Back when I lived in South Korea, I saw videos and ads of the Nacific Fresh Herb Origin Serum everywhere. I’ve gone through a bottle myself. It’s a super moisturizing, oil-based serum with an uplifting citrus scent with anti-aging and anti-inflammatory properties. This cushion incorporates that serum to provide a color-correcting base for your makeup look.
This cushion is labeled as a 3-in-1 product in reference to its three key features: brightening, wrinkle care, and UV protection. It is also a reference to the three different base colors. This cushion has two distinct “zones” as described by the brand. There is the “cover zone” which contains the beige cover base for covering and calming the skin. There is also the “serum zone” which is differentiated by what looks like a lipstick bullet (the brand says it represents the serum, but it doesn’t remind me of the serum bottle personally). There are two elements to the serum zone: the orange moisture base and the yellow calming base. The orange moisture base is said to provide moisture and vitality to the skin, and the yellow calming base provides extra coverage. Both elements of the serum zone work as color correctors to even out skin tone.
The cushion comes with a rubycell puff.
Some of the ingredients highlighted are niacinamide, adenosine, panthenol, pore complex 3, vitamin fruit oil, and oriental fruit newplex, which is said to provide skin elasticity benefits. This cushion is said to be good for even those with sensitive skin and acne. It is said to utilize a “layering fitting system” which features cover powder and sebum control powder with a film layer on top to fill in fine lines and pores.
As mentioned above, this product comes with three colors. The colors can be used mixed together or individually to spot color correct. It may be a little tricky to grab a single color from the serum zone using the included puff though.
The product comes in two shade offerings: 21 and 23. I opted for 23, but I found that it was way too peach for my skin tone. Unfortunately, I find pretty much all Korean base makeup in the shade 23 to lean very peach. I have a yellow undertone, which unfortunately just didn’t work with the shade I grabbed.
Mismatched shade aside, I can’t say I’m a big fan of the formula either. I found that the coverage was not that great. I was expecting full coverage from the name and claims, but it is medium at best. If your only concern is covering redness, it will cover that, but if you have any dark spots you’re trying to cover, this product alone will not give you what you’re looking for. Additionally, I found the consistency to be quite dry and that the product tends to cling to dry patches (and I have oily skin!). It’s not too visible from some distance, but it is noticeable when close up. I am assuming it will be much more noticeable on those with dry skin. I was under the impression after reading the product description that the cushion contains the highly moisturizing serum, so I was a bit surprised by the dry consistency.
Now, after finding out it was of a drier consistency, I started to wonder if this product was meant to be paired with the serum, which is very much of an oily consistency. While I didn’t have the serum on hand as I used up my bottle ages ago, I did have a small sample jar of the Fresh Herb Origin Cream. I found that the combination of prepping the skin with the cream, which left behind a thin layer of oil on top, and the drier cushion worked much better; however, the product now felt both thick and oily. Although some translucent powder helped set the makeup, it still felt a bit thick and the overall look was still not worth it in my opinion. The coverage wasn’t great, and it settled into fine lines.
What really shocked me though was how little product is actually included. When I pulled the sponge containing the foundation to one side, I discovered that the sponge was not fully saturated. Nearly half of the sponge’s edge was not saturated. I even tested if the product was just mostly collected to the other side, but this was not the case. The other side had more product, but it still seemed like it was less product than other cushions I’ve tried. For reference, I had to press down hard several times for the product to show up on the puff. For a product that costs 35,000 KRW (about $32 USD), I am truly disappointed in the amount of product included.
Interestingly enough, I found that this product was the opposite of what it claimed to be, which were moisturizing from the infused serum, of high coverage, and that it would fill in fine lines. Unfortunately, it just was not what it claimed to be. Maybe I received one from a bad batch, but in my experience, I found the Nacific Fresh Herb Origin Cover Cushion to be very dry and thick, of medium coverage, and to settle into fine lines and pores.
