Uncategorized August 9, 2013

How to find the right BB Cream

BB Creams. There are so much of them around that finding the right one for you becomes a real challenge. I know because I’ve tried almost 20 different kinds of BB Cream and although majority were okay to good, not even half will have a permanent spot on my dresser.

The BBs I regularly use are in the photo above. They are what I would consider the right BBs for me although each have their own unique qualities.

Step 1: The first step in finding the right BB Cream would be determining what effect(s) you want. Do you want whitening? Brightening? Sun protection? Coverage? Anti-aging? Moisturizing? If it were me, I would most likely want a light to medium coverage brightening BB with sun protection. You can check different brands (start with your favorite, in my case that would be Laneige, lol!) for BBs with those specific functions. I usually go over the shelves of stores and look at each and every kind of BB being offered and then choose from there.

Step 2: Find your shade. Most people use BB Cream as an alternative to foundation and so it’s important to find the shade that best matches your skin. Patting it on your hand or wrist is useless because most of the time the color of your face is different from the color of your hand. When faced with multiple BBs, you can do the stripe test like I did above. You can see clearly which shade is too light or too dark for you.

Try blending each stripe. The stripe which disappears onto your skin would be the best shade for you. In my case it’s the middle stripe (incidentally, that BB is Heynature Aqua Blast BB and it does match my skin perfectly). BUT… just to illustrate how not to do it, I chose to apply the top stripe which was too light toned for me.

Okay so I went with with the lightest BB Cream (top stripe). It’s too light even if my skin tone is already on the light side. As a result, my face is a shade lighter than my neck. This is NOT the way to go, lol!

This is more like it, I used Fairydrops Candy Bar BB Cream in Light Ochre here.

Step 3: After you’ve chosen the kind of BB cream and the shade, the next step would be to try it. You can either buy it to try it (when I trust the brand that’s what I do, lol) or you can use the tester and apply all over your face (that’s what I did with the Kanebo Freshel White C BB Cream before I bought it) then walk around a bit. Let it stay for a few hours then decide if you like it. Taking the time to do a test drive (that’s what testers are for, lol) will lessen the chances of making a mistake. BB Creams cost anywhere from a few hundred to a couple of thousand pesos so getting stuck with one that you end up not liking will put good money to waste.

Do I have recommendations? Yes I do. It all boils down to working with your skin type. I get asked this a lot and that’s actually one of the reasons why I came up with this post:

1. Is your skin oily? You would most likely want a matte BB Cream that won’t look greasy even with extended wear. The most matte ones I’ve tried are:

Tonymoly Dear Me Petite Cotton BB Cream (light to medium coverage, only 1 shade)
Celeteque Brightening Multi-Benefit BB Cream (very light coverage, only 1 shade)
Kanebo Freshel White C Mineral BB Cream (medium coverage, 2 shades)
Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream (medium coverage, semi-matte, 5 shades)
Fairydrops Candy Bar BB Cream (medium+ coverage, 2 shades)

2. Is your skin dry? You would most likely want a moisturizing BB Cream to make your skin look smooth and dewy:

Kiehl’s Actively Correcting & Beautifying BB Cream (medium coverage, 4-5 shades)
Pond’s Age Miracle BB Cream (light to medium coverage, 2 shades)

3. Do you want coverage? Are you using BB Cream in place of foundation? Do you need to cover blemishes, spots, etc? These BBs offer the most and best coverage:

Fairydrops Candy Bar BB Cream (medium+ coverage, 2 shades)
Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream (medium+ coverage, semi-matte, 5 shades)
Etude House Precious Mineral BB Cream (medium coverage, 4 shades)
Laneige Snow BB Essence Balm (medium+ coverage, 2 shades)

4. Do you have normal or combination skin (not dry / not too oily or oily and dry in some places) and want an all-around BB that gives coverage, sun protection, and a host of other skin care benefits? These are the most balanced BBs I’ve tried:

Laneige Snow BB Soothing Cushion (light to medium coverage, 3 shades, SPF 50+)
Heynature Aqua Blast BB Cream (light to medium coverage, only 1 shade, SPF 35+)
Laneige Snow BB Cream (light coverage, 2 shades, SPF 41+)

I will continuously update this post with more recos as I get to try and test more BB Creams. I will be posting about my top 5 BBs in a bit so stay tuned!

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