This week will be all about Estée Lauder and nothing but Estée Lauder only 🙂 . I received three makeup products a month ago and I haven’t got the chance in photographing and reviewing them until last week. Yeap. Work had taken the free time I had and so I have to draft out a whole week content on Sunday alone. It’s crazy because I get distracted with catching up all the YouTube videos that I missed.

I’m going to start off Estée Lauder week with base makeup. I can’t tell you how excited I am with this Futurist Aqua Brilliance Compact Makeup. My current craze is cream compact foundation so this one was spot on.

Estée Lauder introduced two Futurist Aqua Brilliance base makeup in October 2014. One is a liquid foundation (Futurist Aqua Brilliance Moisture Infused Liquid Makeup SPF 15/PA++) while the other one is a cream compact foundation (Futurist Aqua Brilliance Compact Makeup SPF 20/PA++). It’s a brilliant idea to have the same product in two different medium as each individual do have different preference. I’m okay with liquid most of the time but compact works much faster for me now that I have just half an hour in the morning to do the whole makeup routine.

We all heard about the iconic Double Wear Stay-in-Place foundation before so what is the different between Double Wear with Futurist Aqua Brilliance? Futurist Aqua Brilliance is no doubt a makeup product but that’s not all. With the demand for more hydrating makeup product these days. Estée Lauder came up with a product that is also infused with hydrating and illuminating skincare in it. I am well aware that cream foundation will send a chill down the spine for most people as many perceive this type of medium to be heavy and oily. Rest assured. Estée Lauder specially designed this for the Asian skin. So you can expect light weight formula that deliver intense moisture to the skin. As a result, the skin will stay hydrated for hours. I must warn you in advance that this is not a matte finish product. You will find your skin looking dewy (not oily), plumped and radiant!

Estée Lauder Futurist Aqua Brilliance™ Compact Makeup comes in a black glossy round compact. The sleek design was kept at the minimal with just the brand name on the top of the casing. With just a push of the button on the side, the top is released (no it doesn’t bounce out) and you will find a huge mirror and a anti-microbial sponge sitting on top of the inner lid. I’ve never seen such well made and tightly shut inner lid before. I made this a crucial point because the air tight shut system will prevent the foundation from drying out.

When I first saw the foundation, I thought it doesn’t seems like a cream at all. I was right. It is actually a aqua gel-emulsion formula that will delivers hours of intense hydration. All together there is a total of nine shades to choose from. The shade I have is 3C0 Cool Creme, a lighter tone shade just the way I like it. The shade was chosen by Estée Lauder and amazingly, it matches perfectly to my skin tone 😀

To be honest, the foundation does look a bit greyish to me although it is a foundation. Then when I swatched it for the first time, I was relieved that it doesn’t comes off grey at all. It’s just like any foundation.

When I swatch it on the back of my hand, the color payoff is slightly different from what I see and swatched with finger. It gives my skin a teeny weeny bit of pink undertone. It is so subtle that you might not catch a glance of it from the bottom hand swatch photo. It’s not a bad thing at all because it brightens the skin along the way.

The foundation feel bouncy on the compact. It’s not solid. Definitely feels like semi-liquid, semi compact to me. It is buttery smooth to touch and glides on effortlessly. You have to be careful with the strength you put when you dab the sponge onto the sponge because you might make a dent like I did 😀 . I don’t really mind it at all. That means I like it so much that I keep adding more and more lol.

No foundation will be complete with the Before and After comparison. Here is what I’ve came up with by using one thin layer of Estée Lauder Futurist Aqua Brilliance™ Compact Makeup. It has a buildable coverage from medium to full. I usually start with a light coverage and build to full. Even with just a thin layer of the foundation on, it managed to even out my skin tone by brightening it, fill in the large pores by minimizing the appearance and plump up the skin.

Although this foundation is meant to give the skin a dewy and illuminating finishing, on me it was semi-matte. I assume because the product is still new at that time. It is not oily or feels heavy on me but it does take quite some time to set. What I normally do is to blot with a piece of tissue paper to remove any excess oily before dusting translucent powder all over. The foundation pretty much stays on me the whole day without any slipping at all. I don’t find my skin to be oiler than normal so it was all good. The thing about a cream compact foundation is the need to wash the sponge frequently. It’s not much on the hygiene but I find that the product works better with a clean sponge. When the sponge is used probably after 3 times, it gets congested and heavy and that effect the efficacy on my skin.

Double up as concealer

This is something I discovered on my first day of using Futurist Aqua Brilliance™ Compact Makeup. I was in a rush to work and I don’t have time for any concealer. I know that this product is a full coverage makeup so I tried my luck. I fold the sponge in half, dab on the foundation slightly and dab onto the undereye. Voila! A foundation turned concealer! I even used it to cover the red eczema spot I had on my inner right eyebrow and evening out the dark eyelid. It cancel off all the redness in a jiffy. No extra effort needed. Just dab away!

Oh and please ignore the lighting differences. The sun decided to hide behind the cloud as I was happily dabbing the foundation 😛

Here’s one of my most favourite of all. Concealing acne, acne marks and veins. Urrggghhh! I love love love loveeeee to use this product to conceal every other flaw I have on my face. I have been having breakout ever since I started working. Usually I’d need more than 5 minutes to dab on concealer layer by layer and then I’m late and stuck in a massive traffic jam. You have no idea how much Futurist Aqua Brilliance™ Compact Makeup changed my life and my morning routine. All I do is to dab on the product onto any area I want to correct and I’m done. It works so well with acne marks. We all know how I insecure I feel about acne marks.

P/: Please ignore my nose. I always forget to conceal the redness around my nose lol.

I find it quite hard to go back to liquid after several successful attempt with cream compact foundation especially after using the Estée Lauder Futurist Aqua Brilliance Compact Makeup. Not only I get to build the coverage as per my need and requirement for the day, it also double up as concealer on me. You have no idea how much convenient it is towards my morning makeup routine ever since I discovered it’s hidden secret. Futurist Aqua Brilliance Compact Makeup is a foundation, a treatment and a powdery soft compact in one. It offers innovative oil-and-shine controlling components that don’t compromise on moisture of the skin.

If you haven’t get onto the cream compact foundation bandwagon yet, I suggest you to give it a try. It’s amazing how easy and convenient it is to use. Have you liked any cream compact foundation lately? Why not give this Estée Lauder a try over the counter 😀

Disclaimer: Product was sent to me for review consideration. This doesn’t affect my judgement in the review in any way.