According to Korea Depart, the WAKEMAKE Defining Set Up Foundation is good for all seasons and is a timeless foundation. It has what Korea Depart calls a “moisture base texture with soft application and light fitting.” The foundation is said to balance skin’s moisture and oil levels to maintain the look of the foundation as well as provide excellent pore coverage for smooth and even skin texture. On the back of the sample packaging, it lists that this foundation serves three functions: SPF30/PA++, brightening, and wrinkle care.
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I received this small sample tube as part of a free gift with purchase at Olive Young. There are only two shades offered with this foundation: 21 Warm Ivory and 23 Natural Beige. I have 23 Natural Beige, which is the darker shade of the two. When it comes to Korean complexion products, 21 and 23 are traditionally the only two shades offered. In recent years, some tanner shades (usually 25 and 27) and even a lighter 13 are offered by some brands, making the shade range a slightly better. While it would be nice if all brands offered a shade for everyone, many of these brands have not expanded internationally. Seeing how Korea is still considered a homogeneous society, it’s somewhat understandable why there is a limited shade range. Personally, I think it needs improvement, but at the same time, I understand why; I’m not saying it’s right, just that I understand the reasoning for it. Unfortunately, I find that most Korean complexion products prefer pink undertones, and I am very much of a yellow undertone. I find that I cannot use a lot of Korean complexion products because they are too light and too pink for my skin tone. Based off past experience with Korean base makeup, I don’t expect the WAKEMAKE Defining Set Up Foundation to work with my skin color and tone, but I figure it’s worth a wear test for those who are able to find a shade and are curious to know how this foundation performs.
Just to give you some background, I have oily skin, visible pores, freckles, as well as some hyper-pigmentation. I also have some hard micro-bumps under the skin, especially around the mouth area, from the Mediheal H.P.A Hydrapeel Ampoule Mask REX. My skin is also currently dry in the chin area and my nose is experiencing a lot of peeling due to trying to undo the effects of the Mediheal mask. Please excuse my straggly brows; I’m currently growing them out for a product experiment.
To prep the skin, I exfoliated, cleansed, hydrated, moisturized, and applied sun protection in accordance with my morning skincare routine and followed up with Benefit Cosmetics Porefessional primer. Korea Depart says this foundation can be applied using either a puff or hands, so for this review, I used a wet sponge puff. This foundation isn’t super thick, so I had no trouble spreading and blending it out. I thought that I would have to use the entirety of the sample tube to cover my face, but I actually have foundation leftover for more applications. A little goes a long way with this product. It offers medium coverage with a skin-like, radiant finish that isn’t too dewy or too matte.
As expected, the undertone isn’t yellow enough for me, but it leans more neutral than pink. It’s also too light for my light-medium skin color.
I noticed that this foundation does not do well on dry skin as it tends to cling to dry skin. However, I liked how the foundation looked on the parts of my face that weren’t experiencing issues such as the cheek area. The foundation evened out my skin tone and covered some light discoloration without making my face look heavy.
Another thing I liked about this foundation is how it wore throughout the day. I typically don’t like wearing foundation because it can feel heavy a lot of the times and my skin will overproduce oil. With this foundation, I did have moments where I could feel that I had a bit of makeup on, but it didn’t bother me for most of the day. Additionally, while my skin did get oily by the end of this seven-hour wear test as oily skin does, it didn’t look too bad, and I felt that I could wear it for a few more hours before it became bad. The oil kind of helped even out the nose area where the foundation clung to the dry patches. I didn’t even blot once during the wear test, so I’m pleasantly surprised at how it held up against my oily skin.
For my final verdict, I’d say this foundation is a definite no for those with dry patches, but for my oily girls out there, this one isn’t bad! I think it looks better as the day goes by with a bit of oil peeking through. It’s not a full-coverage foundation, so keep that in mind if that’s what you’re looking for. Personally, I thought the medium coverage paired with a concealer was perfect for me. Unfortunately, the lack of shade variety sucks, so I won’t be buying a full size any time soon seeing that WAKEMAKE doesn’t offer one that’s yellow and dark enough for me.
