Meh while I’m at reviewing foundations I might as well do it all. There are only 2 shades for this, conveniently named Shade 1 and 2. I wear Shade 1. Have been using this on & off for about a year or so. My cousin bought it for me when she went to Korea. I only paid $12! Retails for about $38 in SG I think.

Pros

Texture: Very fluid, easily blendable, which is nice.

Cons

Colour: An ok match. It tends to an ashy tone which I don’t really like. It is probably meant for Korean/Japanese skin tones which are pinker. After application I didn’t feel like it was my-skin-but-better quality, nor did I hate it.

Unfortunately the ashy tone emphasized my dark undereye area though.

Bad Coverage: Almost non-existent. Please do not expect any coverage from this product. It’s a very sheer application. I guess you could try to build it up to 2 layers, but it cakes easily for me in hot & humid Singapore.

Finish: I wouldn’t say “glowy” nor “satiny” because that gives an falsely positive vibe about the finish. It’s simply… shiny. I dunno how to describe it but you know the sheen on your skin after applying lotion? Just slightly borderline greasy but yet not quite.

No Staying Power/Oxidization: This is the deal breaker for me. I am quite tolerant about the above inadequacies but to find that I look bronze by 12pm is not accpetable. And by the time I get home, 80% of the foundation has melted off, plus I look like I have toiled in the sun planting rice for a good part of the day. Eurgh.

I went to the beauty hall at Robinson’s after work just now with full intention to get some foundation. I was quite determined to get something from Shu Uemura, them being a well-known Japanese brand all. (With the logic that Asians make better products for Asians.)

Plus it helps that all the reviews on makeupalley were nothing short of glowing (ha pun!).

The sales assistant applied this on my face with a sponge and here’s my review…

Pros

Unfortunately none for me. :(

Cons

Colour: Dunno if it’s because the SA was bad but the foundation shade she chose did not make my skin look radiant/glowy. In fact I looked duller and my skin tone seemed chalky.

Coverage: In between sheer and medium. My freckles and pores were still very apparent.

Texture: Smooth, easily glides on skin. Very lightweight. But it is a drying formula. My skin immediately becomes bumpy if it’s dry, and it became bumpy within an hour of applying this foundation. Very annoying. It was plump and smooth again once I got home, removed the makeup and applied moisturiser.

Finish: Again I dunno if it’s because of the SA, but the foundation caked up on the drier areas of my face e.g. the sides of my nose. I suspect that she applied way too much. She used 1 pump for each side of my face. I read on makeupalley that a girl only used half a pump for her whole face so… /shrug

She also insisted that the cakey look was “normal at first”. Well looking at her own makeup I suppose she really believes so, because her makeup is about 1 inch thick and caking like nobody’s business.

Staying Power/Oxidization: I only wore the foundation from about 6pm+ to 10pm at night, but despite the short hours and it being night, I notice that the foundation got a bit darker by the time I got home. I attribute this to the wrong shade that I was matched with.

To Be Fair

Needless to say I did not go home purchasing this. But I believe that things may have been different if I encountered a more skilled SA who knew which shade my skin was, plus knew how to apply foundation. Also oilier skinned girls would probably have much better luck with this than me.