Thursday 7 January 2016

Physicians Formula Mineral Wear ABC Cushion Foundation

Cushion foundations are the new BB/CC cream craze for 2016 in the Western beauty marketplace. I recently purchased the new Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Talc-Free All-in-1 ABC Cushion Foundation SPF50 in Light. The 'ABC' stands for Airbrushing, Blurring and Correcting.


This normally retails for $16 at CVS, which I think is overpriced for a drugstore brand but it came with a $4 instant rebate coupon and there was also a buy-1-get-1-75%-off promotion. Nevertheless, the cute blue compact does make this more appealing than L'Oreal's cushion compact offering, although L'Oreal offers four times the number of shade options as PF. It is not stated anywhere on the packaging where this is made.


Contrary to my initial impression, the plastic cushion tub does pop out of the case albeit with some effort. However, PF is not selling individual refills at the moment.

The included applicator is alright. Below is what it looks like after a week of daily usage.

The size is pretty similar to my Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion and Hera UV Mist Cushion Ultra Moisture compacts.

However, a closer look soon reveals that the PF cushion sponge is coarser with bigger, more irregularly-shaped wells compared to the high-end Hera cushion and the more budget-priced Etude House.

Below is a close-up of the PF cushion, which holds 14ml.

Hera cushion below - notice how much finer and uniform in size the wells are?

Comparison swatches further reveal how dark the PF's so-called 'Light' shade actually is. PF only offers three shades for this cushion compact - Light, Light/Medium and Medium. Obviously, Light will be too dark for those with porcelain/alabaster skintones.


The foundation is easy to apply and blend, with a slight cooling sensation on the skin. It goes on sheer at first but can be layered for up to medium coverage. It does help to smooth over my pores without looking mask-like. My T-zone does get shiny after a few hours (which is normal for me) with the foundation breaking up in the more problematic areas such as around the sides of the nose. It works fine if I'm just going out for a few hours, but I can't see this lasting that well from morning to nighttime without touch-ups.

Ultimately where this foundation falls short is the shade, which is a tad too dark for my MAC NC20 skintone. It does not oxidise as badly as Cover Girl's Outlast Stay Luminous but it's not so unworkable that I would rush to return it as I did with the Cover Girl foundation. Etude House's Precious Mineral Cushion is much better for a similar price point.

Pic below taken by the window in direct sunlight.

Ingredients list below.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Iris,

Thanks for the review and glad you are back blogging again. Cant wait for more. Congratulations again to your double bundle of joy. Here's wishing you a great year ahead, filled with joy and laughter.

Ps: Its after reading your blogs (since 2008) that i realised its perfectly ok to own more than 30 lipsticks and countless makeup items without guilt feeling ��

Katelyn