Missha The original tension pact in intense moisture Review + Demo

Missha tension pact has been out for about four or five months now and when it came out, it was all the rave.  Many Youtubers raved about how great the coverage was and the finish was long lasting.  I actually had this for a while but like how I normally am, I always forget I have things and then when I go shopping in my stash, I’m like eh?  I had this?  I know I promised you guys this review back in December but I got too caught in the holiday festivities and I was also fighting being sick, making me super tired the whole December.  So don’t shoot me but better late then never right haha.  This tension pact has four different versions but I only picked up the “intense moisture” version since I have super dry skin.  So let’s see if this cushion is worth the hype or not and worth you guys picking up or not.  Let’s go go!

Full name of product:
Missha the original tension pact in Intense moisture

Limited edition/ Permanent?:
Permanent

Description of product:
-Anti-wrinkle, whitening, UV protection (SPF 37/PA+++)
-The cover gives a smooth skin texture and moisturizing finish
-Contains Macadamia, jojoba, grape seed & olive fruit oils, natural moisturizing factor containing (62%)

Sunscreen:
SPF 37 PA+++

Price:
17,800 won

Amount of product:
14 g

Refill included?:
No but they did release a set with the refill for 25,000 won.

Versions:

Duration before expiration:
1.5 years

Country of Manufacture:
Made in Korea
Manufactured by Able C&C Co. Ltd

Where to buy:
Amazon

Shades available:

Ingredients:
Water; Aqua; Distilled water; Purified water, Phenyl Trimethicone, Titanium Dioxide (CI77891), Butylene Glycol Dicaprylate/ Dicaprylate/ Dicaprate, Ethlhexyl Methoxycinnamate; Octinaxate, Cyclopentasiloxane; Decamethyl Cyclopentasiloxane, Glycerin; Glycerol, Zinc Oxide (CI77947), Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/ Dimethicone, Cyclohexasiloxane, Butylene Glycol; 1-3- Butylene Glycol, Niacinamide; Nicotinamide; Nicotinic Acid Amide, Pentylene Glycol, Dextrin Palmitate/ Ethylhexanoate, Disteardimonium Hextorite, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Xylitol, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil; Macadamia Integrifolia Seed oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Simmodsia Chinensis (Jojoba) seed oil; Buxus Chinensis Oil, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) seed oil, PEG-10 Dimethicone, Magnesium Sulfate, Tribehenin, Aluminum Hydroxide (CI 77002), Dimethicone, Stearia Acid, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Ethylhexylglycerin, Adenosine, Silica, PEG-32, HDI/ Trimethylol Hexllactone Crosspolymer, Polypropylsilsesquioxane, Dimethicone/ Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Xylitlglucoside, Anhydroxylitol, Caprylic/ Capric Triglyceride, Sodium Hyaluronate, Sucrose Palmitate, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Phospholipids, Ceramide Np; Ceramide 3, 1,2- Hexanediol, Cholesterol,  Polygutamic Acid; Poly-y-Glutamic Acid, Arginine, Phytosterols, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Frangrance/ Perfume/ Aroma, CI77492; Hydrated Ferric Oxide; Yellow Oxide of Iron, Ci77491; Ferric Oxide; Red Oxide of Iron, Ci77499; Black Oxide of Iron; Ferrous-Ferric; OxideIron Oxides

How to use:
Simple take the air puff provided in the compact, lightly stamp sponge into the tension pact and pat into the skin until blended into the skin.

Product packaging:
Packaging for this tension pact is quite standard.  It comes in a circular compact measuring at 7.4 cm in diameter and 2.5 in height.  It is slightly more slim then BB cushions two years ago but not that much slimmer.  With each versions, the compact comes in different colours (peach= original, blue= tone up glow, beige= natural cover, lavender= intense moisture).  The cover comes in a slightly holographic design with the name of the cushion printed in white.

The back of the compact has the usual sticker with information like the name of the product where it is manufactured, date of expiration, etc.  Opening up the compact, there is nice sized mirror that does seem to be a real mirror and not that reflective plastic stuff.  The air puff is the new beige air puffs and not the dark blue ones you usually get.  These ones are slightly denser and slightly puffer then the traditional blue ones.

I honestly prefer my air puffs to be a darker colour since the beige ones sometimes are hard to wash out.

I do really like the reflective lavender touch on the rim of the compact.  Flipping open the compact reveals what we call “tension pact”.  Now what a tension pact is, it is a cream foundation/ BB cream filled compact with a mesh covering it instead of the traditional soaked cushion.  A lot of roadshop brands and high end brands are doing this now since it is easier to use, doesn’t dry up as fast and applies more evenly on the skin.

Color/ Pigmentation:
With Missha’s new line of tension pact, all the versions come in three shades (13, 21, 23).  I personally don’t like to look obviously pale so I usually choose shade 23 for the most natural look.  You’d honestly be surprised.  I personally am pretty pale already and I used to buy shade 21, but my face always looks way too pale like my face is floating away from my body.  This shade 23 is nice neutral yellow undertone color with no grey undertone, giving the skin a really natural look.

For reference, I’m around a Mac NC 20-25 with yellow undertone and very dry skin and this shade worked perfectly for me.  I also didn’t find the foundation to oxidize.

Texture/ Finish:
Since I bought the “intense moisture” version, I expected this to be super moisturizing and have a dewy finish.  Luckily, this product was spot on for me.  The hydration level kind of reminds me of my beloved A’pieu air fit cushion as well as the Tony Moly’s Luminous Goddess Aura Angel glowring CC cushion.  The dewiness isn’t as crazy as the air fit, it is more of a sophisticated glow, almost leaning towards being a satin finish but super hydrating.  For me personally on unprimed skin, the finish at first is a nice dewy finish for about 3-4 hours before it fully settles into my skin.  After that, it becomes more of a satin finish.

Coverage:
With one stamp into the pact and onto my face, I immediately got a good medium coverage.  With another layer, I could achieve almost a high coverage but with three layers, you can definitely get a full coverage.  Maybe if you got the other versions, you’d be able to achieve higher coverage quicker since the formulation would be drier but since I have dry skin, this is the only way out.

Lasting power:
I always test cushions without a primer and also no powdering my skin afterwards.  I mean, that’s how I also wear it on a daily basis anyways.  For me and my very dry skin, living in a low humidity city, chilly weather and the heater blasting all day 

Fragrance?:
This cushion does have that soapy floral fragrance but it is very light and does disappear after application.  It also ranks very low on the ingredients list so you shouldn’t worry too much about it.  Smell-o-scale: 5/10 in terms of the strength of the scent.

Okay!  Let’s try this on already~

Why I am starting to like tension pacts a whole lot more is because of this reason, it goes onto the air puffs a lot more even and I don’t have to keep going back and dabbing the sponge.  A lot of times with the traditional soaked cushions, it dries out very quickly and I’d be stabbing the back of my mack up brush in it to get the product back into the sponge which is annoying!  Now I never have a problem with that!  I can also see into the future where companies can just sell bagged refills of the BB cream/ foundation and we can just take the pact apart, clean it and then fill it up again.  So much more eco friendly that way.  Better yet, if you have your own foundation you love, just fill it up with that!

Here is my faec completely bare.  I don’t have many concerns at the moment but I do look for the following:
-doesn’t cling onto my dry patches
-hydrating for my dry skin
-evens out light redness around my cheeks and chin
-bonus points if it works for my dark circles

Close look at my skin condition.  My nose seriously is the worse part of my face.  I can never seem to get rid of those blackheads :'(.  Nose strips don’t work on me.  The only way to get rid of it is by extracting it sigh…

Here is the before…

And here is the after!  My redness is definitely covered up, no signs of dry patches and it sits well with pores as well!  I also tried it underneath the eyes but I would highly not recommend it since it creases like no tomorrow.  No brownie points haha.

Closer look!  Zoom 2x~

And here is both sides done with just one layer.  Not too shabby I must say.

Can you see that nice subtle glow?  My favourite!!

And here is my face fully beat~  I used all cream products (cream contour, cream blush, cream highlighter).

Pro:
-medium-full coverage
-intense moisture = hydrating and great for dry skin
-tension pact makes for easier application

Con:
-only three shades to choose from

Repurchase?:
Most likely yes if I want a trusted cushion in my collection I can turn to.

Stars given out of 5:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall thoughts:
I can totally understand the hype behind this product.  Do I think the hype was a little overdone (maybe because they were paid?), yes I think it was a little overkill how some people would joy off of a moving train to pronounce their love for this cushion.  Would I make my way to my computer and buy it online?  Yes, that is the kind of love I’d show for this cushion but I wouldn’t jump off of a train because it is good, but not THAT good.  Overall I really do like this cushion since it is super moisturizing for my dry skin and I only have to pat my air puff into the tension pact twice to cover my whole face.  It wears down very nicely, doesn’t make me look dry at the end of the day, and still manages to feel lightweight on the skin.  I’m very happy I bought this cushion and would definitely recommend you guys to try it out for yourself.  Do keep in mind there are four versions so choose the one that would fit your skin type the best.

Have you guys tried this cushion for yourself?  Which version did you get and what skin type do you have.  Let me know how it went for you in the comments down below!  I want to hear your opinions as well~