Fifty Shades of Snail

Quickie Snail Disclosure: This product was originally given to me by Peach and Lily for unbiased review.

You know how sometimes you put something off for no real reason, and then the longer you put it off, the heavier the burden of guilt grows, until your mind has blown up the task so much that you feel like it would take a Herculean effort to get it done? Yeah, that’s what I did with my HERA UV Mist Cushion review. Which is completely stupid, because I love this cushion so much that I should be shouting its name from the rooftops.

Purpose: HERA UV Mist Cushion is a cushion foundation product that promises long wear, a dewy finish, and sun protective and whitening effects.

Warning: Despite this product’s claims of SPF 50+, PA+++ UV protection, you should not rely on it as a standalone sunscreen. Sunscreen must be applied in the appropriate quantities in order to receive the advertised amount of protection, and as the point of cushion foundation is an extrenely sheer layer of coverage, I doubt that you’ll be getting even SPF 2 with a normal amount of this product.

Do not use if: You are sensitive to silicones, sunflower seed oil, vitamin E (tocopherol), or anything else in the ingredients list.

When and how to use: After allowing 15-20 minutes for your sunscreen to absorb, lightly press the included puff into the cushion pad to pick up product. Lightly dab and pat puff over your face, picking up more product from the cushion pad as needed.

Pro tip: For an ultra-sheer finish, spray puff with a facial mist before pressing into the pad.

HERA UV Mist Cushion (C21) ingredients: Sea silt extract, titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, cyclopentasiloxane, ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, PEG-10 dimethicone, butylene glycol dicaprylate/dicaprate, phenyl trimethicone, cyclohexasiloxane, butylene glycol, arbutin, lauryl PEG-9 polydimethylsiloxyethyl dimethicone, dimethicone, myrciaria dubia fruit extract, chenopodium quinoa seed extract, euterpe oleracea fruit extract, ilex paraguariensis leaf extract, prunus mume fruit extract, acrylates/ethylhexyl acrylate/dimethicone methacrylate copolymer, acrylates/stearyl acrylate/dimethicone methacrylate copolymer, dimethicone/vinyl dimethicone crosspolymer, polyhydroxystearic acid, aluminum hydroxide, trisiloxane, stearic acid, triethoxycaprylylsilane, silica HDI/trimethylol hexyllactone crosspolymer, ethylhexyl palmitate, lecithin, isostearic acid, isopropyl palmitate, polysorbate 80, polymethyl methacrylate, disteardimonium hectorite, polyglyceryl-3 polyricinoleate, hydrogenated lecithin, ethylhexylglycerin, trimethylsiloxysilicate, silica, sodium chloride, sorbic acid, phenoxyethanol, disodium EDTA, CI77492, CI77491, CI77499, fragrance (ingredients list courtesy of Peach and Lily)

CosDNA analysis flags a few ingredients, most notably ethylhexyl palmitate and isopropyl palmitate, both of which are derived from coconut oil and which score 4s as potential acne triggers and 1s as potential irritants.

Notable ingredients: This looks like a pretty standard ingredients list for Korean base makeup. You’ve got your UV blockers, silicones for a smooth finish, lots of other long science words, a handful of antioxidant-rich plant extracts for some extra photodamage protection, and some claims ingredients.

Here, the main claims ingredients are sea silt extract and arbutin. According to the package insert, “Instead of Purified water, the UV Mist Cushion uses 100% clay-mineral water containing clay from frozen sea ice which is finer than fog particles. It reinvigorates moistness by controlling the osmotic pressure in the skin while maintaining moist and clean skin by reducing skin waste, dead skin and sebum. The clay-mineral water composes 30% of the contents and instantly cools the skin so as to relieve the skin from heat and to maintain a refreshing tone.”

I dunno about this. The clay in the ingredient may indeed help with oil control (we’ll see down below), but all that about fog particles and osmotic pressure strikes me as pure marketing hype. Likewise, arbutin is a proven skin-lightening ingredient, but is it present here in a high enough concentration to work? And will it even penetrate through sunscreen and skincare products to get to the skin, given that this is a base product? I have my doubts.

But but but! This is a makeup product, not a skincare product, so even if the ingredients in the product don’t do much to improve skin condition, that’s not the point. The point is how it makes skin look. Let’s find out if it does the job!

Performance

Yeah. Yeah, it does the job. It does the job so well that even though I have several other cushions at my disposal, I reach for this one four times out of five.

The HERA UV Mist Cushion is everything I ever dreamed about in a BB cushion. A quick dab of the puff onto the spongy cushion pad in the case, a few pats of the puff onto my skin, and it leaves me with a sheer, natural, perfectly dewy light-to-medium finish. As a bonus, the neutral-to-cool C21 shade is a great damn fit for my face.

Let’s look at it again, because hell, I love the way this cushion makes my skin look. It doesn’t settle into fine lines. It doesn’t emphasize pores-it blurs them out gently, like a magazine Photoshop artist with the lightest touch.

Now, on to a few downsides:

The marketing for this product claims 12-hour wear. While I would agree that the product does indeed stay on your face for 12 hours, whether it stays on your face in that perfect configuration is another story. On my skin, which is normal/balanced and rarely needs powder over this cushion, the finish lasts for about 8 hours tops before beginning to break up and look a bit cakey. Around the 7-hour mark, it will begin to separate around my nose, which is the one area on my face that can get oily. A quick dab with a blotting paper or some powder takes care of that issue. If you have oily skin, however, you may need to carry blotting papers or a setting powder with the HERA UV Mist Cushion.

Depending on your skin condition, HERA UV Mist Cushion may also not provide enough coverage on its own. The one I’m wearing, C21, is touted as the heavier-coverage side of the line (the N shades are sheerer, with “N” standing for “Natural”) but gives only light/medium coverage even with multiple layers.

The coverage is enough to even out areas of mild redness, reduce the appearance of pores and spots, and provide an overall smooth and glowy look, but you’ll need extra concealer to cover blemishes more thoroughly.

Wow, I should really start putting sunscreen on my ears.

Let’s look at the finished face again, just to remember how magical the finish of this product is. Also because I have one more selfie cropped and ready to post.

As far as durability goes, HERA UV Mist Cushion holds up surprisingly well in hot weather. We had a bit of a heat wave the last few days, and with my Effexor, I get quite sweaty. It was still looking decent at the end of the day, after about 7 hours of sweating.

Conclusion: I was really surprised by how much I love the HERA UV Mist Cushion in C21. The coverage and finish perfectly fit my needs, and although I wouldn’t call it a long-wearing foundation, it certainly lasts long enough to take me through my days without needing to fuss or touch up. Absolute thumbs up! I’m satisfied with how long one cushion lasts, too. I’ve had mine since May (SORRY, JESSE, SORRY I’M SO SLOW) and am only now getting to the point where I’ll need to pop in a refill.

Rating: 4.8/5

Rating scale:

Where can I buy HERA UV Mist Cushion?

In the US, the HERA UV Mist Cushion is available from Peach and Lily for $45, which includes an extra refill and puff.

You can also find a refill of the C21 for $23.99 on Amazon Prime and a refill of the C23 for the same price (affiliate link).

I don’t review makeup very often on this site. Do you have any questions about the HERA UV Mist Cushion that I haven’t answered? If so, please feel free to ask in the comments!