Battle of the BB Creams!
Hey y'all! Today, I felt like jumping on the BB bandwagon and doing a bit of a review/ comparison on two of what the high street has to offer to this new phenomenon. As I'm sure most of you all know, the BB cream is the slightly less high maintenance sister of the foundation, but the slightly more substantial sister of the tinted moisturiser, if that makes any sense!
BB stands for 'Blemish Balm', or 'Beauty Balm', or so states the 'BB Creams for Dummies' handbook (I jest...). This stuff supposedly offers similar coverage to a heavier duty product, such as foundation, but without all the nasties that foundations contain. BB Creams are said to target uneven skin tone, scarring, discolouration, etc to leave your skin looking naturally glowy and clear. Its difference from tinted moisturisers, I hear you ask. The jury is still out on that one, but, for now, lets get right into reviewing two BB Creams that I have acquired over the last couple of months and see which one wins the battle of the BB Creams.....
Maybelline Dream Fresh BB
This product boasts 8 in 1 skin benefits including its ability to blur imperfections, hydrate all day and compliment skin tone. It apparently provides an 'instant fresh face glow' and comes in four shades, Light, Medium, Dark and Universal Glow.
Pros
- SPF 30 - extra high protection for a cosmetic product
- Natural, glowy finish
- Fairly long-lasting
- Medium coverage
- Easily available to world market
- Shading is problematic - 'light' being slightly darker than I expected
- Unbalanced in terms of tone - very pink toned
- Feels slightly greasy on the skin
- Caused BREAKOUTS!!
- Price - a little overpriced for what you're getting
I picked up Maybelline's attempt at the BB Cream in July, before my holiday abroad. I wanted something light that I could wear in sweltering heat and the high SPF of this product is what initially drew me to it. I did my research, and this was the highest SPF available in a high street BB Cream at that time and so it ticked all the boxes for me. It was priced at around €12, which I though was a little expensive for the 30mls you get, but hey, I was desperate.
I began using this when I arrived in Spain and was pleasantly surprised at the natural and glowly finish it gave me. It was buildable, which meant I could apply slightly more product in the areas I needed it. At the time, my skin was in one of its moods, which I didn't attribute to the product at all. But things were soon to change....
After I arrived home, I took a break from the BB Cream and went back to my usual routine, which I have in fact written a blog post about, if you're interested. My skin was on the mend, thanks be to God, so, on a lazy Sunday a couple of weeks ago, I decided to ditch the foundation and break out the BB Cream once more. It was great letting my skin breath again, but things that I hadn't really picked up on in Spain, being in the holiday mood that I was, came to the fore. First and foremost, the product looked too pink toned and didn't blend in with the rest of my skin very well. It felt slightly heavy and looked a little greasy on the skin. Most alarming, however, was waking up for college on Monday morning with a sprinkling of whiteheads across my forehead and chin. I was devastated, having been so elated to have cleared my skin for the first time in months the previous week. This really made me turn my back on this product and, to this day, I vow never again to use it.
This product is really handy if its a quick holiday fix you're after, giving a natural finish and extremely high sun protection. But for a day-to-day basis, I would not recommend this product, unless you feel like dabbling with acne for a fortnight....
Sleek 'Be Beautiful' Blemish Balm
This product apparently provides a full coverage formulation and conceals, repairs and protects the skin. Coming in three shades, Light, Medium and Dark, it contains red algae extract, which assists in the prevention of wrinkles and Vitamin C, a potent anti-oxidant.
Pros
- SPF 15 - suitable for everyday protection in temperate climate
- Natural, glowy finish
- Conceals imperfections and redness very well
- Medium, buildable coverage
- Price - good value for what you get
Cons
- Not very long lasting
- Hard to get a hold of outside the UK
- Shading - Light is darker than I expected it to be
I was desperate to try this BB Cream, both after my debacle with the Maybelline one and upon hearing 'Gossmakeupartist' on YT claiming that it's one of the best high street make-up products. I took the chance to pick this up when I was in the UK last week, with Sleek being very hard to get a hold of anywhere else. The Cream was £8.99, so about €12 which is very good value for the 50mls you get.
I started using Sleek's attempt at the skin craze last week and I am very impressed. The product offers an incredibly natural finish with a medium coverage and when I wear it, I feel as though I'm not wearing any make-up, but I still have the confidence of having my imperfections concealed. I quite like Sleek's claim of using wrinkle prevention based ingredients, which is something that make-up isn't usually concerned with. This product is definitely a lot darker than I would have expected, but unlike the Maybelline one, it just sinks into the skin without looking streaky or orange. Unfortunately, this product is not extremely long lasting, but with a bit of powder, you can't really go wrong.
All in all, I'm very satisfied with this product and would highly recommend it to fellow beauty junkies. If its the natural look you're after, but without the dreaded imperfections peeking through, then this is the one you want. (Oh and please don't be put off by my dodgy photograph, I squirted out way too much product.)
Thanks for reading guys, and hopefully this has helped anyone out there who feels like joining me on the BB Cream bandwagon.
xx
