Makeup Noob: BB Creams

If there's one beauty product that seems to have been made specifically for lazy girls like yours truly, it's probably BB cream.

With it's disturbingly redundant name [BB supposedly stands for Beauty Balm or Blemish Balm. Either way put that together with cream and you've got a name that's something like Beauty Balm Cream], and incredibly long list of uses (moisturizer, make up base, sunscreen etc.), it's one of those things I initially looked upon with much skepticism. I rarely believe anything that claims all-in-one features can really perform all functions effectively. 

So, when you can just as easily buy a good moisturizer, serum and makeup base, what the heck would you be doing mucking about with this stuff?

Honestly? No idea. 

But I'm the sort of girl who, before the BB Cream, survived on just moisturizer and two-way powder foundation (with UV protection, of course) and two swipes of blusher. So bear with me while I'm still pretty much on my way to discover the joys of makeup.

Got this image off Google search.
Finished my sample awhile ago.

So when I got my first sample of Estee Lauder's Cyber White BB Cream, I was completely blown away

 by how awesome it really was. The texture is light enough that I don't feel like I've got inches of makeup on my face, yet the coverage is so awesome it looked like I had no pores! The fact that it doesn't feel sticky at all makes me feel completely confident about leaving the house without having to put any other product on my face. I think the full sized tube costs RM 139 when I asked.

Verdict: The perfect BB cream I would totally buy. 

Bought this some time back,
came with this super un-glam cellophane tape
around it to keep the security tag/label thing on.
You can still see bits of it where
I didn't bother to peel off completely.  

Still not entirely convinced that there was any room for BB cream in my very super streamlined almost non-existent makeup routine, I went in search for a more reasonably priced option. That's when I found Maybelline's Clear & Smooth BB Cream, can't really remember the price but I think it was something like RM22.90. I was definitely surprised to find it pleasant to use. It comes in two shades: 01 Fresh and 02 Natural. I tried the latter at first - which turned out to be a little too dark for me. Took quite a lot of blending to make sure I don't look like an oompa loompa. Got the lighter colour second time around, which suited me fine. Coverage is excellent, no pores and all that. The texture is a little bit oilier which makes it liquid enough to be applied with a foundation brush, but also feels a bit heavier on the skin and pores felt a little clogged after awhile. 

Verdict: The cheap BB cream I would have around for like massive, indiscriminate use. You know, like days when you're just bumming around at home sans makeup, but have to go out for like 10 minutes just to buy lunch.

Next up: Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery BB, RM 32.90.
Got this at Sasa which gave a discount at the time so actual price paid was RM 27.95.
I first tried this out as a sample, and I have to say I found the texture rather different from the first two. As the name suggests, its more watery and light, which is a really nice change from the Maybelline one. Coverage isn't as awesome, but it does sort of even out skin tone and give the face this dewy look which I really loved. Really good if you haven't got any major blemishes or anything like that to cover up. It's a little sticky at first, but after a little while, you don't really feel anything. Again, only good if you're really just looking for sunscreen and some base.
Verdict: My current favourite for daily use. 

Circling back to Estee Lauder, I recently got this sample of their BB Balm [OMG! Redundant name alert again!].

It's pretty much the same thing as the Estee Lauder BB cream I wrote about here, except that it's in a compact form instead of a tube. Not loving it as much - has all the good things I mentioned about the other Estee Lauder one, except that it feels a little too dry for easy application. Then again, it might be because I'm using the super small sample with it's super small sponge.

Verdict: Meh, so-so. I'd still go back to the Estee Lauder BB Cream. This one currently sits in my gym bag as replacement for the entire makeup pouch.