Isa Knox Cell Renew Cover Cushion Ex

A photo posted by @addictedtocrafts12 on May 6, 2016 at 6:14pm PDT

I got this Isa Knox cushion earlier in the year, because it's got this super cute flower pattern in Pantone colours. I bought it as soon as I saw it on TesterKorea, even though I know I was fine with just the A'pieu x Doraemon Air Fit cushion. Then I saw it on Instagram, and how someone bought the same cushion via a Korean buying service received an additional case and three refills. So in total, that was two cases, and four refills for the price of one cushion + refill. I was annoyed as I would have preferred to received that instead. So mark my surprise when my package came, and IT WAS THE SAME PACKAGE!! OMG!! I was so happy!!! Okay, now you are wondering why I am blabbering on. Well, the cushion I am reviewing today is the extra cushion I got from Isa Knox. The one I wasn't expecting at all.

 The cases, which I will refer to as the Flower case and the Pantone case. As you can see, it is not as intricate as the Pantone version. It is just a sticker on top of the cushion case, with nothing to prevent the colours from rubbing off. Whereas the Pantone version has glass on top with some additional etchings on top.

The Pantone case is also quite a big thicker than the Flower cushion.

You can't really tell from the pictures, but the two cushions are also of different formulas. The Pantone cushion is the "Micro Foam Cushion Silk Cover" and the Flower cushion is of "Cell Renew Cover Cushion Ex". I had to get the cushion from the refill for the Flower cushion, as I couldn't tell at all.

I chose to go with the Flower cushion as I didn't want to open up the super pretty Pantone case and scratch it up.

  Both types of cushions are in No.21, which is the lightest choice they had. (I had no idea what my shades are, I just figured I got light skin, the lighter shades should work.. ^o^;;)

 The cushion is like any other cushions, a shelter for the ruby cell pad and housing for the cushion + product itself. Please excuse the dirty pad as I am very clumsy and  tend to get some product on my fingers which then transfer to the back of the pad. ^__^;;

Natural Lighting 

Flash

 This shade looks quite dark in the cushion, but it actually fits my skin colour well. At least I think so.

Flash 

Natural Lighting 

 I don't know about you, but I kind of have a little hard time seeing the swatch under natural lighting. It is definitely a bit more orange than my skin colour but it isn't too far off? Again, I don't use make up often so I don't have a very good eye with it.. ^__^;

With flash

I feel like with flash, the colour is even a bit harder to tell. Especially around the edges? If these are a little bit darker against the inside of my arm, where it is quite pale, it should be okay on my face.. Right???

Okay, time for real life testing~~

 As you can see, my face is full of breakouts.. Urg, I can't believe how bad my skin was a few months ago. I was NOT taking good care of my self. My skin is also quite red and splotchy.

This is after I put on one layer of the cushion on. Most of the redness are covered and it seems to be a good shade for me. Yes? At least I can't really tell I got make up on unless you look at the nostril and the chin area. Those areas are a bit dry so it makes sense the cushion isn't sitting as well as other areas. But I like this cushion. It lasted for most of the day with minimum touch up.

The product has a very faint floral smell that does last as it sits on my face. It kind of reminds me of roses? The smell doesn't bother me so that's a plus!

I think this cushion is good enough for my demand for a cushion. It is being carried around on a daily basis for that odd occasion I feel like putting on make up.

I also compared it against the A'pieu x Doraemon Air-Fit cushion as I don't think I'll do a full write up on the cushion itself. I bought the cushion set as I grew up watching Doraemon, and the cushion was so adorable as it is his face! It was my first cushion, and I liked it enough to keep using it off and on. The only downside is that I found it clung to the dry spots on my skin. Sometimes I feel like you can see all the dry spots on my face. My friend said it may be due to the shade being too light for me.

I should add that both of these sets are no longer being sold, so I didn't provide any links. You may be able to find it on sale on eBay if you really like either of these cushions.

 The two cushions are of similar sizes and of the same components. Though you can see the A'pieu sponge looks a bit darker than the Isa Knox sponge. Oh, I didn't take a closer picture, but the A'pieu sponge is a lot more porous than Isa Knox.

Natural lighting 

Flash 

 The left swatches are Isa Knox, and the right swatches are A'Pieu. As I have said above, my friend said the A'pieu cushion may be too light for me. Which is kind of true when you look at the swatches here. The A'pieu swatches are all quite light for the inside of my arm, which is already quite pale compared to my face.

I blended the A'pieu swatch out a bit and let it oxidized. Now it looks more suitable for my skin whilst the Isa Knox swatch is now too dark. So I guess my friend is right, the A'pieu was too light for my skin and hence why I felt like it accentuates a lot of dry spots. If it's just good match for the inside of my arm, then it's too light for my face.

In addition, I found the A'pieu cushion to have a much stronger smell to it. It's a strong sweet powdery smell to it. No, it's not as bad as the Etude House's cushion, so I am able to tolerate it. But the smell often wafts into my nose at random times throughout the day and annoys me for a moment.

The other thing I found with the A'pieu cushion is that I had to flip the sponge quite often. I left it at my office for most of the time, and I found that I already had to flip it twice even though I used it for only around 10 times. Whenever I flip it, I can see there is still products in the bottom. So I am not too happy with that.

Overall, I like the Isa Knox cushion more for its smell, and how much smoother the application feels against my skin.

Oh, one last thing, the refills are not interchangeable despite similar sizes. The Isa Knox cushion is lightly too big for A'pieu's casing, such that it wouldn't even go in at all.

Okay.. One more thing.. I still got Holika Holika x Gudetama and Missha x Line Friends cushions to use.. Omg.. For someone who doesn't use make up often, I sure has a lot of cushions.. ^.^;;