My first BB Cushion experience: IOPE 4th Gen Air Cushion

From the title of my post you can already tell that this is a long-missed makeup review post. So for about a year plus few years now, BB Cushions have been the 'IT' thing on makeup island right? More and more people are being introduced to Korean makeup too. I'm personally not that adventurous when it comes to face makeup, though after seeing the hype from my friends as well, I thought why not give it a go and get one for myself. Furthermore, while I was deciding on which brand to buy, Althea was really kind to give me RM150 to spend on their site during their 1st Anniversary online celebration! ♡ Now before I get sidetracked, let me share with you guys my A-Z thoughts on my very first bb cushion from IOPE!

Welcoming to my makeup family is IOPE's 4th Generation Air Cushion (Natural Glow). I got the shade #N21 - Natural Beige. The BB Cushion comes in this pretty sapphire blue box along with a refill pack and is retailing at Althea for RM130. (30g / 15g*2) Now prior to making my purchase, I've been doing all sorts of research in terms of price, brand, popularity, coverage, how it wears etc and in the end I've decided to give IOPE a try.

Here's how the BB Cushion looks like and the refill pack. Because Althea ships their products directly from Korea to your doorstep, everything in the packaging was in Korean. The BB Cushion itself is actually really compact as it's only the size of my palm. Plus if you were to bring this out for touch ups, you wont have to bring a compact mirror out anymore since it does come with one. I personally find the packaging really pretty because it has this very fine glitter/ pearl-like finish to it. On the back is a sticker indicating the shade as well as the shelf life of the BB Cushion. (and other information written in Korean)

01. This BB Cushion has SPF 50+ 
02. It contains bio water to provide moisture control & nutrition that hydrates the skin. 
03. Lightweight and the coverage is build-able. 
04. Available in five shades C13 (Cool Ivory), N21 (Natural Beige), and N23 (Natural Sand), W21 (warm beige), W23 (warm sand). Do take note that W21 & W23 aren't available on Althea.
05. Faint perfume scent (I like it though)
06. Mild cooling feel to the skin
07. Saves time & very convenient!

I just noticed that the exposure levels were a tiny bit too strong in this photo but the top of the BB Cushion puff is actually some sort of leather material with the IOPE word printed on the band.

The puff feels pretty squishy but I'm not sure whether it's me or not but I feel like I really had to press the puff into the cushion to really get the product.

Lifting up the lid under your puff, you'll see this seal to keep your BB Cushion clean. After removing this seal, I actually lined it on top of the lid so the puff wont stain the lid too much haha. 

Here's the Before & After two layers of bb cushion. These photos were taken during my 4th time trying out this product. Do correct me if I'm wrong but there are people that has previously told me that the reason they're in love with bb cushions is because they could skip primer and powder?

However for this product to work for my personal liking, I had to apply a primer as a base and top it off with a translucent powder. The first time I tried this, I had it on my bare face, and I didn't quite like the visibility of my pores + how it doesn't seem to dry? The second time I wore this, I had on a base and powder, everything looked great so I gave it a try for a few days and I've concluded that it's pretty good though even after powder, it does 'disappear a little' throughout the day and my face does get a little oily.

However I think this actually varies from a day to day basis. On days where my skin's not being mean to me, one even layer of this bb cushion along with my usual primer + powder is really all I need. Also I noticed that if it's just one layer of bb cushion, it does dry down to a more satin finish and that's fine if you're going for a more dewy finish. I just prefer setting it with powder.

♡ Why natural glow? ♡

The 4th Generation IOPE Air Cushion comes in 4 series - Natural glow, Lasting moisture, Matte Longwear, and Intense Cover. Why I have chosen Natural glow is because, having combination skin and the fear of purchasing the wrong shade, I wanted to pick the one with moisture, light weight + light-medium coverage, and less oily. Natural Glow fits best, plus I really didn't mind doing the primer + powder. In fact I think because I'm so used to powdering my face after applying any face makeup, I'd probably feel weird not applying powder even when using a mattifying foundation haha

 Ratings + Final thoughts

♡ FEEL ON SKIN ♡
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It's lightweight as it claims so yes I'm actually gonna use this way more often than I'll ever use my foundation. 


♡ COVERAGE ♡
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I'd say it's more of a light-medium coverage. If you're looking for a flawless finish, you'll need concealer

♡ PRICE ♡
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RM130(after discount) for the BB Cushion + a refill pack seems pretty reasonable to me 


♡ SHADES ♡
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There are only 3 shades available :(((( I really hope they'd release more shades.  

Thanks ShuShu for correcting me :D There's 5 shades available for all the BB Cushions in the 4th Generation. Though the differences are mainly whether you're more suitable for cooler/warmer tone. Meaning the range is still catered to people with fair-medium skin tones. I'd say if I were to apply one even coat, the shade I've picked up is perfect because it's still quite sheer. However if I were to go for two layers for more coverage, it did seem a little bit too light for me. 


♡ PACKAGING ♡
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Simple yet pretty. Nothing much I'd comment on this as it does fit in my bag nicely


♡ REPURCHASE?? ♡

I'd say a 50/50 as I do want to try out other brands like Laneige, April Skin, Lancome & Hera as well. Though I must say is that for a more natural daily look, this BB Cushion has really up-ed my makeup game. Because I can't stand how thick foundation goes on my skin, the max I'd wear on my face during a normal day would be primer, concealer and powder. Ever since I've gotten this, I do find myself reaching out to it way more than I ever have with my liquid foundation. Furthermore, I don't need to get a brush for it! I am skeptical with it's hygiene factor but because it's so convenient, I'll just close an eye for now and start researching on the proper method to clean my cushion puff because my foundation routine has never been this fast!

*The product is partly sponsored by Althea, however this product is handpicked by myself and this review is my honest opinion*