This is one part review, one part explanation of a trend in Korea that goes against a long held cardinal rule for North American makeup; shine.
First I’d like to start by addressing the dewy skin trend of Korea. Actresses and Idols in Korea popped up everywhere with this ultra dewy, smooth, new baby skin sheen that was almost plastic-like it was so flawless. People went nuts for it and a major makeup trend was born. Every company came out with products to produce this glowing dewy skin. Liquid facial glow, bb cream boosters, highlight products, and even powders flooded the market. I’m going to do an in depth comparison review of many of them as soon as a package I’m waiting for gets here but in the mean time I’m going to show you the easiest and most subtle way to test drive this trend for yourself.

 Etude House released it’s Nymph Aura line which was a huge hit and my first introduction to the look. I first saw the Nymph Aura Volumer on one of my favourite Korean cosmetics YouTube review channels and ordered one a couple of years back. A “Volumer” is just a liquid you mix with your bb cream or apply alone as a highlighter to achieve the dewy look. I loved the stuff and when I saw Etude House released a bb cream balm with the volumer already swirled in I knew I had to try it out. I’ve always loved the balm type foundation and lord knows that as a busy person I love a shortcut. If you grew up anything like I did you spent your life covering yourself in powder trying to get the mattest skin possible and living in fear of any oily sheen. Shine was a bad word. The aim of this trend is to enhance and celebrate the youthful glow of young skin. After drilling it into our heads that shine is bad this may be a big leap for you. Instead of covering every inch of your face in powder, adding a product that will create more shine seems almost crazy in theory, but it’s really beautiful in practice. The trick to this look to get the glow without looking greasy is how you do it. What keeps it from being overboard is that you only add this sheen to key areas of the face (T zone, cheeks, cupid’s bow, and middle of the chin) and then boom, instant glowing ‘baby skin’. The Volumers and booster products are highly concentrated, however, the Nymph Aura Volumer Baby Glow Balm is much more subtle so it can be applied all over. It’s mixed in a ratio of 8 to 2, where as the straight Volumer should be a 3 to 1 ratio, so this is suitable for all over and not just the key areas. As you age (ugh) you notice that your glow starts to fade, by mimicking the glow of younger skin, this is a perfect way to add a more youthful look to your face.

I love the packaging of the balm itself. As you can see it comes in this compact with the product in a compartment and a little permanent divider that keeps the sponge from just sitting in it. And the sponge! That just may be my favourite part! They call it the Aura Air Puff and it’s a silicone sponge that feels almost like one of those neoprene knee braces (lol I can’t think of anything else this texture). It’s so soft and awesome and is such a genius delivery system! You can pat on the bb balm with the air puff for a heavier coverage or if you want to go for the ultra subtle thing you could apply this with a brush. I’m hooked on the air puff though. It’s so fast and has such a luxurious space age feeling, I love it. The bb balm has a rich creamy buttery consistency when swiped. Like I said before I’m partial to this texture. It has the volumer swirled in as you can see in the picture so you swipe it in a circular pattern to mix the two products on your puff/brush. What I really appreciate about the volumer is it’s not just a throw away skin product, this has actual good stuff in there! It contains my ultimate skincare homegirl argan oil and amino sugars, so we have antioxidants and skin nourishment all up in there actually doing something instead of just being purely cosmetic. Another great thing is the bb balm is a whopping SPF42 PA+++. Awesome.

I have this in shade #1 and #2. As you can see in this swatch #2 looks too dark on me but once it’s blended out it actually melts right into my skin colour.

The super fair skinned who have trouble matching up shades will love #1. Even in winter it’s just a touch too pale for me but it looks good used on the T-zone and cheekbones when utilizing the contouring application technique. As with most bb creams due to the way it blends in with your skin #2 would fit a pretty large swath of fair skinned folks anywhere between NC15-25 I’d say. They also offer a #3 shade that’s a tad darker. Since this is a Korean brand they don’t really have any shades for the dark skinned ladies out there unfortunately :(My one complaint with this is the same one I have for all Etude House bb creams, this really clings to dry dead skin. Make sure you’re thoroughly exfoliated and hydrated if you’re going to rock this stuff. You’d think that with the inclusion of the argan oil and the consistency of the balm it wouldn’t, but it really does pick up on any flakes you might have. Other than that this stuff is pretty wonderful and an easy, fast, and understated way to dip your toes in the Korean dewy baby skin look!

I give Etude House Nymph Aura Volumer Baby Glow Balm four out of five turtles. If you can find a shade for you and want a super quick  and easy ethereal glow from your bb cream, try this out.