I have a weird relationship with Etude House. It was the first Korean beauty brand I really got into, but I think the marketing is mostly the reason for that, since I discovered it in my Juicy Couture tracksuit princess phase (everyone was doing it at the time ok?) I still like their makeup, but as I started varying my tastes I quickly discovered that there are many other brands that, in my opinion, produce better quality skincare products at the same price point or cheaper. Their skincare has been hit-or-miss for me; they make my all-time favorite sheet masks, which I bought 60 of when they were $.50 on the international site-

Their Collagen Moistful line, on the other hand, has disappointed me at every turn. My mother gifted me with the emulsion, cream, and sleeping pack for my last birthday. Used individually, they’re okay, not bad but not great. But, for some reason, when I use all three of these in one night, they form some kind of unholy alliance and bless me with the gift of cystic acne.

Their bright-fit BB cream makes me look positively radiant, while their cotton-fit BB makes me look like I’ve spread a thin layer of dried liquid chalk on my face.

So basically, I had no idea what to expect from this product.

I’ll openly admit that most of the reason I bought this was the marketing. The commercial is the best combination of cringe and amazement I’ve ever seen-

And it doesn’t hurt that it’s playing off a Korean comedy film called “200 Pound Beauty,” which is about an overweight singer who has liposuction and plastic surgery to the point where she’s unrecognizable to be taken more seriously. Questionable moral message, I know, but it’s crazy-popular in Korea.

Anyways, is there really magic in the cushion? I was determined to find out after my next paycheck.

I purchased mine from A-Poly on Amazon, where it was about $20 USD including shipping.

The Magic Any Cushion comes in three…flavors? Pink, Mint, and Peach, each with their own promised benefit.

I found this English buying guide online after doing some digging.

Ok, so questionable translation aside, it seems that pink is for whitening, mint is for redness-reduction, and peach is for brightening. I don’t really have problems with redness, and i’m still not 100 on what pink is offering me, so I decided to go with magic peach.

Some pictures for you, featuring my new sheets.

The cushion inside is the same as your basic BB cushion pact. It’s about the size of the palm of my hand, and the exact same size as the Etude House Precious Mineral BB.

The actual magic…fluid (please help me think of a better word) is viscous, and pretty thin when gathered using the pink puff the product comes with. It’s also worth noting that this thing claims to be SPF 34 which 1) is a very specific number and 2) I don’t understand how this is possible because the liquid is so thin. I think I remember hearing somewhere that the SPF only counts when applied over sunscreen but that seems kind of dishonest to me. Whatever happened to truth in advertising.

Here’s a picture of my naked, tiredass face after a night of cramming (for authenticity!)

Here’s me with only Magic Any Cushion applied

I look… very white. But the magic cushion isn’t meant to stand alone, from what I’ve gathered it’s supposed to function as a primer/base. Here’s me after applying BB cream over the magic peach (Etude House bright-fit BB) and fixing my godawful eyeliner.

For comparison’s sake, here’s me with only BB and no magic peach.

I feel like magic peach did brighten me up, but did so by making me look whiter, which makes me wonder what differentiates peach from pink. Magic Peach also had the added benefit of being a half decent primer, and I feel like my BB cream lasts longer when I apply this. I would not recommend this product to those with darker skin tones, because I feel like the whitening could become too drastic. As for me, i’m still debating whether or not I would repurchase this. On the plus side, magic peach makes my pores look smaller and my BB cream stay longer, but I feel like these effects are easily replicated at a much lower price by my drugstore primer. As for the brightening, I believe it would better suit lighter skin tones.

Thank you so much for reading! Enjoy this video of Aaron Paul on The Price is Right.