REVIEW: Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation + Full Shade Range Swatches

When you've been testing and writing about makeup for as long as I have, and when you've gotten progressively dryer and more dehydrated with age, it becomes hard to find a potential Holy Grail foundation. In some cases, it's touted as being "glowy" and "luminous," but the ingredients list contains my skin's ticking time bombs, like alcohol denat. Other times, a product will be promoted as being dry-skin friendly, but when fellow desert faced reviewers test the product, they point out that it only works for them if they pack on moisturizer, oil, and setting spray.

I'm not judging, by the way, because if you're dry skinned, those sorts of products are your primer. But if you have to layer and layer and layer to get something to look halfways decent? Then I'm likely not going to get much use out of it.

But I've heard so much hype around the Koh Gen Do Aqua foundation. And while I didn't have an out-of-the-bottle shade match with their Moisture foundation, I thought the formula was beautiful, a rare glowy treat for very dry skin. Thankfully, Koh Gen Do offers sample packs of their foundations with free shipping, so I grabbed the full range and settled in for the test. If you decide to grab a full size of this foundation, you'll get one ounce for $62 in a glass bottle with a pump.

Natural light on top, flash on bottom. From left to right: Koh Gen Do Aqua in 012 and 113, NARS Sheer Glow in Siberia, and MAC Full Coverage in NW10.

Straight off the bat, this is another Koh Gen Do foundation that doesn't have a match for me out of the bottle. The lightest shade, 012, has strong pink undertones, and the lightest yellow shade, 113, is at least one full shade too dark for me. Since my yellow undertones aren't too pronounced, I decided to do my first round of testing with 012.

This foundation has a very thin, runny texture. I detected a very faint botanical-type smell, which I think is coming from some of the ingredients; it's not especially strong and I couldn't smell it after application.

One layer of this foundation applied with a buffing brush gave me solid medium coverage. It went on easily without streaking. I was a little surprised by how matte this looked on me, however, since so many dry skinned people claim this product is their ride or die foundation, and because Koh Gen Do's website claims it will give you "youthful appearing dewy skin." In all fairness, I am not "slightly dry" or even "dry"; I am very dry and rather dehydrated. A lot of products that look glowy on others go satin or matte on me.

That said, it also looked a bit flaky around the driest parts of my face--here's a macro shot of my jaw area to show you. It's absolutely not the worst I've ever experienced, and it was only obvious if got close to my face, but it's still worth mentioning. I did get a bit of settling in to my fine lines as well, but again, it was slight and you had to be close to see it. Overall, I'd say it has a very skin-like quality to it.

I think one of the reasons so many dry skinned people enjoy this is because it's comfortable. If you have parched skin, you know how easy it is for beauty products to leave you feeling itchy, or like your face is a piece of cellophane pulled taut across your skull. Koh Gen Do Aqua doesn't give me that feeling it all. It's completely weightless and very comfortable.

Here's the time lapse photos. As you can hopefully see, this wears pretty well throughout the day. I did notice the foundation breaking down a bit on my nose at the 3 hour mark, and it had worn off by the 5 hour mark. I still think you could use this if you're somewhat oily-skinned, provided you added in a primer and/or some powder. I also got dryer throughout the day, which resulted in the foundation being visibly flaky along my jaw and in my fine lines, but you can't really tell in these photos.

That's the other thing about this foundation: it photographs beautifully. Don't get me wrong, it looked nice in real life, but it didn't look quite as sterling as it does in this 5 hour picture. This may be due to the microshimmer in this foundation, because yes, it has microshimmer. I thought I was going crazy the first time I tried it; then I noticed it on the second, third, and fourth trial run. It's extremely fine and can only be seen up close in bright-ish light, yet it still irks me a little. I hate the possibility of looking all-over sparkly.

As a side note, while this is definitely too pink for me, it did not oxidize. My skin looks a little lighter in the picture on the left because there was daylight coming through the windows when I took it, whereas the second and third picture only have the camera flash for lighting.

The second time I tested shade 012, I applied it with a damp Beauty Blender for my Glossier Black Tie Set Review/Anti-Haul post. This gave me lighter coverage, which I prefer, but I don't think it made it look that much less matte. I used plenty of finishing spray on this day to make my skin look and feel less parched.

I concluded that while the depth of 012 is just about right for me, it's way too pink. I can't get away with it. Hence, I bumped up to 113 for my next two applications, mixing roughly 2 parts Koh Gen Do Aqua with 1 part NYX Pro Foundation Mixer in White. This gave me a shade I'd peg between NC10-15: darker than my neck, lighter than my face, which is usually what I strive for.

This shot ended up being weirdly cropped, as you can tell, but I think it shows you the color and the finish better than the previous photos. Notice that the foundation is very skin-like, but yes, rather matte and a tad dry on my face. This is even with a layer of Too Faced Hangover primer underneath and plenty of Clinique Moisture Surge spray on type. By the end of the night, it was nearly as dry and flaky as all of my other trial runs. I just don't see this looking dewy or even satin on dry skin without a damn impressive skincare routine to back it up.

That doesn't sound too bad, though. No, I would never recommend this product over the Moisture foundation if you are very dry skinned, and in fact, this has inspired me to revisit the Moisture foundation and fiddle with the yellow shades. But if you are dry to combination, slash, you have a prep routine that really works for you, you'd still probably enjoy this foundation. It's comfortable, skin-like, and easy to use. What's not the love?

I'll tell you what's not to love: the shade range. The fucking shade range.

ETA: Somebody on Makeup Alley asked for a version of these swatches with an updated white balance, so I produced it below. I hope it's helpful!

 Here's the full range, swatched in the order Koh Gen Do has them listed on their website. You have three shades with strong pink undertones (012, 002, 013), three shades with neutral-to-yellow undertones (113, 123, 143), and one olive shade (213). 143 is the darkest thing they've got...and it's not that dark. As proof, here's a photo of someone wearing 143 from their Instagram:

@asifamirza wears Aqua Foundation in shade 143. #KGDapproved

A photo posted by kohgendo (@kohgendo) on Dec 15, 2016 at 11:10pm PST

That's it. That's the darkest they've got. Compare that to their Moisture foundation, which admittedly had only 8 shades when I first tested it, but has since added 4 deep shades for a total of 12. It's still a small range, but it stretches much further. For reference--and again, I'm using their own Instagram--here's a model wearing their lightest yellow shade in the Moisture foundation, 112:

Clean skin never looked better. @beautyisboring_ used Maifanshi Moisture Foundation in shade 112 on @magsrosemizner. #beautifulskin #fashionweek

A photo posted by kohgendo (@kohgendo) on Oct 6, 2016 at 2:33pm PDT

And here's the deepest shade, 303:

@justineskye wears Moisture Foundation in shade 303. Makeup by @camaraaunique. #KGDapproved

A photo posted by kohgendo (@kohgendo) on Dec 28, 2016 at 3:18pm PST

Now, you might want to defend Koh Gen Do because they eventually got their shit together with the Moisture foundation, slash, they're originally an Asian beauty brand. But I'm not buying that. Aqua was around when I tried the Moisture foundation with its initially shitty shade range, and yet they haven't updated it. Furthermore, this brand has been available on the western market for quite some time now, and they've been selling in Sephora for at least 2 years. It's beyond aggravating that their range stops at "kinda sorta tan."

If it seems like I'm especially tough on Koh Gen Do...well, I am, because for better or worse, I hold them to a higher standard. They create products with formulas that tend to be leagues above the rest, and for that, I don't mind paying a little extra for them. But if they really want to be competitive on the western market, and more importantly, if they want to do those beautiful formulations justice? They have to work on a better shade range.

At the end of the day, shitty shade range or no, Koh Gen Do Aqua won't be a unicorn for me. I might, however, have better luck with the Moisture foundation this time, seeing as I'm armed with a workable white mixer. If you're very dry skinned, you'll probably want to join me on the Moisture foundation side of things. If you're not especially dry, you match one of the few available shades, and you're looking for something that provides light to medium coverage, feels weightless, and looks like skin, you may prefer Koh Gen Do Aqua. Personally, I'll be taking a pass on that full bottle.

RATING: 4 out of 5

This product is available at Sephora.

REVIEW: Koh Gen Do Maifanshi Moisture Foundation

This post may be giving some of you a feeling of deja vu. That's because I tested this foundation a while back, liked the formula but hated the oxidization, and promptly wrote it off. "Life is too short," I told myself, "to walk around looking like I have Pepto-Bismal on my face."

Well, things have changed. I've aged, and in the process, my skin has gotten dryer and more dehydrated. Products that once performed beautifully on me now look odd on my face; things I used to hate sometimes work well for me. And because I've been desperately searching for a pale enough, neutral enough, and forgiving-on-dry-skin enough foundation for the past year and a half or so, I figured it was time to give the KGD another try.

The packaging for this product is just plain utilitarian. The squeeze tube and tiny nozzle make it easy to dispense just the right amount of product with no mess. I'm incredibly irritated by the sticker they slap on the back, though. I know this is kind of snobby and elitist, but at $62 a tube, you can't afford to give me English-language packaging without a sloppy sticker on the back? *grumble grumble first world problems*

 Daylight on top, flash on the bottom. From left to right: NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly, Koh Gen Do Maifanshi Moisture Foundation in 001, Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer in Sx01, NARS Sheer Glow Foundation in Siberia.

As far as the shade goes: yeah, it's still too pink for me. These swatches show four products that are roughly the same depth, and the KGD swatch is definitely the only outright pink one. But luckily, it no longer oxidizes on my face, so it doesn't get darker and pinker. If you aren't squinting at me, then you can't really notice the undertone difference in real life.

I think.

I hope.

The shade range irritates the snot out of me on general principle. I know that Asian brands, as a general rule, have very tiny shade ranges. But I think when you start marketing to, and selling through, a western marketplace, you should adapt accordingly. There are no shades for dark-skinned people in this line; in fact, I'd say if you're NC/NW30 or over, you're out of luck. Also, only 3 of the 8 shades have yellow undertones, and none of them are neutral. This is a product that's geared towards pink-toned people.

The actual formula is as I remember it: a liquid, but a very thick and creamy one. This doesn't glide across my face like MAC Face & Body; I have to take a few minutes to work it in to my skin in sections. That's not to say that it feels heavy or bad, but it's not as liquidy as the standard foundation. I can't imagine using a brush to apply this stuff--I always use my fingers and let the warmth of my skin blend the product.

There's some disagreement as to whether or not this foundation is medium coverage. Personally, I find it to be a light coverage product that's slightly buildable, but only slightly.

The above images show what I look like before applying the KGD foundation and after applying a thin layer. As you can see, I have relatively decent skin, but I do break out on my chin. Also, I was unusually uneven and sallow on this particular day. The KGD evened out my skintone and softened my blemishes, but did not completely cover them. The finish is between dewy and satin, and it looks quite natural.

The before and after images, however, don't demonstrate how decent this product really looks on the skin. Some foundations look great immediately after you apply them, some look meh, and some look like garbage until they've been sitting on your face for a good 15 minutes. KGD Maifanshi moisture is in that last category: it looks weird and blotchy and hideous when I first apply it, but after about 15 minutes (as seen above), it looks much more even. Again, I think this is a product that really relies on body heat to keep it smooth.

Also, can you see here that this product is too pink for me? Kinda? Ah, well, such is life.

I didn't powder or prime my face at all, because I usually try to test foundations on their lonesome at least once. I'm a dry-skinned person, so that's usually not a problem, but...eek, that 5 hour mark. Bear in mind that my nose is the one truly oily part of my face, so I kind of expected that, but the shine on my chin and my forehead--while not too extreme--is unusual for me. I was aching to blot, but I resisted.

The header image for this post gives you a much better idea of how this product works if you powder and primer where necessary. In that image, I powdered my nose, and dusted a teeeeeeny amount of powder on my chin and the center of my forehead as well. Notice how much better I look! I still had to blot my nose once or twice throughout the day, but I expected that.

What's truly fantastic about this foundation, however, is that it is one of the only base products on the market that looks great on dry and/or dehydrated skin. Almost everything else I've tried makes my face look flat, or emphasizes dry patches, unless I douse myself with highlighter, setting spray, and MAC Strobe Cream. The KGD isn't like that: it can actually get a bit too dewy if you don't blot it. That's atrocious for a normal-to-oily skinned person, but if you're dry like me, it's a Godsend.

RATING: 4 out of 5.

Koh Gen Do is available at Sephora.

REVIEW: DiorSkin Nude BB Cream

I was beyond sad when I left my boyfriend at the airport last week, so I decided to splurge on one last makeup item in the Duty Free store before starting my No Buy. I haven't used much Dior besides the lash primer, and I've been curious about their base products, so I went straight for this BB cream. Not only did it offer a bit of sun protection and the lighter coverage I prefer, but it also came in an incredibly light shade, 001 Light. (The second shade is 002 Fair, but don't be fooled: 001 is definitely lighter.) It swatched beautifully on my N5-ish jaw, so I didn't hesitate to plonk down the $44.

The packaging for this BB is absolutely flawless: it's a squeeze tube, meaning you can squish out every last drop of product, and it has a pump, which makes it more sanitary. It's very easy to control how much comes out of the pump; I was able to disperse a pump-and-a-half of product to cover my face and the top of my neck without trouble.

The product itself is a very smooth, creamy foundation that feels beautiful when blended on to the skin. I was able to smooth it on with my hands and with a brush without trouble, and I found that it had the same amount of coverage regardless of what method I used: more than most tinted moisturizers, but less than a medium-coverage foundation, with a slight dewy finish. My zits and undereye circles were "softened," but not completely covered.

It absolutely reeks of cheap cucumber melon perfume, though, which I found appalling; if you're going to advertise a product as part skincare, you shouldn't load it up with fragrance. Furthermore, if you're going to claim that a product's main purpose is sun protection--as the back of this product's box claims--you seriously need to do better than SPF10.

At first, I was 95% thrilled with how this product looked on my skin. Although I knew it was a smidge too pink from the get-go, I didn't think it was horribly noticeable, even in these HD photographs. Cream and powder products blend over it very well, and it doesn't transfer on to my clothing. But I also realized that this wasn't a product for certain skin types.

I'm a little sorry for this Super Creepy HD shot of my nose, but I think it illustrates an important point: this is NOT a product for oily skin. I took this picture immediately after applying the product to my oily nose, and you can see that it's already greasy, with the product separating and migrating to my pores. I didn't powder for the sake of this review, but if you have combination skin, you'll want to powder this product down, and if you have straight-up oily skin? It's not the product for you.

Now, it looked absolutely beautiful on the rest of my face, which is quite dry, except for a few spots...

...spots with flaking or textural issues. This close-up shows how lovely the DiorSkin Nude BB Cream looks on areas that are dry-but-smooth, but it also shows the minor flakes on my cheeks and at the corner of my mouth being emphasized. And yes, these are minor flakes brought on by using acne spot treatments, not instances of prolonged textural issues. Hence, I would only recommend this product to people with normal to dry skin and no texture issues.

But again, 95% thrilled! It had the perfect amount of coverage for me, felt nice on my skin, and looked great on 3/4 of my face. And I have no problem powdering and priming my nose, since it's the one "really weird" part of my face. I was willing to overlook the terrible smell and slight pinkness because of how convenient this BB cream would be for my needs, seeing as I travel long distances to work and prefer to do my makeup on-site on those days.

Alas, it was not to be. Not only does this product completely break down on my oily nose (so much so that even blotting powder couldn't save it), but it also darkens up and gets more pink after about 20 minutes. You can really see this happening in the natural light picture on the right: my neck is about N5, and the BB cream has darkened to NW15-20. Many reviews for this product mention the same "darkening" effect, and some foundations are just formulated in such a way that they will get darker shortly after application. This was quite a shade jump, though, seeing as it went from about NW5 to NW15--two full shades darker. If you want to try this product, I highly recommend requesting a sample first.

So alas, this product didn't work for me, and the people it will work for are a small group. While it will probably look beautiful on those people, it's also going to give very little sun protection (regardless of what its advertising states) and reek to high Heaven. Color me disappointed...and two shades too dark.

RATING: 3 out of 5

Note: the Dolce & Gabbana Creamy foundation applies lighter than it swatches. Koh Gen Do Manifashi Moisture foundation oxidized on me, but doesn't on most people.

FOTD and Some Recent Let-Downs

We all know that I'm forever preoccupied with finding perfect super-pale foundations, namely foundations that work great on dry skin (but can handle my oily nose) and have a neutral or cool yellow undertone. And while I haven't always found formulas that work for me, I like to think I've provided a decent database of products that a wide variety of fair-skinned folks can use.


Now it's time to add Koh Gen Do Maifanshi Moisture Foundation in 001 to the "Just Doesn't Work For Renee" list. Don't get me wrong: it's layerable, it feels nice on my skin, and it doesn't exacerbate dry, flaky patches. And while it isn't the absolute BEST on oily skin (which is to be expected, given that it's a moisturizing foundation), it doesn't completely break down in to a greasy mess. No, this is a pretty nice foundation. It's just too pink for me, and for some reason, it's one of the few foundations out there that oxidizes on my face.

Even in this series documenting the initial application, something seems off about it. It actually starts out pale enough for me, but you can tell that two layers of it is far too pink for me. By the time we hit the 15 minute mark...

...it was definitely too dark and too pink for me. Such a shame; I think I could've liked this one. Obviously, I'll keep the rest of my (very generous) sample for swatching purposes, but I won't continue trying to wear the actual foundation.

Also visible in this FOTD photo are two other products that have led me to admit defeat: the Illamasqua Powder Blusher in Tremble and the Chanel Illusion d'Ombre in Abstraction. The first Illamasqua powder blush I tried out was the uber-pastel pink, Katie, and it was such a powdery, awful mess that I swore off of the formulation. Then I thought a darker color might work better, so I swapped for Tremble. Nope! It's a powdery, dry mess. If I'm going to use a powder blush, I prefer one that's tightly packed and doesn't make my cheeks look even more parched. As for the IdO: we already knew I'd decided not to repurchase it, but I've come to realization that I'm only forcing myself to use this particular pot, especially now that it's drying up. I'm going to scoop out the product and sanitize the jar for future use.

But there's some light at the end of the tunnel! I've been remembering how much I love two other IdOs--Epatant and Illuisoire--and because I've been re-hired for my adjunct faculty position, I've decided to reward myself with some of my old favorites. More on that when they get here; for now, here are some swatches from my Illusion d'Ombre revew!

Vanity: Laura

Vanity: Lipsticking Vicariously Through Others

Laura, Blogger

Beauty has been an interest of mine since I was around 8 years old.  I grew up with twin sisters who were 10 years older than me, and they both used makeup, but each had their own style.  I remember playing in their makeup and my interest has snowballed from there. The only rule I follow is there are no rules.  Makeup is forever evolving and everyone interprets beauty differently.

On days that I actually DO have more than 5 minutes to get ready, I will spend hours getting ready.  Long showers, layering on skincare, perfecting my hair, and of COURSE applying my makeup.  You might think I'm a geisha on those days! My nighttime skincare routine consists of applying my TATCHA One Step Camellia Cleansing Oil and rinsing. I then use the Koh Gen Do Spa Water and a Q-tip to remove any excess eye makeup.  I apply whichever night time moisturizer I am wearing at that time, as well as my Mario Badescu Hyaluronic Eye Cream. I also love facial masks of all varieties--sheet masks, clay masks, peel off masks--you name it.

Being as beauty obsessed as I am, it's hard to pick favorite products. I don’t judge beauty products by cost or brand. If something is good, I'll buy it. It doesn’t matter if it is a $2 Wet n Wild eyeshadow or a $100 serum. The TATCHA Deep Brightening Serum is a favorite; this product alone has made my skin something to be proud of. The Laura Mercier Rose Rendezvous highlighter is the most gorgeous highlighter I have ever seen in my LIFE! And It Cosmetics Hello Lashes is my favorite mascara because it makes my lashes look RIDICULOUSLY long when I'm wearing it. The only things I've ever used up, or at least those that come to mind, are mascaras. None in particular; I use all of my mascaras up and have tried a large variety. But I have hit pan on a number of things. One product that I use daily is MAC Mystery eyeshadow. I use it to fill in my brows. I've had that eyeshadow for 3+ years and I only have the tiniest bit of pan showing.

  

Audrey Hepburn is one of my favorite people because she always looked great and I find her style amazing.  Inspiration comes from the most unexpected places. I have been in month-long ruts, and a simple idea will pop in my head while walking around my neighborhood or talking to a friend.  

 This project is greatly indebted to the Top Shelf section of IntoTheGloss.com, which was my inspiration, and to every beautiful person who participates. This article has been slightly modified for clarity and length.