking deceptively similar to the other existing foundation compacts in the market, what sets a cushion-type product apart is its interior. It comes with (naturally) a cushion that’s made of a specially-created urethane foam with 800,000 pores for holding makeup liquid, which makes carrying and applying the product (often times a liquid foundation) so much more convenient that tubes, bottles or jars.

There’s also a specially-created puff that makes application of the product even more effective. Consisting of a 3-layer structure (a layer of film, an air cell and a micro cell), you can use the lightweight puff for easy application without resulting in blobs of product on your face.

What’s more, it’s not just foundation that you’ll be applying – these products usually have a sun protection factor in them, which makes touching up on both the makeup and sunscreen that much easier and more convenient. Did we also mention that there’s a cooling effect on the skin, with some products touted to lower your skin’s temperature by 2-4 degrees Celsius? Now this is, literally, a cool product.

What are some cushion-type products?

Although most cushion-type products are usually foundation, bb and cc cream products, this invention has now spread to other product types such as concealers, primers, and even tinted sunblock products for men.

– Laneige BB Cushion
– Laneige BB Cushion Pore Control
– Sulwhasoo Evenfair Cushion
– IOPE Air Cushion XP
– Hera UV Mist Cushion
– Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion
– Innisfree Long Wear / Water Glow Cushion
– Laneige Watery Cushion Concealer
– Etude House Magic Any Cushion (colour-correcting primer base)
– IOPE Men Air Cushion

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Laneige products: Available at Laneige boutiques and beauty counters.
Sulwhasoo products & services: Available at Tangs, Takashimaya and Robinsons.
Etude House products: Available at Etude house stores
Innisfree products: Available at Ngee Ann City and Plaza Singapura