If you're staring at this image and thinking, is that a semi naked man with a hairy bum wearing hosiery, covered in some metallic substance? Then you are completely correct and perhaps familiar with the fashion magazine pigeons and peacocks.
Moving swiftly on from my bizarre choice in backgrounds and reading literature, and onto the topic of today's post; The BB cream. A complete new concept for me. I have always been a foundation only kind of girl and the thought of having something this 'natural' had always turned my stomach. I was once gifted a BB cream by the brand Shiseido in a twitter giveaway and I remember it distinctively. Mainly because it was in the shade dark fonce, which is hilarious because although I have olive skin I am a fuck load of pale. It was obviously way to dark and I gave it to my mam.
I think the fear of the BB cream started with my sheer scepticism of the concept, because to me a BB cream a is a tinted moisturiser that they have changed the name to suit the younger generation. Mainly because tinted moisturiser makes me think of nans and mams who have legit 2 minuets to get ready in the morning, neither of which conjures up a glamorous image. And in reality I'm right, the definition of a BB cream is a skincare makeup hybrid that provides the hydration of a moisturiser and the coverage of a light foundation. Sound like a tinted moisturiser to you?
I'm trying to approach this review with an open mind, so lets get into what I thought. I have 3 BB creams one from Dr Jart and two from Rimmel both with different finishes.
I picked up the Dr Jart premium beauty balm in Barcelona because it was hard to come by in the UK but fortunately boots have started stocking the brand now! Dr Jart BB is hailed as Asia's beauty wonder (according to the boots website). This BB cream is supposed to be ideal for more mature skin, which I clearly didn't read when I bought it. However I always take age perimeters with a pinch of salt, better of to just try things and see how it goes. This product contains SPF 45 so high protection from the sun, moisturises and gives luminosity to your skin. You can wear this under foundation or on its own. For me I prefer it on its own, I love the glow it gives to your face. It really just makes you feel like you have lovely natural skin. For us oily girls however probs not the best product, it wasn't a complete greasy mess but as it contains SPF it is going to be on the oilier side. Everywhere apart from my chin looked really lovely and if you only plan a few hours wear out of it you could definitely get away with it. Bare in mind that I have super oily skin. This would definitely work wonders on those with normal to dry skin. Combination oily could get away with it paired with a kick ass primer. All in all love the product, but after a few hours it doesn't really love my skin. I'm going to keep experimenting with different primers and see if I can work with this, because I really enjoy the finish on first application. I have the shade medium to dark which is more warm toned.
The next BB cream I tried was Rimmel's BB cream Radiance. This product boasts an impressive 9 in 1 formula. Said to prime, conceal, smooth, minimise pores, moisturise, provide light coverage, awaken and brighten skin and give a radiant finish. This beauty balm comes in the shade light and very light, which honestly bugs me it not very inclusive. I am not very dark skinned but I benefit from a neutral undertone something rarely found in light shades. So I would appreciate if they would broaden their colour horizons not everyone is pale or paler with a pink undertone. So as you can tell the colour wasn't that great of a match, it was too pink and a bit too light. I would not say that this is ideal for oily girls and probably would be more beneficial to those with very dry skin as it seemed hydrating. Overall not a product for me.
Lastly I tried the Rimmel BB cream beauty balm SPF 25. I really wanted to like one of these cheaper Rimmel options so I decided to give the original a go. This product boasts the same 9 in 1 quality all apart from the finish which is supposed to be Matte and last all day. I put that to the test and wore it too a 8hour shift. It doesn't last all day unless your day is roughly 5 hours long or not very strenuous at all. Even through the product says it primes and reduces pores, I actually feel like it could have done with a primer. This product was no where nearly as bad as the radiance cream and another hats of to it, that it comes in a medium shade which is less pinky than its counter part. Still not an exciting range of colours by any stretch of the imagination. You can make this work if you apply a good base and set it very well, that to me however defeats the object of these quick and easy all in one creams. If you can't just through it on and walk out the door whats the point? I may as well just put on my usual foundation.
I think you can tell that I am not 100% sold on BB creams. My disappointment always lies in the fact that I am waiting for a product for oily skin that isn't f***ing matte. I want a bit of sheen and glow! But I also don't want to have to bolt every ten minuets. These products are workable but I don't see the point in an all in one that requires more effort. As for all the claims they make I am not sure they live up to anything they said. If I had normal skin, Dr Jarts premium BB would be a dream. I will use the Dr Jart product, during periods where my skin is behaving and producing less oil. But my quest for a good BB cream continues... Honestly I should have just bought a bloody tinted moisturiser.
(Since this review I tried Dr Jarts platinum BB cream SPF 30. This is a higher coverage BB cream and more suited to my skin type. I'm going to do a more in depth review once I have tried and tested more thoroughly but so far so good. Just something to keep in mind if you are intrigued but more on the oily side like me!)
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