BB Creams - What are they!?

Who has heard of BB Creams?  Otherwise known as Blemish Balm, Blemish Base or Beblesh Balm.  These are huge in Asia and have more recently migrated to the West through brands like Smashbox, Boscia, and Too Faced.  

I would say that coverage from minimum to maximum would be in this order: Tinted moisturizer -> powder foundation -> BB Cream -> liquid foundation -> cake foundation :)

BB Creams are a 4 in 1 kind of deal.  It usually has high SPF so it acts as a sunblock, primer, moisturizer, and foundation.  The Asian brands like Missha, Laneige, Skin79 are a few favourites but are limited in colour shades to appeal to the Asian "the-lighter-the-skin-the-better" population. Even though the product comes out in a greyish tint, they do oxidize to match your skin colour but it still fairs on the lighter side.

I use the Smashbox BB Cream in Light which matches my skins pretty colour pretty well.  Even though it is light, it is still darker than more of the BB creams from Asian manufacturers.  The consistency is bit thicker than my Leneige BB Cream but I do prefer my Smashbox one as it gives me better coverage (especially my red cheeks).  I set the BB Cream with power (as I would with liquid foundation) and I'm set for the day.  My skin is normal with T-Zone oiliness, so the setting powder helps minimize shine from the moisturizing properties in the BB Cream.

I only recently discover BB Creams from YouTubing various makeup artists and all of them appear to have reviews on their likes and dislikes.  I would suggest for your to search for it on YouTube to get other people's opinions before you invest in it as they are in the same price range as foundations.  Sephora may also be able to give you a sample before you try.  

The Smashbox website gives new customers a discount code (I think it was 15%) if you sign up for the first time for their rewards system.  All you need to do is give them your email and you have about two weeks thereafter to use the discount code on your online purchase. I went to Sephora, picked out my shade, and ordered it online with the discount code to save a few extra dollars :) 

I recommend watching the following videos on BB cream reviews and uses!

• Smashbox What's the Buzz on BB Cream by BeautydotcomBeauty
• BB Cream Overview by BubzBeauty

Even Costco is getting in on this! They carried Garnier BB Cream the last time I was there (about 4 days ago)! :)