As Valentine
approaches, there are more value or starter set on sale in Japan. Judging from
the gift-like packages, I think they are meant for all the boyfriends out there
that are totally clueless at picking cosmetics to give to their gf. (My bf too,
has no idea what mascara is. Lol)
I actually have
no plan to buy anything in Japan as I’m going back to Thailand soon but… I fell
for one value set this valentine… the Koh Gen Do Starter set.
Some of you
might have heard of this brand, yes it’s on sale in the US too in Sephora. One
of the brand most beloved and long seller is the Maifanshi Moisture Foundation.
In Japan, this foundation has been sold for more than 1 million tubes already
and is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Just the popularity alone
made me wonder… what magic does this foundation do?
In Sephora US,
this foundation is retail at an astonishing price of 62 USD or 7300 Yen. In
Japan, it’s 4800 Yen. And in this starter set ONLY, that you will get a full
size of this foundation, a mini make up base, face powder and a mini Kabuki
brush at a price of 6300 Yen! Still cheaper than the retail price of this
foundation in the US alone. So of course, I bought it! Lol
In this set:
The value of
the items in this set is stated at 10,600 Yen but it’s retailed at 6300 Yen.
Included are:
1. Koh Gen Do
Maifanshi Moisture Foundation (Full size)
2. Koh Gen Do
Maifanshi makeup color base
3. Koh gen Do
Maifanshi Face Powder (with puff)
4. Koh Gen Do
mini Kabuki Powder Brush
Everything
except the foundation is in mini size, but the packaging and the quality of
each are still very good. I am in love with the mini size Kabuki brush in
particular. For a free brush, its quality is exceptional.
REVIEW
The review is mainly
focus on the moisture foundation, after all, it's the reason why I actually
bought this set. So I’ll be more detailed about this in particular.
Moisture
Foundation
Before I bought
this and even before I start using this, I didn’t google for any kind of
information at all. I didn’t even know what it claims to do to be honest. But I
expected from its name ‘Moisture’ that it would be light and have a gel-like
formula. Probably like Mac Face and Body or Bourjois Healthy Mix, but I was
wrong. It’s actually pretty thick and sticky. When I squeezed it out of the
tube, I thought this would be hard to spread out. However, it could be spread
out pretty easily, and does not dry up too fast. And because of the thick
consistency, you only need to use a little to apply this foundation to your
whole face.
What it claims
to do:
1.
Give
you a natural healthy look
2.
Consist
mainly of natural ingredient
3.
Light
coverage but buildable
4.
Moisturize
your face without making it oily
What it
actually does:
Coverage: This
foundation has light to medium coverage and it will give you the natural look
it promised. As you can see in the picture above that it almost blends in wit my skin perfectly. The amazing part is that it can covers your pores, blemishes
and make your face look so HD in just one layer. My pores, which are the most
troublesome thing on my face, look kinda blurred and my face appeared very
silky! To be honest, I don’t think any foundations I owned can do the same
thing when it comes to pore. So I really love it for this point.
The foundation
coverage is indeed buildable through layering (no dry patches, can be layered
nicely!), however it still cannot cover your acne well enough. Concealer is
still needed.
Finish: It has
a semi-matte finish. Which is a plus in lasting power and oil controlling. In
winter, the foundation lasts more than 5 hours before it started to look a bit
dewy. At the end of the day, my face remains ‘dewy’ but not ‘oily’.
Lasting Power:
As it has matte finish, it actually last pretty long. I do not feel like its
oxidized during the day. 6 hours after application, my pores are still
invincible. Amazinggg >__<
Moisturizing:
It indeed moisturized my face throughout the day. Although I don’t feel
hydrated during the day, after I remove my make up, I can feel that my face is
not as tired and dry as it usually be after a long day of wearing make up. My
face is still pretty soft, almost like it has been moisturized lightly by some
lotion.
What I think
about it:
At first, I
thought it has nothing special, I didn’t feel like it worth my money until I
remove my make up and then I felt the difference. However, as amazing as I
think it is, somehow it’s still a little bit overrated. A lot of reviews were
emphasizing on how light-weighted it felt on the skin, “almost as if you don’t
have foundation on!” kinda comments can be easily found. However, at least for
me, I think this is a bit too exaggerated. Though compare to the coverage it
gave it is still consider light-weighted, it still feels a bit heavy on the
face. But overall, I still love the HD effect it does to my face and how
natural it looks!
Interesting
Point:
What I think is
interesting about this foundation is that it has such a natural finish while
being matte at the same time. This is fairly odd consider most foundations that
promised natural look will have light coverage and dewy face kinda formula. But
this semi-matte finish actually gives you a very natural look. I have a hard
time taking photo for this review as its really hard to differentiate if I have
foundation on or not because it just look like my skin but better! This could
be good or bad, up to your preferences, but for natural-look lovers, this is
gooood!
Make up color
base
The size of
this thing is so small I don’t really want to use, like… I don’t want to waste
it on my face! (Weird logic, lol, I know)
The product:
The color
included in this starter set is pearl white. As you can see in the photo above,
it has some tiny shimmers inside. It’s creamy and is thick in consistency.
After blended out, it make your skin a little bit whiter and brighter.
What it claims
to do:
As a make up
color base, the product will help in color correction. And in addition to that,
oil control and also pore minimizing. Basically, it should help you achieve
pore-less and flawless face.
What it
actually does:
I think it
really helps in minimizing and concealing pores. For oil control, I have never
tried it without using the moisture foundation at the same time yet so I can’t
really say. For the color correction, it didn’t do much probably because the
color I got was white. So aside from my face looking whiter, nothing really
happened. I think other colors should perform better.
Face Powder
The packaging
for this product is very nice. It’s not like all those tiny testers that are
just 3 mm bigger than a coin and take forever to apply. This one comes with a
realistic size and a realistic puff.
The Product:
I think it’s an
HD powder, or at least something very similar, judging from how light weighted
and micro the powder is.
What it claims
to do:
Long-lasting,
doesn’t become patches, natural and sheer finish and good for your skin.
What it
actually does:
I’ve never use
a white setting powder. I’ve used translucent one but this one seems so A4
paper white it creeps me out. I thought it will show on my face just like all
those red carpet oops moments when the HD powder shows up on the stars’ faces,
so I apply it with a fluffy face brush instead of puff. And I think that worked
pretty well. My face was set without any traces of the powder. Not powdery and
doesn’t become patches. (You know, sometime setting powder catches on to the
foundation and turn into some nasty patches) It gives you a silky and velvety
finish. The micro-sized powder spreads equally across the face and basically
just set things there. My face doesn’t even look powdered. Very good! You know
we all love the ‘make up no make up’ style.
Kabuki Powder
Brush
To be honest, I
haven’t used this yet. But I am totally in love with it. The bristles are so
soft and it’s dense enough to be use with liquid/cream in my opinion. (Though
it’s a powder brush) The quality is exceptional for a free brush in a starter
set. I think I will use it with loose powder foundation to get a natural look.
Conclusion
I think the
moisture foundation is indeed a very good foundation. There’re some extras
you get from paying 62 USD for it. Which is a good thing, considering sometime
a high-end brand doesn’t even perform that differently from the drug store one.
For this starter set, the most obvious difference is that it helps a lot in
pore minimizing. All the items in this set contribute to concealing my pores
under the silky and natural face. And plus, I love how long lasting it is.
Overall, I like
all the items in this set more than I expected. Using them in combination give
me a natural I’m-born-flawless face that I totally love. However, the price of
this brand is just… too much.
In Japan, the
origin country, this foundation costs 4800 yen for 20g. So 1g = 240 yen.
Compare to similar foundation that emphasize on moisturizing and pore-less face
like Mac Minerialize Moisture Foundation, in its origin country which is the
US, it costs 35 USD or 4100 yen for 30 ml. So 1 ml = 136 yen. In this sense,
even though you buy it in Japan which is the cheapest place you could have got
it, it’s still more expensive than Mac. So for me, it’s considered a little bit
too pricey.
Score:
Pore Minimizing
4.5/5
Natural look
4/5
Imperfection
covering power 2/5
Long lasting
3.5/5
Price 2/5
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