All about: Lancôme's new Miracle Cushion foundation

With a waiting list already a mile long and sold out in many markets, the new Lancôme Miracle Cushion foundation is a modern beauty legend in the making. There hasn’t been THIS much hype around a beauty product in a long time, and the fact that it’s in the makeup category as opposed to skincare makes this fact even more impressive.

Like many great things beauty, the basic idea for the unique miracle cushion delivery that it uses comes from Korea. Back when I was a wee one and they didn’t have self-adhesive stamps, post offices kept a little round sponge sitting in water in a little round dish so you could moisten your stamp without having to lick it. Sometime back in 2007, Korean beauty brand AmorePacific, were reportedly inspired by the idea of putting a "stamp of approval" on a new must-have concept, and developed the first cushion compact. They released the IOPE Air Cushion in 2008 and since then, the use of cushion compacts has become so popular that apparently 75 per cent of Korean women have used/are using a cushion compact. Pretty amazing, huh?

So fast forward to the present and Lancôme have unleashed what is one of the first cushion compacts outside of Asia on the rest of the world. And the Miracle Cushion foundation most definitely lives up to the hype – since trying it for the first time just a few weeks ago I have become completely obsessed.

The packaging is an absolute winner, of course. Not that you can't carry a bottle or tube around, but the cushion format means a sponge impregnated with liquid foundation and set into a case that includes a mirror and convenient applicator pad, plus a hinged cap that creates an airtight seal over the sponge and provides a nice resting spot for the applicator. This makes it incredibly portable and travel-friendly, with no need for brushes or extra sponges making a hot mess in your handbag. The cushion and applicator are made of polyurethane; so they don't absorb the product as much as “hold” onto it until you apply pressure to transfer the liquid to the applicator and then to your skin. When it starts to run low you just flip the cushion - use tweezers to remove it carefully and reposition. The packaging also means that the Lancôme Miracle Cushion compact is refillable, making it earth and credit card-friendly too.

As for the makeup itself, it is a beautifully formulated airy foundation with a gorgeous, sheer-to-medium buildable coverage. It gives a dewy but not too dewy finish, and added skincare benefits include improved hydration and ingredients such as soothing adenosine and pigment-targeting pine needle extract. 

Normal to dry and older skin will love the feel and the finish it gives, and I think if you’re skin is on the oilier side it can work too – with perhaps just the lightest dusting of a mattifying powder over the top. Made with water and volatile oils that flash off the skin soon after application, the foundation is actually cooling on contact with the skin too - it temporarily reduces the skin's temperature by 2.3ºC as the oils evaporate and calms down any irritation like you wouldn’t believe.

So, what are you waiting for? The Lancôme Miracle Cushion foundation is available in four colours right now, with an RRP of $69.00.