Shu Uemura The Lightbulb UV Compact Foundation [Review]

August 05, 2014

I'm surprised that this have not been hyped at all within the beauty community. I can honestly say that this is one of the best high-end compact foundation that I've ever used. I truly like this from the bottom of my heart. Even though it's cute as a pebble, I can't say I like the bulky-ness of this packaging. Plus, it's a little plastic-y but still quite sturdy while handling it. Other than that, it's definitely a lazy day holy grail product.

We all have those up and down days, sometimes you feel extremely diva while another day you feel bloated. Blame hormones. This is one of the product I use consistently when I feel that I have nothing much to hide, pretty much a good skin day. Of course, even on a good skin day, doesn't mean you should walk out with total bare and uneven skin face. As women, even at your laziest days, we should always put in a little effort to look slightly more presentable when we go out. Like my mom always say, you'll never know who you'll meet.

So my routine with this would be applying it all over my face with the provided sponge after moisturising. I like using the patting method instead of dragging them all over my face because that gives a better coverage. My skin looks more even and more presentable. As we all know, if you powder, you'll get a matte finish. Since I have dry skin, I personally like a little glow. The special thing about this powder is that you will be able to get back that glow by polishing your skin with the special sponge provided.

I know it may sound strange 'polishing' you skin like polishing a car but it's pretty cool cause not may powders have this ability. The lightbulb is different because of the combination of oleo-technology and the lightbulb pearl that allows you to use the fabric side of the sponge to polish up a nice glow while still having the coverage you applied earlier.

Q: Can I use the fabric sponge with other powders to polish my skin?
Obviously not, because the other powders were not formulated for polishing but if you like to use the sponge side to powder your face, it's fine.

Q: So I just polish my entire face?
You can if you want to (lols) but the reason we polish is to get the glow and usually it is mainly where we want to highlight the face such as the nose, cheek bones and a little on the forehead and the chin. This will help make your face look more dimensional rather than just a flat, matte face.

The sponge is thick and soft, feels very durable too. It says to be anti-bacterial but of course wash it as often as you can. Being more hygienic will do you no harm.

Skin-soft sponge side (Sorry for the dirty sponge)

Skin-smooth fabric side

Q: Is it travel friendly?

If you are talking about bringing along for your holiday trips, yes. However, you are talking about putting into your handbag to use it as touch ups, I'm not a big fan. As mention, I feel it's a bit too bulky (for a compact powder) for me to put into my handbag. It's light-weight, but still bulky. Plus, I prefer to use this at home because so far, I have no problems of it flaking off my skin. It has been quite a pleasure using this powder, I don't have that need or urge to touch up my face in the middle of the day. So I can kinda say that the lasting power is relatively good.

I'm happy to announce that they have 16 shades available at RM180 for compact and sponge. I believe casing sold separately. For more information, visit shu uemura website or facebook page.

*product was given, not a paid review*

xo,