Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation Review

I was pretty much hell-bent on getting my hands on Koh Gen Do when I was in Japan last year. Their foundations have been much raved about on the blogosphere and though I was nervous about where to find KGD in Japan, it is widely available and seems to be very popular with locals.

For those who have purchased this exact foundation from Sephora, you may noticed my bottle looks a little odd (the Sephora version has a black cap), but I do believe this is purely packaged differently for the Japanese market and the formula should be the same. 

I purchased this Aqua Foundation for 4830 yen (around $50 AUD), and I believe this is sold on Sephora for $62 USD, which really isn't too bad compared to mark ups here in Australia. I was a little disappointed with the limited shade range - there were only 4 shades at the counters I visited, but Sephora has 8 shades available. This shade I have is PK-1, designed for pink undertones, which I honestly wasn't too sure about at first, but am really grateful I went with as oppose to ones for yellow undertones because PK-1 fits my skin to a TEE. The formula applies on the sheerer side, so there is a bit of leeway if you can't get an exact match. It is also very buildable, and I can get what I consider to be full coverage with 2-3 layers of this foundation.

Here's how my skin looks before application of any foundation/concealer. I have to say I'm having quite a good run with my skin at the moment (i.e. no major blemishes), besides my eye bags, my freckles and redness shouldn't require much to cover up.

After application! As you can see, my skin looks visibly smoother, brighter and the finish is very natural. I only applied one layer of foundation, and with a little concealer underneath the eyes I'm pretty much good to go. I used KGD Makeup Colour Base (the yellow one) as my primer.

And here's how it looks in flash photography. You can see the dewiness better in this photo, but overall it's a very natural finish. As I previously noted I only applied one layer of the foundation, I do believe that with more product applied, the more likely is it to have a white cast in flash photography.

One of the things that has really won me over with KGD Aqua Foundation is how smooth it feels on the skin. If you have a look on the KGD website, you will see the that formula is designed with something called a 'golden ratio', which consists of 45% water, 35% emollients, and 20% powder, to give skin a lustrous yet translucent finish with coverage to endure throughout the day. The formula also has no artificial colours, fragrances, petroleum based mineral oils or parabens (so go for it Larie!).

All-in-all, KGD Aqua Foundation is probably one of the most natural foundations I've come across, it really feels as though I'm not wearing anything on my skin. I lovelovelove how soft and smooth the formula is and even on my greasy days, it lasts and lasts AND lasts! Unfortunately KGD is not available for purchase in Australia which is a total shame, but if you use a forwarding service, Aussies can buy this through Sephora.

Have you tried KGD Aqua Foundaiton? What did you think of it? Do you have other KGD recommendations? I'm hungry for more! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment! :D