As a lover of medium to full coverage liquid foundations, I had a difficult time understanding the appeal of cushion foundations. I can see the theoretical benefits regarding ease of use, the finish, texture, and so on, but for every pro I can also list a con.
Regardless, no brand made my shade, so it was a category of makeup I mostly ignored.

The hype surrounding TIRTIR’s original cushion foundation, however, was inescapable. My social media feed was flooded with videos of people putting a single swipe of the sponge across their skin and being shocked by the instant full coverage. Again, I wasn’t all that impressed because this feature is only “special” in a cushion form of complexion products. What started piquing my interest was the news that TIRTIR was rapidly expanding their range, and I started to see influencers with dark skin trying them out. Not only did the brand potentially have a shade that could work for me, the finish was supposed to be radiant (it also says semi-matte in some descriptions), have high buildable coverage while being long-lasting, budge-proof, and it contains skin-caring ingredients, as well as SPF that supposedly doesn’t look grey or ashy on dark skin. It sounded like one of the best products out there, and for much less money than than I usually spend on foundations. Upon further reflection, I think it’s important to take into account that I bought it from YesStyle for $22, but it has 0.63 ounces of product compared to the standard 1 ounce liquid foundation. The minis cost $11 for a minuscule 0.15 ounces.

So, I bought the TIRTIR – Mask Fit Red Cushion in 34W Toffee. It was way too light on my skin and at the time this was the darkest of the warm shades. With this much coverage, trying to get one in an undertone that didn’t match me seemed like a bad idea. So, I put it aside and waited until I heard news of another expansion to the range. Eventually, 45W Chestnut became an option in that same red cushion, so I bought it this time in the mini size during Black Friday. By this point, the brand released two new finishes of cushions in pink and silver packaging. I chose to buy the TIRTIR – Mask Fit Aura Silver Cushion Mini in 43N Deep Cocoa because this formula is supposed to be the dewiest and actual radiant one of the three. My skin needs the hydration, so even though there are currently no warm undertone options for the darker spectrum among the silver cushion range, I wanted to at least see if I liked these enough to continue waiting for more shades.

As it turned out, Red Cushion 45W is too dark. I could probably mix 34W and 45W together, but since they are in a semi-matte finish (and flat out matte in this cold not-as-humid climate I live in), I don’t plan on using them all over my face anyway. I like the high medium to full coverage that it offers, but it doesn’t suit my skin type and conditions. The only time I get use out of 45W is to add shape back to my face in the areas where I normally add bronzer and contour. Since I don’t need shine in those areas, it works as a Brontour and melts into the skin surprisingly well combined with other foundations, including the Silver Cushion.

Silver Cushion 43N is the closest match and certainly close enough for me to do wear tests and not look crazy. It is a touch lighter and visibly not warm enough for my complexion, as seen by the borderline grey tinge. If the brand releases a 43W or 44W, I think that would be my correct shade. Then again, I’m a bit darker than usual as I still have a little extra color from summertime. I would ordinarily blame the SPF for the color being slightly off, but I really think it’s an undertone issue.

The best part about this Silver Cushion’s formula is that my skin looks and feels hydrated. Dewy foundations can sometimes feel heavy on the skin, but this one feels fairly light. Testing it throughout winter confirmed that all I need is a few minor hydrating skincare products underneath to prevent my skin from looking dry. The luminosity increases slightly as the day goes on, but not enough to look oily. The amount of transfer I get is mild and it sets well, but it takes much longer to set on its own than the red cushion. Thankfully, it is still long lasting on me, even without using powder. I’m not certain how much someone with oily or combo skin would enjoy this one, though. This also isn’t suitable for someone trying to avoid products with fragrance, as this has a very noticeable perfume-like floral scent.

The slightly off match isn’t as noticeable when I put on the rest of my makeup, at least when I’ve used a foundation brush that isn’t dense so I can apply the product sheerer than it would look with TirTir’s sponge. However, compared to something else that also isn’t full coverage such as the Danessa Myricks Yummy Skin Serum Foundation, other products look noticeably better purely because they’re a better shade match.

For this reason I still can’t say whether the crazy hype is warranted or not. The Red Cushion gives relatively full coverage, but the finish isn’t as flattering on my dry skin. The Silver Cushion has buildable medium to full coverage, but since it’s also not a perfect shade match, it doesn’t look as good on me if I try to reach medium or higher. So, I’m unable to wear it in a way that has the potential to be something I really like, and therefore I prefer many other foundations over this one. However, I have used it around my mouth area, as if it was a concealer, and it works wonderfully for that purpose since it blends in very well with whatever foundation I’m wearing underneath it.
I can at least answer my own question in the title of this post and say that the TirTir foundation does not work for everyone, but they’re getting there. This is at least the first cushion foundation I can wear out in public, which counts for something.

That’s all for today. Thank you for stopping by! And consider clicking “follow” if you’d like to be notified when I publish my next post!

-Lili ❤