Beyond evening out your complexion, cushion foundations often provide additional sun protection and skin care benefits like fighting acne or preventing wrinkles. Whether you want the dewy Korean flight attendant look or some color correcting action, cushion foundations are a super convenient way to apply foundation and touch up on-the-go.
If you have already tried cushion foundations, you know that they are the easiest type of foundation to blend. But if you don’t use the cushion puff correctly, you can end up making your skin look cakey or give yourself insufficient coverage. We asked makeup artist Katie Jane Hughes, a lover of Korean beauty, to show us how to correctly apply cushion foundation.
Push the puff gently into the cushion.
You might be tempted to press your fingers all the way down until you hit the bottom of the cushion. It’s very satisfying to press down hard and see the foundation ooze out of the cushion. But whether you want light or heavy coverage, it’s best to pick up the right amount of product each time and work in layers.
Press down gently once or twice into the cushion and see how much product the puff has picked up. Then twist the cushion puff on the surface of the cushion to evenly distribute the product on the puff.
To build up coverage and still get a natural-looking finish, try a BB cushion, like the Laneige BB Cushion Pore Blur, which Hughes used on my skin. (We also really like the Missha Signature Essence Cushion.) “I like to work with a product that’s sheer but still builds, instead of something that’s opaque that you have to fight with,” says Hughes.
