Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion Pearl Aura Review and Swatch

From the past seven months, I have been hoarding BB cushions ever since I started off with the IOPE BB cushion which I actually traded in a swap.  I was super excited since it was the first BB cushion I have ever tried and I saved myself from spending $45 on it so I was happy.  Sadly BB cushions do run out/ dry out, so I wanted to venture out into the world of BB cushions. I’m super lucky that Etude House sends me these products for me to try, so I wanted to do a full review since I know there aren’t that many on the internet that are in English.  This is Etude House’s newest edition to their already popular any cushion line, which I am in a love affair with their moist version which also came out not too long ago.  Naturally my hoarder self was like “OHHHHH SHINY!” but then my common sense kicked in and was like “hmmm I wonder how this will perform”, hence this review HAHA.If you haven’t checked out my Etude House Pink Bird June 2015 box, click here! 

Full name of product:
Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion Pearl Aura

Description:
This flawless cushion foundation with Pearl Brightener creates pearly aura skin with its full coverage and glowing effects. 

How to apply:
After morning skincare routine, apply BB cream by pressing the puff into the sponge and pat the puff onto the face. For touch-ups, reapply as desired. 

Price:
18,000 Won ($18 USD)

Amount of product:
15 g/ 0.52 oz

Where to buy:
Etude House Global
Any Etude House stores in Asia
Testerkorea.com
Beautynetkorea.com
Jolse.com

These are the only sites that have them online since they are relatively new.  You can always check on ebay, Koreadepart.com or Roseroseshop (on ebay or on the website) to see if they have it in the future.

Shades available:

Ingredients:

Natural Pearl Aura
Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Zinc Oxide (Ci 77947), Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Methyl Trimethicone, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Cyclohexasiloxane, Cetyl Peg/Ppg-10/1 Dimethicone, Butylene Glycol, Niacinamide, Acrylates/Ethylhexyl Acrylate/Dimethicone Methacrylate Copolymer,
Sorbitan Isostearate, Vinyl Dimethicone/Methicone Silsesquioxane Crosspolymer, Phenyl Trimethicone, Sodium Hyaluronate, Mother Of Pearl, Methyl Methacrylate Crosspolymer, Aluminum Hydroxide, Sodium Chloride, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Stearic Acid, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Caprylyl Glycol, Glycerin, Disodium Edta, Ethylhexylglycerin, Adenosine, Alcohol, Iron Oxides (Ci 77492), Iron Oxides (Ci 77491), Iron Oxides (Ci 77499), Fragrance Pearl Brightener: Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Zinc Oxide (Ci 77947), Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Mica (Ci 77019), Cyclohexasiloxane, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Cetyl Peg/Ppg-10/1 Dimethicone, Butylene Glycol, Methyl Trimethicone, Niacinamide, Acrylates/Ethylhexyl Acrylate/Dimethicone Methacrylate Copolymer, Phenyl Trimethicone, Sorbitan Isostearate, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Sodium Chloride, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Aluminum Hydroxide, Stearic Acid, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Glycerin, Ethylhexylglycerin, Vinyl Dimethicone/Methicone Silsesquioxane Crosspolymer, Disodium Edta, Adenosine, Alcohol, Mother Of Pearl, Sodium Hyaluronate, Hydrolyzed Pearl, Fragrance

Light Pearl Aura
Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Zinc Oxide (Ci 77947), Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Methyl Trimethicone, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Cyclohexasiloxane, Cetyl Peg/Ppg- 10/1 Dimethicone, Butylene Glycol, Niacinamide, Acrylates/Ethylhexyl Acrylate/Dimethicone Methacrylate Copolymer, Methyl Methacrylate Crosspolymer, Sorbitan Isostearate, Vinyl Dimethicone/Methicone Silsesquioxane Crosspolymer, Phenyl Trimethicone, Sodium Hyaluronate, Mother Of Pearl, Aluminum Hydroxide, Sodium Chloride, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Stearic Acid, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Caprylyl Glycol, Glycerin, Disodium Edta, Ethylhexylglycerin, Adenosine, Alcohol, Iron Oxides (Ci77492), Iron Oxides (Ci 77491), Iron Oxides (Ci 77499), Fragrance Pearl Brightener: Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Zinc Oxide (Ci 77947), Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Mica (Ci 77019), Cyclohexasiloxane, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Cetyl Peg/Ppg-10/1 Dimethicone, Butylene Glycol, Methyl Trimethicone, Niacinamide, Acrylates/Ethylhexyl Acrylate/Dimethicone Methacrylate Copolymer, Phenyl Trimethicone, Sorbitan Isostearate, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Sodium Chloride, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Aluminum Hydroxide, Stearic Acid, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Glycerin, Ethylhexylglycerin, Vinyl Dimethicone/Methicone Silsesquioxane Crosspolymer, Disodium Edta, Adenosine, Alcohol, Mother Of Pearl, Sodium Hyaluronate, Hydrolyzed Pearl, Fragrance

I already like the idea of a BB cushion since it is convenient, cuts down base make up time ,compact, and easy to use.  The cushion itself is already pretty much all in one, but I think Etude House might be one of the first to have a built in illuminator right on the cushion. Let’s see how it performs and it is just a gimmick!

 PRODUCT PACKAGING:
Etude House’s new any cushion comes in the same compact as any of their other BB cushion compacts.  A slightly bulky compact that contains the cushion which is sealed with a lid and on top is the air puff.  

This pearl aura version comes with six small circles that contains the “pearl aura” (aka. illuminator) built into the cushion.  I’m surprised that the illuminator actually stays put and doesn’t bleed into the “BB cream”.  Interesting…

All of Etude House’s BB cushions can be popped out and interchanged with their regular cases or their cute limited edition cases that comes out from time to time.

 COLOR, PIGMENTATION/COVERAGE, FINISH
Most of you know that Korean cosmetics, especially base make up only come in a few shades but Etude House is pretty good with their shades.  I believe their regular BB cream has about five shades while other companies only have two shades since they only cater to their asian consumers.  This BB cushion only comes in two shades as for now, hopefully they will come out with more shades since I know not everyone in the world is two skin tones .  Against my NC25 (MAC skin tone shade reference), the natural pearl shades works perfectly!  The color isn’t too yellow nor too pink, I think this color is quite neutral so I can see a lot of light skinned people be able to match their own skin tones.

This BB cushion gives light coverage but you an build it up to a solid medium coverage.  For me, just one coat is good enough and if I needed extra coverage, I would either use a concealer or dab on the specific areas of concern.

Finish of the Pearl aura is, as the name states, a “pearly”, glowy finish. You can’t see it that well in photos, however in person it is definitely noticeable.  Not disco ball, in your face noticeable but a tasteful, natural looking glow.  The illuminator itself (although it looks like it is just white in the photo below) is a pearly light pink highlight with fine pink and purple shimmers.  I classify that type a highlighter as the “fairy dust” shade. 😛

Texture/finish:
Before I even tried the product on my face, I already suspected that the formula of the cushion would be the same as their regular any cushion formula and not the moist version which works the best for my skin type.  It is exactly what I suspected. To my surprise, it wasn’t too drying for my flakey skin but I still would rather them have a moist version in the future.  I think the illuminator masked the possibility of it looking cakey and dry on my skin.  If I really wanted to make this product work, I might just take out the cushion, mix some of my favourite moisturizer and get that “moist” formula.

Smell:
My smell-o-scale gives me a 4/10 on the fragrance scale.  I sense a hint of floral but it kind of smells like Marc Jacob’s perfumes, kinda grassy and refreshing.  Definitely not overpowering and the scent goes away after application.

Lasting power:
This product does not leave my skin sticky or the typical watery/ crazy dewy look that most Korean people like, it gives off more of a semi-matte finish but with the “pearl aura” finish, it does not look dry.  With that being said, I still wish they would come out with a moist version since it would look much better than the illuminator masking my skin to appear to look moisturized, but I personally know that my skin is not hydrated enough with this product on my skin and would not stand a chance with my dry skin type for more than 6 hours.  After that 6 hours, it would look super dry and unpleasant.

Please note the results I had with this product was tested on “bare” skin that only had basic moisturizer and sunscreen as a base, no primer or setting powder was used.
I tested this product on a regular, normal day (sunny, low humidity, typical Vancouver temperature except for the sunny part haha) when I was off and it lasted a good 6 hours before fading around the cheeks and slightly bunching up around the nose.  This was without setting it with any powder.  I’ve also tested this product during one of my work shifts which was slightly more humid environment with constant heat for 8 hours straight.  Without setting my base make up, this didn’t really last that long on my skin so for my ladies that live in a humid and hot place, I would definitely recommend using a long lasting primer and a setting spray. 
This is my bare face with minimal eye make up and slightly filled in eyebrows. 

A little about myself:
-20’s age range
 -Normal to dry skin type
-live in an area with low humidity and heat (Vancouver to be exact)
-sleep late due to weird hospitality work schedule

Skin concerns:
-dark circles with purple undertones and redness right below it
-dry, sometimes flakey skin
-slight hormonal redness around the chin, nose, and sometimes forehead
-eternal blackheads due to fumes of the kitchen -_-
It doesn’t look that bad in pictures, but in person it is panda eye status.

I should have tilted my head eh LOL.  You can’t really see the slight redness, however I promise you it is there.

And of course the picture is out of focus -_-.  That is what it looks like when you pat the air puff onto the cushion.  As you can see, the white circles is suppose to be the illuminator.

Secure the air puff with three fingers.  I usually use my middle finger to pat in the product precisely.  I also like to spritz water onto my air puff to hydrate it a bit since I do have dry skin.  I love me some BB cushion because it takes only about 4-5 minutes to do my whole face. I used to dread doing my make up since it would take up to an hour, now it takes about 30-40 minutes to do my whole face.  I like to take my time :).

Before and after~
As you can see from the left and right side, my redness is toned down and nicely concealed without being too cakey and my under eyes are slightly covered. I do have to say that I don’t like using this product for my under eyes since it actually makes it a lot more gray and weird looking, although you can’t see it from the camera.  The illuminator built into the cushion slightly accentuates the panda eyes, so I would definitely recommend using your favorite under-eye concealer before using the BB cushion to go over it again if you want. After using your under-eye concealer, go over it with the BB cushion, and boom! Nice and brightened under eyes.  The cushion also doesn’t make the fine lines under my eye look super dry, so thumbs up to that too :D.

Although you can’t see it on camera, the finish of the BB cushion

As you can see, the BB cream does a pretty good job of concealing the dark circles under my eyes.  Unfortunately, it looks decent in the photo, but in person, I don’t know why it made my undereye area look worse than before actually.  Something about the color of the BB cream made my purple-toned panda eyes look gray, I looked kinda sick! I would not use this for dark under-eye circle concealing, please use your favorite under eye corrector!!  Aiya…. No no no.

Comparing from the left (after) to the right (before), you can see that the BB cream did a good job in blurring out my redness but it also does look slightly dry since I do not believe it was fully designed for dry skin people.

Double trouble.  Dipped my finger into one of the illuminator pearls and gonna try it as a highlighter.

Hmm not bad as a highlighter if you like a more subtle glow, which I prefer.

LOL this girl forgot to conceal her other under eye. Fail….

 Add a little bit of blush and bronzer.  I used the Etude House dreaming swan eye and cheek in pointe corale which I got in my April Pink Bird Box. I didn’t think I would like this shade since when I first swatched it, I felt like it was too light to be a blush but boy was I wrong.  This shade is just right for someone with a heavy hand and always accidentally makes herself look like a clown with two circles on her cheeks (aka. this girl). 

Not half bad looking!

Hopefully, you can see what I mean by the “cakey” look I’ve been saying for the millionth time.  This is a problem I have with not only this product but any foundations I buy whether it is from the drugstore or from Sephora.  That’s why I just stick with BB creams since the color usually suits me well, it is more affordable and it does not make my skin so dry looking.  That is one of my pet peeves.

Pro:
-product is affordable ($18 USD)
-has pretty good coverage for those that want light to medium coverage
-pearl aura effect gives a natural and healthy glow that is not artificial looking

Cons:
-slightly harder to have buy/ test out in person if you don’t live in Asia (but we are in the age of internet so it isn’t that bad)
-no moist version for dry skin people
-only two shades
-illuminator sometimes does not spread evenly due to the “pearl aura” being in little circles and the dabbing motion doesn’t always guarantee eveness (is that even a word)

Overall scoring:
Product packaging B+
Color/pigmentation/ Payoff B+
Texture/finish B-
Smell A
Lasting power B+
—————————————-
B+ overall

Repurchase:
No

Stars given out of 5:
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall:
I wish the BB cushion packaging would be a little slimmer, however, I do understand that because of the cushion and the lid size, there isn’t much you can do about it.  Color works fine for me but for anyone that is any darker than a NC25-30, you might want to look somewhere else for your BB cushion since they only offer two shades at the moment.  This cushion on my already kind of vampire pale skin was almost too light compared to the rest of my body, so I couldn’t imagine any else out there that has a slightly darker skin tone, how on earth are they going to use this product?  The finish loses a bit since the dryness, I really can’t stand it since it really does not work for my skin type.  Smell was fine since it isn’t too overpowering or strong.  Lasting power, this product only lasts average 6-8 hours without setting powder or a long lasting primer. Overall I do like this product, would I grab for it?  Maybe not since the illuminator doesn’t go on even enough for my liking and I’m not one to like to use an illuminator all over my face.  I like to highlight strategically to get the best effect like on my smile line (for volume), chin, tops of cheek bone, bridge of my nose, and on my forehead.  I recommend this product to anyone who likes a natural glowy finish to their base make up, or even oily skin type people.

What did you guys think about this product?  Would you pick it up for yourself? Tell me in the comments down below :).  I love to hear what you guys think.