Lancome Miracle Cushion

UPDATE:

A side-by-side comparison with Lancome Blanc Expert Cushion Compact (sold in Japan) is here.

Porownanie z Lancome Blanc Expert Cushion Compact (wersja na rynek japonski) jest tutaj.

UPDATE: 

I edited this entry to add the ingredient analysis from cosDNA, because who loves you, baby? 

Ten wpis zostal uaktualniony analiza skladu wedlug cosDNA.

~~~

I like Lancome. A lot.
Their made in Japan products specifically for the Japanese market are superb. They are fully, truly Asian and hold their own next to any high(er) end Asian brand.
So last December, when I heard that Lancome was making forays into Korean-dominated cushion foundation land, I got very excited.

If you are new to cushion foundations, please click on the "Cushion Foundations" tab in the top menu. Cushion foundations have been around in Korea for a few years now. In the US, Laneige cushions are available at Target stores, and Amore Pacific at Sephora (the US only).

There are also American made cushion foundations out there, for example by Pur Minerals, or It Cosmetics, but I haven't tried them and can't tell you anything about them. Though the hilarious overuse of a photo editing makeup application on the It Cosmetics cushion page does not inspire much confidence.

Lubie Lancome. Nawet bardzo.
Ich kosmetyki robione w Japonii z mysla o japonskim rynku, sa swietne. Niestety z tego co sie orientuje, to wersje made in Japan, nie sa dostepne w Europie. A szkoda.
Wiec w grudniu, kiedy uslyszalam, ze Lancome ma wypuscic pierwszy "zachodni" podklad w poduszce, bardzo sie ucieszylam.

Jesli nigdy poprzednio nie slyszalas/les o podkladach w formie poduszki, kliknij na zakladke "Cushion Foundations" w gornym menu. Podklady w formie poduszki istnieja w Azji juz od kilku dobrych lat. Mozna je nabyc stacjonarnie w USA - Laneige w sklepach Target, a Amore Pacific w Sephorze.

Sa rowniez amerykanskie firmy, ktore maja poduszki w swoich ofertach, na przyklad Pur Minerals, czy It Cosmetics, ale nie mialam ich w reku i nie moge nic powiedziec na temat ich jakosci. Choc sposob w jaki zdjecie makijazu na stronie poduszki It Cosmetics zostalo "przeleciane" przez aplikacje makeupowa w smartphonie, nie napawa optymizmem.

I wanted to get my hands on this cushion. Badly. I got offered a PR sample, but the only available shade was 03, and as I'm not into the Oompa Loompa look, I took a pass.
Then I saw on social media here and there some girls selling their review samples and complaining that the color was much too dark.
I don't know what Lancome was thinking by offering 03 Beige Peche for review purposes. I was told that 03 Beige Peche was indeed the intended target shade for European customers. But judging from the reactions of the women who tried to sell their review cushions complaining that they were much too dark, that target was missed by a large margin. Does Lancome still believe that dark, tanned skin is in? Though maybe in Europe it indeed is. 
If you have naturally dark skin, then rejoice, Lancome has got you covered. As for the rest of us, oh well..., whatever. 

Chcialam dorwac ta podusie. Zaoferowano mi egzemplarz do recenzji, ale niestety byl on dostepny tylko w odcieniu 03. O duzo dla mnie za ciemny, wiec podziekowalam.
Na social media pojawily sie cichaczem glosy dziewczyn, ktore te poduszki do recenzji po kryjomu odsprzedawaly, bo dla nich rowniez byly za ciemne.
Nie wiem co Lancome mial na mysli wybierajac odcien 03 jako docelowy na Europe. Czy naprawde uwazaja, ze przecietna Europejka ma tak ciemna cere? No ale moze i ma. Z tego co widze, to opalenizna nadal kroluje na starym kontynencie.
Jesli masz naturalnie ciemniejsza karnacje, to dobra nowina dla ciebie - Lancome o ciemniejszych karnacjach pamietalo. Ale o bladziochach juz niestety nie.

This cushion is going to be released in Japan on February 20th, but thanks to my lovely I.P. in France, I received it this past weekend. Thank you so much!!! You are an angel!

So, let's get this show started.


In Europe Lancome Miracle Cushion retails for 45 euro. It's not cheap. Definitely Lancome's price range.
What we get for this price is 14 grams of product in a shiny compact, packaged in a shiny box. There is a leaflet in the box, but no refill. That you will have to purchase separately.
1st disappointment.

W Japonii ten podklad w poduszce zostanie wypuszczony 20-tego lutego, ale dzieki uprzejmosci wspanialej I.P. z Francji, otrzymalam ta poduszke w zeszly weekend. Bardzo Ci dziekuje! Jestes aniolem! :-)

No ale, do rzeczy...

W Europie Lancome Miracle Cushion ma cene 45 euro. Ile w Polsce nie wiem, nie chce mi sie sprawdzac na stronie Sephory. Nie jest to tania zabawa.
Za ta cene dostajemy 14 gramow produktu zapakowanego w srebrny kompakt zapakowany w srebrne pudelko. W pudelku jest ulotka informacyjna, ale wkladu wymiennego niet. To trzeba dokupic osobno.
Pierwsze rozczarowanie...

I wanted to compare this cushion to the flagship Amore Pacific cushion. Above you can see the boxes side by side.

Amore Pacific is often referred to as the Lancome of Korea. And as both brands consider themselves to be high(er) end, I thought it would be beneficial to see how they stack up side by side.

Amore Pacific Treatment Color Control Cushion will set you back about 60 dollars. But you do get a refill for that price, as well.

The first difference right off the bat is the SPF.

While most (well, nearly all) Korean cushions have SPF50 +/ PA+++, Lancome Miracle Cushion offers a very modest SPF 23 / PA++.

For 45 euro I'd expect more.
2nd disappointment.

Chcialam porownac Lancome Miracle Cushion do flagowej poduszki marki Amore Pacific. Na zdjeciu powyzej oba pudelka jedno przy drugim.
Amore Pacific jest czesto okreslany jako "koreanski Lancome". I skoro obie te marki uwazja sie za selektywne, to myslalam, ze warto zobaczyc jak wygladaja w porownaniu.

Amore Pacific Treatment Color Control Cushion to wydatek rzedu okolo 60 dolarow. Ale w tej cenie znajduje sie rowniez wymienny cartridge.

Pierwsza roznica, ktora od razu rzuca sie w oczy to filtr SPF.
Niemal wszystkie koreanskie poduszki oferuja SPF 50+/ PA+++. Lancome Miracle Cushion daje nam bardzo skromne SPF 23 / PA++.

Za 45 euro oczekiwalabym czegos wiecej.
Drugie rozczarowanie...

~~~

Apparently some reddit users assumed that I actually take the cushion SPF level seriously and consider it my sole source of sun protection.
Rest assured, no, I don't.
I'm well aware of the fact that SPF in BB creams, foundations and cushions is a vanity selling point. I think most people who live in Asia know that. It's common sense.
But if I am comparing two similar products, as is the case here, then the big difference in SPF is very obvious and very disappointing.  

Wyszlo na to, ze sporo czytelnikow z reddit mysli, ze ja biore ten SPF bardzo na powaznie i traktuje go jako pelnowartosciowa ochrone przed sloncem.
Na szczescie nie.
Doskonale zdaje sobie sprawe z tego, ze SPF w kremach BB, podkladach i poduszkach to tylko marketingowy chwyt. To logiczne i chyba kazdy, kto mieszka w Azji to rozumie.
Ale jesli porownuje dwa podobne produkty, to naturalnie taka ogromna roznica w SPF od razu rzuca sie w oczy.

My Miracle Cushion is marked as 01 Pure Porcelaine, and the coverage level is described as medium (2 dots out of 4).

Moja Miracle Cushion ma oznaczenie koloru jako 01 Pure Porcelaine i poziom krycia jest oznaczony jako sredni (dwie z czterech kropek).

On the back you have the usual promotional drivel in five different languages.
"Liquid cushion compact - Fresh dewy hydration", it says.
"Absolute weightlessness and glow - SPF23 / PA++", it says.

I don't want to debate the usage of "weightlessness" here, but trust me, Lancome's copywriters ain't no physicists, that's for sure.

Na odwrocie pudelka mamy zwyczajowy marketingowy belkot w pieciu roznych jezykach.

"Liquid cushion compact - Fresh dewy hydration", pisze.

"Absolute weightlessness and glow - SPF23 / PA++", chwali sie.

The ingredient list is printed on the side of the box:
Sklad na jednej ze stron pudelka:

Compared to Korean cushions, it's really bare bones here. This costs 45 euro?
3rd disappointment.

W porownaniu do koreanskich poduszek ten sklad jest bardzo ubogi. I to kosztowalo 45 euro?
Trzecie rozczarowanie.

~~~

The real kicker is on the other side of the box.

Many people, well, all the reviews I've read so far, consider this to be a western cushion (as opposed to a Korean cushion).
True, it comes from a French brand.
But in reality, it's actually a Korean product.
Don't believe me?

Take a look:

Ale najwieksza niespodzianka jest na drugiej stronie pudelka.

Wiekszosc ludzi mowiacych o tej poduszce i niemal kazda recenzja, jaka do tej pory czytalam, uwaza Lancome Miracle Cushion za kosmetyk "zachodni" (w przeciwienstwie do koreanskich).
Fakt, ma w nazwie znana francuska marke.
Ale w rzeczywistosci, jest to produkt koreanski.

Nie wierzysz?
Spojrz na druga strone pudelka:

Yep, Lancome's cushion is made in Korea.
It's manufactured by Cosmax, a company responsible for production of brands such as Etude House, Tony Moly, Too Cool for School, Clio, and many, many others.

Amore Pacific is NOT manufactured by Cosmax. At least the higher end products are not. The easiest way to see for yourself is to read the manufacturer info provided, among others, on KoreaDepart.
Does Cosmax manufacture high quality products? That all depends on your definition of high quality. 
For me, no, it doesn't. But everyone has different standards, and I'm sure there are exceptions to this rule.

Tak, Lancome Miracle Cushion jest robiona w Korei.
Produkowana jest przez firme Cosmax, ktora jest rowniez odpowiedzialna za formulacje i produkcje takich marek jak Etude House, Tony Moly, Too Cool for School, Clio, i wiele, wiele innych.

Amore Pacific wytwarza swoje kosmetyki (przynajmniej te z gorniejszej polki) we wlasnym zakresie. Cosmax nie produkuje kosmetykow dla koncernu Amore Pacific.

Czy Cosmax wytwarza kosmetyki wysokiej jakosci? To zalezy od naszej definicji "wysokiej jakosci". Jesli chodzi o mnie, to nie, nie uwazam, aby byly one wysokiej jakosci. Ale kazdy na inne standardy i inne oczekiwania odnosnie kosmetykow. I jestem pewna, ze w fabryce Cosmaxu znajduja sie tez chlubne wyjatki.

~~~

So, anyway, what we have here is a Lancome-branded Korean cushion made by a company that specializes in low-end cosmetics. We're talking drugstore stuff here. The Maybellines and Cover Girls of Korean makeup.

And for this Lancome charges 45 euro?
4th disappointment.

So much for my Amore Pacific comparison plan.

Oh well, moving on...


No wiec, mamy tutaj poduszke marki Lancome, wyprodukowana w Korei przez firme, ktora specjalizuje sie w niskopolkowych kosmetykach drogeryjnych. W koreanskich odpowiednikach Maybelline i Cover Girl i pojecia nie mam co tam jest dostepne w drogeriach w Polsce.

I niestety za to Lancome zyczy sobie 45 euro.
Czwarte rozczarowanie.

I tak prysnal moj pomysl porownania Lancome Miracle Cushion z Amore Pacific.

The compact, like the box is very shiny. I feel sorry for the sales staff that has to handle it on a daily basis. It took forever to wipe off all fingerprints of these shiny surfaces.

As you can see, it's a very generic looking compact. No bells and whistles here. No funky design. Amore Pacific it's not.
Definitely a cheap, assembly line product.

5th disappointment.

The compact felt vaguely familiar, so I went to the bathroom to take a closer look.
And voila!

Kompakt, tak jak i pudelko, jest bardzo srebrny i bardzo swiecacy. Szkoda mi pan w perfumeriach, ktore musza to brac do reki w rekawiczkach.
Wycieranie odciskow palcow, aby pudelko wygladalo prezentacyjnie do zjecia zajelo nam sporo czasu.

Jak widac kompakt jest bardzo prosty. Zadnych wymyslnych dizjanow. To bardzo generyczny kompakt. I wydawal mi sie dziwnie znajomy.

Poszlam poszukac w lazience. I znalazlam to:
Piate rozczarowanie.

Twins! Separated at birth.

A-True was very quick to deny the rumor that their products are developed or manufactured by Cosmax. See? This is what a company that wants to be seen as mid-range does when Cosmax is being mentioned.

The bottom side tells you more of the same. Yes, it's 01 Pure Porcelaine.
And yes, it was made in Korea.

Noz to przeciez blizniaki!
A-True bardzo szybko wyjasnilo mi, ze z firma Cosmax nie maja nic wspolnego. Taka reakcja marki, ktora chce sie uwazac za sredniopolkowa w strone wyzszej, potwierdza moje przypuszczenia dotyczace jakosci i daje wiele do myslenia.

Spod kompaktu ma znowu oznaczenie koloru jako 01 Pure Porcelaine.
I jak widac, znowu informacja, ze "made in Korea."

Ok, let's open it.

Czas aby go otworzyc.

Side by side with Amore Pacific, Lancome holds its own. It looks very handsome.

The applicator puff rests on the inner lid, all as it should be.

Obok Amore Pacific, Lancome Miracle Cushion wyglada bardzo do rzeczy.
Gabeczka do nakladania lezy na wewnetrznym wieczku.
Wszystko wyglada tak jak nalezy.

I'm actually quite pleased that they didn't skimp the money here and gave us a proper cushion foundation applicator. Good choice, Lancome! Because a good cushion puff equals good application equals good results where it matters most - on our faces.

Przyznam sie, ze bylam mile zaskoczona, ze Lancome nie poskapilo kasy na porzadna gabeczke do nakladania kosmetyku. Bo dobra gabeczka to polowa sukcesu, jesli chodzi o nakladanie poduszkowego podkladu.

But yet again, I have this strange feeling that I've seen this compact somewhere before.

Let me check.

Be right back!

Ale znowu mialam to odczucie, ze ten kompakt juz gdzies widzialam.

Zaraz sprawdze i zaraz wracam!

Twins! (or is it triplets now?) Separated at birth!

Yes, the 45 euro priced Lancome Miracle Cushion is a twin sister of Banila Co "it Radiant" CC Cushion SPF 35 / PA++. Surprise, surprise, also manufactured by Cosmax.

Wow, this gift just keeps on giving...

I znowu blizniaki. A moze juz trojaczki?

Tak, nasza Lancome Miracle Cushion, kosztujaca 45 euro to blizniaczka podusi Banila Co "it Radiant" CC Cushion SPF 35/ PA++. I szok na sali, rowniez robionej przez Cosmax.

No cuda przyrody po prostu.

Please excuse the Banila puff, it's been used, that's why it's a bit darker now.

As you can notice above, when the inner lid is lifted you can see this:

Gabeczki do nakladania z drugiej strony. Ta z Banila Co jest nieco ciemniejsza, bo byla uzywana.
Na zdjeciu powyzej mozna zauwazyc naklejke chroniaca powierzchnie poduszki.

Very nice. I like it when the surface of the cushion is protected by a seal. 

You peel off the seal and...

Bardzo mnie to cieszy, kiedy firmy podchodza do tego na powaznie i zaklejaja powierzchnie poduszki.
Kiedy zerwiemy naklejke, mamy to:

WTF is that???

Did somebody grab if from the kitchen sink and shoved it inside this cushion? 

This horrible and nasty cushion costs 45 euro?

Seriously?

What is this thing?

Let me show you what a high-end cushion looks like:

Co to w ogole jest?
Szok jakis!
Ktos wepchnal kuchenna gabke do szorowania garow do poduszki? Bo tak to wyglada.
To ohydztwo kosztuje 45 euro?
Naprawde?
Co to ma byc?

Tak nie powinna wygladac poduszka za 45 euro.
Dla tych, ktorzy nie zdaja sobie z tego sprawy, tutaj zdjecie jak powinna wygladac gabka w "rasowym", markowym, gorno-polkowym podkladzie poduszkowym.

Here you have Lancome Miracle Cushion next to Amore Pacific cushion.

See the difference?

No?

Ok, let's try it again.

Na zdjeciu powyzej Lancome Miracle Cushion obok Amore Pacific CC Cushion.

Widac roznice?
Nie?
No to drugie podejscie tutaj.

Here you have Lancome Miracle Cushion next to Hanyul Luminant Cushion.

I understand that if this is someone's very first cushion and they have no idea how a high(er) end cushion looks like, they will be overjoyed and feel pretty smug and stylish. 

But just take a look at it again. This stuff is just nasty.

Ok, let's try it next to a more drugstore quality cushion:

Powyzej Lancome Miracle Cushion obok Hanyul Luminant Cushion.

Zdaje sobie sprawe z tego, ze jesli Lancome to czyjas pierwsza poduszka, to bedzie oczarowany i zaskoczony. Jesli ktos nigdy nie mial w reku koreanskiej poduszki, to bedzie Lancomem zachwycony.

Ale dla tych, co koreanskie poduszki znaja, Lancome Miracle Cushion to jakas abominacja.

No ale sprobujmy raz ostatni. Tutaj obok drogeryjnej Lioele:

And here you have Lancome Miracle Cushion next to Lioele Crystal Beam cushion.

For 45 euro you'd think they could afford something that didn't look like a chunk of my grandma's bath sponge.

This is disappointment number what? Sorry, I lost count.

I decided to close the cushion compact and read the enclosed leaflet instead. And what do I see?

Wyglada rownie ohydnie obok Lioele Crystal Beam cushion.
Za 45 euro mogliby sie postarac o gabke, ktora wyglada lepiej niz cos rodem z wanny, lub zlewozmywaku.

Ktore to rozczarowanie juz nie wiem, bo przestalam liczyc.

Zamknelam ta poduszke i postanowilam poczytac sobie ulotke informacyjna.
I co ja tam pacze????

Hmmm... "Air cushion"? Really Lancome? Really?

I'm pretty sure that describing your own product using another company's trademarked product name breaks all sorts of intellectual property laws. No wonder Amore Pacific is furious.

And no wonder I haven't seen any promotional materials or ads for Lancome Miracle Cushion in Asia yet. And it's supposed to hit the stores here next month. 

Ok, let's swatch this baby, so I can cry myself to sleep.

"Air cushion"? Naprawde? Lancome, naprawde?
Przeciez "Air Cushion" to nazwa, chroniona prawami autorskimi, poduszek Iope (ze stajni Amore Pacific). I jestem pewna, ze uzywanie innej firmy trademarkowej frazy do opisania wlasnego produktu lamie roznego rodzaju prawa wlasnosci intelektualnych.

Teraz czas na myzniecia i moge sobie plakac do snu.

Unedited photos taken in natural light.
Bez filtrow w swietle naturalnym.

01 Pure Porcelaine (czysta porcelana) is pretty dark. And very, very yellow. It makes MAC NC15 look positively pink by comparison.

01 Pure Porcelaine jest dosyc ciemny. I bardzo bardzo zolty. Obok MACa NC15 Lancome'owa czysta porcelana wyglada niesamowicie malo czysto.

I'd chance to say that it's as dark as N23 Iope Air Cushion XP. 

The coverage is not medium. It's minimal. Very, very minimal. Similar to that of Lioele Crystal Beam cushion. 

Lancome calls it "foundation". It's not. It's a cc cushion, plain and simple. That's all it does. It offers slight color correction and not much else. 

Despite being very liquid (more so than any of my Korean cushions), it dried very fast. 

On my very dry skin, the much hyped "dewy" effect was minimal and very short lived. 

When used without a primer, the "foundation" set into my wrinkles and accentuated dry lines.

The cooling effect was there, but not as pronounced as with Iope Air Cushion.

I suppose I can get a bit more use out of it during summer when it's hot and humid here and when minimal coverage is all I need.

But how am I going to deal with the yellow undertone? No idea.

Jesli mialabym zgadywac, to jest on chyba tak ciemny, a moze nawet ciemniejszy niz Iope Air Cushion XP w odcieniu N23.

Krycie nie jest srednie. Jest minimalne. Bardzo podobne do tego od Lioele Crystal Beam.
Lancome nazywa to "podkladem". Lecz to zdecydowanie nie jest podklad. To poduszka CC. Jedyne co robi to wyrownuje koloryt cery.

Pomimo bycia bardzo rzadka i bardzo plynna (bardziej niz ktorakolwiek z moich poduszek koreanskich), wysychala na skorze bardzo szybko. Na mojej suchej cerze obiecywany efekt "dewy" byl bardzo krotkotrwaly.
Kiedy uzylam tej poduszki bez uprzedniej bazy lub primera, to brzydko osadzila mi sie ona w zmarszczkach i podkreslala je.
Efekt chlodzacy byl, ale nie az taki jak przy Iope Air Cushion.

Mam nadzieje, ze bede mogla tej poduszki pouzywac troche latem, kiedy jest tu goraco i wilgotno.
Tylko co ja mam zrobic z ta zoltoscia?

Final thoughts?

If you really, truly, absolutely must have this cushion, then by all means, go ahead and buy it. Just don't say later that you haven't been warned.

But if you don't have 45 euro to spend on a dud, then hop over to any reputable online Korean store and get yourself a proper cushion.

You're welcome!

Podsumowanie?

Jesli brak tej poduszki spedza ci sen z powiek, to oczywiscie, kup ja. Tylko nie mow potem, ze nikt cie nie ostrzegl.
Ale jesli nie masz 45 euro do wyrzucenia, to duzo lepszym rozwiazaniem jest kupienie poduszki z prawdziwego zdarzenia w koreanskim sklepie internetowym.

Nie ma za co!

~~~


PS. (Updated on January 31, 2015)

Because many people care about ingredients, and because there are bloggers out there saying how much better ingredient-wise this Lancome Miracle Cushion is compared to Korean cushion products, I entered the ingredient list into cosDNA.

Here's the analysis:
(You're welcome!)

Poniewaz wiele osob przyklada duza wage do skladow kosmetykow, i poniewaz pojawily sie glosy na blogach, ze poduszka Lancome jest skladowo duzo lepsza niz koreanskie produkty, dodalam sklad do cosDNA do przeanalizowania.

Tutaj rezultaty:
(Nie ma za co!)

If you click on the image, it will take you directly to the page on cosDNA.

And here are a couple of photos from a Sephora shop in France (thank you, I.P!!!) to show you how they display Lancome's "revolutionary" makeup product.

Jesli klikniesz na zdjecie analizy skladu, to wejdziesz bezposrednio na strone cosDNA.

A tutaj mamy zdjecia z Sephory w pewnym francuskim miescie (dziekuje Ci slicznie, I.P!), aby zobaczyc jak Sephora wystawila na sprzedaz "rewolucyjny" podklad w poduszce Lancome'u.

The compact is attached to the display. Only the refills are available as testers.

Kompakt jest przyklejony do wystawy, a do macania sa tylko refille.

To answer some readers questions as to what I am going to do with my Lancome Miracle Cushion - I will continue to use it for reference purposes when reviewing Korean cushion products.

Thank you for reading!

Now, onto bigger, better, brighter things... 

Niektorzy czytelnicy przyslali maile z zapytaniem co teraz zrobie z moja Lancome Miracle Cushion. Odpowiedz - bede jej uzywac w celach porownawczych, kiedy opisuje koreanskie poduszki.

Dziekuje za uwage!