For those of you who follow beauty trends, you might have noticed this one at your local cosmetics store: BB Cream.
I first heard about it when a friend of mine sent me a random text and told me to Google it! And according to Wiki, BB Cream is a foundation with additional bonuses such as being a primer, moisturiser, sunblock, pore minimiser, & skin food. So basically, it’s a product that makes your skin flawless! Not a new concept, might I add.
Being suspicious, I never ran out to the beauty counter to buy a bottle of this skin perfecting serum. After all, how do I know what I’m putting on my skin if the label is not even written in English? Then again, even if I read the label of a well-known brand of foundation, I wouldn’t even know what half the ingredients are anyway! So maybe it doesn’t matter?
Since I was near the Asian beauty counter, I did manage to ask the cost of the BB Cream and it was definitely less than $40 for a decent sized tube!
Now, brands such as Smashbox, Clinique, Too Faced, etc. have jumped on the BB Cream bandwagon! They’ve rebranded this Asian makeup product, put them into smaller tubes, and slapped a HIGHER price tag on it!
Just click here to see all the brands that a store like Sephora has to offer. And note that even though we’ve been on par with the American dollar for a while now, these prices DO NOT reflect what’s in Canadian stores. For example, the bottle of Smashbox BB Cream is $50CAD, not $39USD, as stated on the website. 🙁
I’m curious to try it to see if this product lives up to their claim. However, I refuse to pay $50+HST since I know that I can get it elsewhere for a lot less.
It seems that a lot of other people are curious too and don’t mind paying the hefty price tag ’cause the creams are either sold out/low on stock whenever I pop in.
If you’ve heard of this product, have you purchased a tube of BB Cream? If so, is there any difference between this product and a high-quality foundation?
I’ve actually been using BB cream for a number of years now. However, I’ve only been using Korean brand BB creams (as there are tons) because I find that they match my skin tone (as I am Asian).
I’m not sure how the non Korean brands quality are though.
I think Caucasian people can wear Asian BB cream too. It’s just hard to find your right shade if your looking to buy the asian BB cream version. Beside, 50$ for an American BB cream?! Really?!
http://www.sasa.com/SasaWeb/eng/product/searchKeyword.jspa?pn=1&sp=0&ep=-1&qs=BB+Cream <- Most people like buying their asian products here.
http://www.eatyourkimchi.com/bb-cream-korea/ <- They’re Canadian too. 🙂
It’s much lighter than an actual foundation but it also gives less coverage. I like it because it oxidizes enough to blend into your skin so it doesn’t look like you have anything on. If you buy it from eBay, then it’s around $10 which is an amazing deal.
Grabbed some off Ebay, I am very light skinned so it should work.
Just wanted to mention that is really just foundation with extra ingredients in it. I really wouldn’t look at it like all in one like most bb creams claim to be. I use it more than normal foundation for barely there, a bit better than just bare skin coverage. Even though the bb stands for blemish balm originally targeted for people with problem skin, it actually causes a bit of a break out on me! Go figure!
I just got into it myself and I love it. It suits my needs. I have combination skin, I don’t really need much coverage and I hate foundation because I find it cakes. BB Cream is basically like a tinted moisturizer, offers less coverage than foundation so very light weight. I like how it just smoothes lines out and minimizes dark spots and red areas. Gives my skin an even complexion. As for a magic serum though? I doubt it. But it contains high SPF which is great for prevention of wrinkles and dark spots. In my books, definently worth the cost (I buy the Korean ones which is like $25)
Yes, in Sephora Canada items are more expensive than those in Sephora American website. But if you buy something from American Sephora website, you have to pay shipping cost about $10 plus taxes. So $39 USD can be somehow equal to $50 CAD ina Canadian Sephora store.
This have been around for years.. in Asia at least
i’ve been using it for years. it’s pretty awesome.
it seems like it gives a light coverage, but it evens out my skin tone, and gives me pretty flawless looking skin while looking like i don’t even have foundation on.
but no make up is worth that much. it might be difficult to find shades for non-asian skin from the original brands, but it’s well worth it.
There is a brand called Lioele that has an amazing BB Cream. I bought one for me (25yrs old) and one for my mom (52 years old). We both LOVE it. It goes on lighter,but as you rub it in (with your fingers seems to be the best) it blends into your skin. Gives great coverage,no need for a concealer anymore!! I love it. I have the regular Lioele BB cream,but there are others,but mine was only 18$. Its a Canadian website as well! I am very impressed! http://www.liliesshop.net I would highly recommend this product. The price is great compared to others and the product is incredible. I’d say anyone interested, check it out. You can buy samples of them in a good sized tube for very cheap and see how you like it.
I’ve been using Skin79’s bb creams for two years now and I love it! There’s definitely less coverage than regular foundation but it’s enough to smooth out my complexion and doesn’t cake. I also love that it’s only around $20 and lasts a long time.
I found this review to be very helpful for choosing which bb cream would suit your skin type & tone best 🙂 http://www.frmheadtotoe.com/2010/12/huge-bb-cream-overview-reviews-swatches.html
I’ve been using BB cream for about 2 years now. I love it! Well, it totally depends on what brand you use. I have sensitive and combination skin so I use “Dr. G” a Korean brand. A right BB cream doesn’t cause break out. BB cream texture is much lighter than foundation, providing a very thin layer and natural looking. If you’re looking for medium coverage, then don’t use BB cream. You’ll be totally disappointed! But for people like me who wants light texture to brighten my skintone, this is what I need. You can buy it from SASA.COM. I apply BB cream everyday, only BB cream, no more foundation~
Marcelle cosmetics is coming out with their BB cream next month. The price is $22.95. I’m pretty sure you can buy it off of their website now.
hi , i have a beauty blog and you can see more informations about bb cream in my blog http://www.beautycombat.blogspot.com it s in french but there is a translator , bb cream are great but believe me don t buy an expensive one because occidental brands propose a tinted cream not a bb cream if you want to try bb creams the real ones the best ones are from korea , go to e buy and look for small ones 10 ml because it s very difficult to find the good colourthat will suits you you can also go to http://www.prettyand cute.com and order a small set of skin79 or lioele that will cost you less than 20$ , some gret brands : skin79 , mishaa, lioele , hanskin , today i have a post in my blog about the the bb cream set from lioele.
I bought a Missha 50 g for $16 off of ebay. It definitely doesn’t give perfect coverage, but it is layerable. It doesn’t feel like you’re wearing any kind of foundation, it’s just like, well, skin. It feels like skin when you touch it on your face too plus you barely need any. The kinds you buy can vary so you should always search for what you need. There are anti-wrinkle, whitening, etc. You might also want to test a few shades if it’s possible for you. Some people say that the one they bought is too dark or too light. It will give your skin a slight grey tint though, but it goes away after it oxidizes. But you should make sure you do your research too. Some of the BB creams just don’t work and don’t do what their supposed to. Good luck finding your BB cream! 🙂
What about the ingredient list? Does it contain parabens? I am trying to stay away from products with parabens and am getting rid of all my Bath and Bodywork products because of it.
Just checked out the site recommended by Melissa and http://www.liliesshop.net/ site does have several versions of parabens listed in their ingredients.
The eBay ones said they had lightening properties, I defiantly could do without that
I buy my bbcream from this site called momomango and they ship to Canada. I haven’t tried nonkorean ones so don’t know how they are different. I really like the skinfood ones from korea, especially the peach sake bbcream that’s available at http://www.momomango.com.
Garnier has just come out with one and it is less than $20.
estee lauder has bb creams out now at sears and the bay. you have to BLEND it, and they will become your skin tone….
Why are Canadians putting up with so much more expensive cosmetics and skincare items in Canada? I understand that it is the local Canadian distributors who mark up the price, and they continue doing so because we continue buying. I notice that the European brands like Dior and Chanel are priced closer to the U.S. prices. Is there some sort of website where we can petition against these ridiculously higher prices?
I’m def waiting for Marcelle’s one for $22 🙂 the downside of Asian-based brands that most of them are for very fair skin tones, and the darkest tones are either still too light or too yellow for Caucasian skin, esp peeps like who tan/fake bake. So I’d rather be able to go into the store and try them before ordering online!
I was just at Sephora today. Salesgirl said that Smashbox is the only brand that has BB Cream in Canada. All the other options are available in the States/if you order through Sephora’s online store.
I scanned the ingredients list of the Smashbox BB Cream and I didn’t see any parabens. HOWEVER, there were lotsa “-cone” on the list which means that it contains a bunch of silicones.
Not sure if this is bad for you, but Sephora’s primer (w/ silicone) did cause me to break out.
I scanned another list of ingredients, on an Asian brand, and it contained TONS of parabens!
http://www.musingsofamuse.com/2008/08/blemish-balm-cream-what-is-bb-cream.html
This is a great blog about what a BB Cream is. She also tried most of the American Brand BB cream as well, so you can see if they match up to how the Korean brand is.
I love Sephora, but as stated above, it irritates me that their prices online for the Sephora Canada site do not truly reflect what the prices are that we will be paying. Further to that, you have to add shipping to many of the items, despite if it says that shipping is free over $50 (this usually only applies if shipped to an American address). We usually end up stocking up when we go to the states, which we get to do about once a year (we are not close to the border, nor are we close to a city in the states close to a border that would have a Sephora).
I’ve tried Skin 79 and Missha M Perfect Cover and I love them. I’m looking forward to trying non-Asian ones although I’m really satisfied with the BB Creams I’ve used so far. I got mine from http://www.wix.com/asianizeboutique/montreal and they ship to Canada
BB creams contains high SPF which is great for prevention of wrinkles and dark spots.
It is the go to weapon for anti-aging. If you want the best BB creams money can buy, South Korea is the place to go.