Special mention for combination skin has to go to Shu Uemura POREraser UV Under Base Mousse, which seems absolutely weightless and is able to keep shine-overload at bay. During summer, it was the only thing that managed to make my skin look good without a top dusting of powder. During stifling hot days, my skin got so shiny that I had to blot an hour after putting on my makeup.
The mousse feels light as air and absorbs almost instantaneously — my skin looked matte and more refined without looking dull or powdery, and my BB cream applied smoothly over the top. It keeps oiliness at bay a good full day without the powdering. Now that winter is just around the corner, I only apply it on oily areas tend to shine.
I have it in Beige, which says to “conceal dark spots, blemishes and scars”. In reality, it’s a very light beige that goes on so sheer, it makes little to no difference to skin tone. It’s a good ‘universal’ beige that will prevent any chance of white residue from the SPF/PA+++ sun protection (with Octinoxate and Titanium Dioxide and UV filters), but nothing more.
I’ve tried to show the base in action on my skin but the close-up shots above — on an orange, no less — seem to capture it better. You can see after I spread the mousse out (right side), it slightly fills in the ‘pores’ and minimizes the sheen, but the beige tint disappears.
I find that I often resemble a half-baked pastry when I use powder, so I much prefer controlling excess sebum and mattifying my skin at an early stage over setting makeup with powders or sprays. There are other makeup bases that does at good job at making skin look more refined while keeping shine at bay, but this mousse formula makes all the difference with its air-light, weightless feel.
I have this in the Shu Uemura 2013 Spring Sakura Collection by OB packaging design, which is limited edition and no longer available. The 50g regular aerosol can is available at Shu Uemura counters.
