I’m always on the hunt for the best base makeup for oily / troubled skin, and it sure is a difficult mission. Sometimes it seems impossible to find the dream balance of coverage, matte yet non drying finish, troubled-skin-friendly formulas, a shade that matches your skin tone and the list goes on.
Among power foundations, liquid foundations, BB / CC creams and BB cushions – my clear favourite today is the Korean-invented BB cushion. I have tried the following 3 brands for over a year now, and would like to share my opinion on which I think is the best! Hopefully this helps to make your hunt easier 🙂
HERA UV Mist Cushion Long Stay in C21 (full review here)
LANEIGE BB Cushion Pore Control in #21 (full review here)
INNISFREE Long Wear Cushion in #21
All 3 are ‘long stay’, ‘long wear’, or ‘summer friendly’ versions best-suited for oily skin and in the most universal #21 shade. Note the difference to their more dewy and more moisturized finish counterparts.
So let the comparison begin!
THE PACKAGING
For the top of the case: HERA – Glittery purple. LANEIGE – Skyblue. INNISFREE – White.
HERA and Laneige are both manufactured by the same parent company – Amore Pacific – so they have exactly the same size and width.
Innisfree is less ‘thick’ and smaller than the other two, and is lighter.
HERA is slightly dome-shaped for the top cover, where the other two are flat surfaces. You can also see from this pic Innisfree is less ‘thick’ than the other two.
HERA and Laneige has shiny reflective sides, while Innisfree is just pure white throughout the entire case.
All 3 has a mirror inside, and a central area to house the BB cushion pot.
HERA and Laneige cases are interchangeable – meaning a Laneige BB cushion pot would fit perfectly into a HERA case (and vice versa). But Innisfree is a stand-alone and no inter-changing for this one.
Winner on Packaging:
To me, HERA win hands down in this category with its beautifullllll shimmery purple casing. Since all 3 packaging are almost the same, the deciding factor is really the colour. Next up, I love Laneige’s Sky Blue top too. Then, Innisfree. Don’t get me wrong – Innisfree’s pure matte white casing is very sleek and clean-cut but looks a bit boring next to the other two XD
THE AIR PUFF
HERA’s airpuff is the firmest of all. Followed by Innisfree. Laneige is the softest of all. Laneige and Innisfree has blue airpuffs, and HERA’s airpuff is purple.
I find Laneige’s airpuff is the best for its softness and flexibility – and hence could bend to the natural contours of the face for better application. HERA and Innisfree are abit too firm to apply smoothly around the nose area where surface is not flat – but can still be done. Just that when you try all 3, the difference is pretty clear.
Winner on Air Puff:
Laneige – for its softness and flexibility that can bend to any contour of the face. For this fact, I find it easiest to clean too!
THE SHADE, TEXTURE AND FINISH
The colour you see from the BB cushion mesh. This is not good representation of the product colour itself since the mesh can be of a different colour. Nevertheless, you can already see that Innisfree shade is the brightest out of the 3.
Tada! About 2-layer swatches of each product.
The shade: Innisfree is clearly the brightest – almost the same as Laneige #13 shade (brighter than Laneige #21). Note that all 3 swatches are #21 but different brands certainly have a different shade despite the same number.
Laneige has the best match to my skintone, and is also the middle shade out of the 3. HERA is darkest out of the 3, and has a stronger thicker colour – a bit more yellow tone maybe?
The texture: Oohh… HERA is clearly the most dewy / shiny – and hence my least favorite texture. On the opposite, Innisfree has the most matte and dry-est finish. Laneige seem to have cleverly balanced both matte and dewy (but not shiny).
Now I will blend and pat the product and wait for it to settle to observe the finish.
This is the blended finish look!
HERA’s dewi-ness is toned down by the blending – but still has the most moisturized/shiny finish out of the 3. Innisfree really looks matte… almost dry eh? Laneige, again seem to achieve the clever balance of matte yet non-dry finish.
Winner on Shade, Texture & Finish:
This is a very personal thing – some people prefer abit dewy, some people prefer all-matte. And everyone has different skin tones.
For me, Laneige is the winner here. Not only its shade offers the best match to my skin tone, its texture and finish is also my favourite. High on matteness, but has slight moisture retained so it is not drying. Innisfree felt too dry for me, and HERA is way too dewy for my liking.
THE LASTING POWER
I think you can guess this one. HERA lasted the shortest on me because it is already rather dewy to start with… I definitely needed to pat off the oil and touch up by lunch time. Laneige and Innisfree has similar lasting power on me, and looked fine for a good 7-8 hours! Of course I will turn slightly oily by the end of the day, but touch-up is more like a nice-to-have rather than a must. However, Innisfree had some oxidation around nose area while Laneige stood pretty strong on this one.
Winner on Lasting Power:
Laneige and Innisfree is a draw here. Lasts all-day… what a saviour! Innisfree had abit more oxidation than Laneige around the nose area, but also nothing too disastrous.
THE COVERAGE
Trying to cover up a dark brown eyeliner with BB cushion *mad*
I applied about 1-2 layers, waited for it to settle, then applied another layer on top. I think all offers pretty good coverage! If I had to pick a loser, it would be Innisfree because of its brighter tone hence less likely to cover up marks or scars.
Winner on Coverage:
HERA and Laneige is a draw here. All 3 offers good coverage, but because Innisfree has a brighter tone, and HERA/Laneige has better undertone, they do offer slightly better coverage. But don’t pack on too many layers, they may turn cakey – especially HERA.
THE SCENT
Winner on Scent:
Laneige (1st). Innisfree (2nd). HERA (3rd).
HERA’s scent is a bit too strong for my liking – especially in the morning. Abit like artificial fragrance maybe?
Laneige and Innisfree scents are very pleasant and lovely. A bit like spring, a bit flowery. Mild and just nice, not too strong. So refreshing in the mornings and makes me smile 🙂
THE PRICE
Gmarket sells all 3 products online and ships worldwide. Off to the prices and links!
HERA UV Mist Cushion Long Stay in C21 – KRW48,000 (About USD 45)
Laneige BB Cushion Pore Control in #21 – KRW37,000 (About USD 35)
Innisfree Long Wear Cushion in #21 – KRW19,000 (About USD 17)
Note! HERA and Laneige comes with free 15g refill so there are TWO BB cushion pots. Whereas Innisfree does not have any free refill – so don’t get mistaken that Innisfree is half-priced.
Winner on Price:
Innisfree (1st). Laneige (2nd). Hera (3rd).
Just ranking from cheapest to most expensive. No frills.
SUMMARY!
Laneige wins on shade, texture, finish, coverage, lasting power and scent. It also has the best airpuff. (See full review here!)
HERA wins on packaging and coverage. (See full review here!)
Innisfree wins on lasting power and price.
Pretty obvious – the overall winner is Laneige Pore Control BB cushion for me!
And yes, it is my daily holy grail base makeup. I’m pretty skeptical I’ll find a better alternative to this, but always waiting and hoping for the next launch of a ‘long wear’ ‘summer-friendly’ BB cushion 🙂
Please share with me your finds for great base make-up for oily skin!
beautychoccafe 