I’d never really paid much attention to the brand Koh Gen Do, but over the past few months, I started to hear more about them – mostly good things about their Aqua Foundation. Not all Sephora stores carry the line, but luckily I live near a few stores that do, so I got samples of both the Aqua Foundation and the Maifanshi Color Base in yellow, which is the product that I liked best when playing around with the products in-store.
Note: Sephora’s website says this product is “Available online and at Sephora’s NYC Meatpacking District store” – and I’m sure that’s true, but it’s also available at two stores in Los Angeles, so is probably available at more stores than that!
The Maifanshi Yellow Color Base is a pale yellow. It easily blends to become completely invisible on my skin, which is why I didn’t photograph a fully blended swatch – you wouldn’t be able to see anything at all (though I think you will be able to see a difference in the before/after pictures below).
This is a silicone-based primer – the first ingredients after water are cyclopentasiloxane and cyclomethicone – but it doesn’t have the same thick, silicone-y texture of say, the Smashbox primer. Instead, it’s thinner, creamier, and more emollient.
The Maifanshi color base comes in four colors; green (to tone down redness in pink-based skin tones), yellow (to tone down redness in yellow-based skin tones), lavender-pink (to correct dullness) and pearl white (to brighten and illuminate; not meant to be used all over).
The effect is subtle, but I do notice a difference. The yellow shades reduces the surface redness of my skin and also blurs pores. Because the base makes my skin looks smoother and the color more even, I can wear a sheer foundation over it and my skin looks as good as when I wear a medium coverage foundation with no primer.
Moisturizer only // with Koh Gen Do yellow base
Moisturizer only // with Koh Gen Do yellow base
This primer is supposed to extend wear, but I haven’t noticed much of a difference; most foundations generally last well on my skin anyway. If silicone-based primers usually help your foundation last, I would expect that this one would help too (but of course, get a sample if you can!). And of course, I can’t speak to oil-control.
Overall, I am really loving this primer; it does exactly what I want from a primer, which is some color correcting and a bit of pore smoothing. I’m very happy with this purchase, and would definitely recommend this product to anyone who they same skintype I do!
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