Sunday, November 10, 2013
To B or not to B? My thoughts on BB creams.
What I get from all of this is that BB creams are a little lighter than tinted moisturizers in terms of coverage but will provide you an easy, one step product for everyday wear. I would wear BB creams if I wanted the protection of moisturizer, SPF and primer and did not have time to do all steps in the morning. CC creams, on the other hand, would be best if you wanted to fix some skin color issue. For instance, my skin is very ruddy and sallow and I have a lot of brown/dark spots so I might use a CC cream to correct those issues. Then, because CC creams tend to come lighter than my skin tone, I will use a foundation on top of the CC cream. Each cream will come in different shades and for different purposes depending on the brand so it's best to check out what your needs are and look for an appropriate brand.
After my research, I decided to do a demonstration for you all using the BB creams I had. This will feature my awesome naked face with different BB creams.
 |
| Naked Face |
 |
| Naked Face |
As you can see, my naked face is pretty ruddy and there are many brown spots and freckles. Since I am demonstrating with BB creams, the ruddiness won't really be addressed but you can see how each BB cream looks and I will try my best to describe how each feel.
This next photo features each of the four BB creams I will discuss below. I also applied a tinted moisturizer in this photo to contrast the BB creams for you. On the left side of my face is the tinted moisturizer- you can see it is darker and covers more. On the left bottom part of my face is the Garnier BB cream. The chin features Smashbox. The top part of my right side is Wet N Wild and the bottom right side is Pond's. From this picture, when you see all the BB creams on my face at once, I don't think you can even really tell a difference.
 |
| Face featuring all four BB creams at once. |
Garnier Skin Renew Miracle Skin Perfector BB Cream SPF 15 in Light/Medium, $10.35
 |
| Garnier cream is on the left side of my face, your right side. |
Garnier felt substantial and a bit tacky but became more matte as it dried. I felt it provided really coverage too though it was more gray tone than I would have liked.
Wet n Wild Fergie BB Cream in Medium/Deep with SPF 15, $5.62 at Walmart
 |
| Wet n Wild cream is on the left side of my face, your right. |
The Wet n Wild BB cream felt very emollient and had an almost silicone feel. It was more wet feeling and dried more silky than the Garnier one. I felt it was very sheer and had very little coverage which might be good for those who plan to still use foundation on top of your BB cream. Out of all the ones I tried, this one had a scent that was more "make-uppy." It smells fine to me but for sensitive noses, this may be a negative. Wet N Wild advertises this as hydrating, brightening, priming, concealing, smoothing, oil controlling, even toning and SPF.
Pond's Luminous Finish BB Cream with Tone Perfecting Complex and SPF 15 in Medium, $9.99-$12.99 (I got mine at Walgreens on a buy one, get one free sale so it was about $6.50)
 |
| Pond's cream is on the left side of my face, your right. |
Pond's BB cream blended really good. I felt it was also emollient and went on very smoothly. It didn't have as much coverage as the Garnier one but I felt the shade was more close to my skin tone. It also seemed to do a tiny bit of tone perfecting as promised and was more shiny than the others. I guess that is the luminous aspect of the product.
Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream with SF 35 in Light/Medium, $19.50-$39.00 at Sephora
 |
| Smashbox cream is on left side of my face, your right. |
Smashbox was the most expensive one I tried. I got a sample from Sephora in a little container. This one provided most coverage as you can clearly see when you compare all the pictures. It wasn't as shiny as the others and dried pretty matte which I like. If you have super dry skin, you may want a more emollient BB cream.
Overall, I thought each BB cream had its good and bad qualities. I could not really tell a difference and went mostly by how the formula felt on my skin and the shades available. I normally wear a NC 30 in MAC. If I had to pick, I would probably pick the Pond's cream since I liked that it had the tone evening quality. I think BB creams are going to be a very personal thing for each person because each brand has different shades, smells and textures. If you truly want the ease of an all on one product, finding a really good BB creams is a good way to go. Otherwise, if you prefer the extra coverage anyways like me, I think you can probably get away with a cheaper BB cream and just add a bit more foundation for coverage. I plan to use my BB creams for the benefits of priming, moisturizing and SPF then apply my normal foundation on top.
I have yet to use each one of these long term to see if my makeup lasts when using each product. This will be my next research and I will definitely keep you posted on those results. Hope you learned something about BB creams. I think it is probably an overrated makeup trend but worth trying since there are so many fun brands out there. Enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)