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ranked #182,849 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★★★☆
Can't Compare to Non-Western BB Creams
For around the same price, you can get a good-quality Korean BB Cream that is better both in value and quality. I would really rate this a 3.5/5, but decided to be reaaally generous and round up--for a cheap drugstore item, it's not too bad.
Here's why I don't love it:
-GREASY: Even if you have dry skin, you'll just look greasy until it dries (which takes forever). I hate when hair sticks to my face. A finishing powder would be great, but the point of me using this was not to wear more product.
-NOT GOOD FOR SKIN: I'd call this a tinted moisturizer, **NOT** a BB cream. For a couple weeks, this was the only thing I used on my face except for moisturizer. The texture/quality of my skin got worse--something that wouldn't necessarily happen with a true BB cream unless you were allergic to something. This never happened with my Skin79 BB cream. It's not like there's any regulation on what companies can call a BB cream; I mean, Garnier could come out with a face scrub and slap on the label "BB Cream".
-EMPHASIZES LINES: If you can't tell from the pics I posted, my hands are pretty wrinkly up close--this emphasized all the lines. I'm young so my face doesn't have wrinkles, but if it did I would definitely not use this.
-LOOKS CAKEY: I have a few small bumps on my skin, and some patches of dryness--this just looked really bad over them. That being said, it's not noticeable unless you look at my face from like a foot away.
-FEELS CHALKY: Not the same as looking chalky--this isn't something many people would have a complaint with. You know how most cheap sunscreens and some 'moisturizers' don't quench dry skin, so even if it's wet it feels chalky? This is just like that.
Here are some rewarding properties:
-NO YELLOW UNDERTONES: These aren't made specifically for Asian skin.
-GREAT COVERAGE: Especially for a tinted moisturizer, the coverage is pretty great.
-FEELS LIGHT: I can feel when there's product all over my face, and it feels uncomfortable--that's why I don't use liquid foundation. This stuff feels very light.
-CHEAP: Hey, thirteen bucks isn't bad.
-SPF 15: If you don't wear sunscreen on your face, you'll have some sort of UV protection.
-NOT THE WORST: Ehh, it's not a bad product. It's cheap, covers your skin, isn't super heavy, has sunscreen, etc. But I would never describe this as "great" or "amazing" or "perfect".
Just a warning--I have medium skin and this fit me perfectly, so I would NOT recommend this for light skin.
If you have pale skin without intensely pink undertones: get a Skin79 or other Korean BB cream (they have different formulas for different concerns)--they feel amazing.
If you have more money to spend: Dr. Jart has great BB creams. Apparently the Too Faced one has good coverage.
If you have medium skin and don't want to spend a lot on the BB cream fad: This is a decent alternative, but L'oreal and Maybelline are also coming out with 'BB creams'--you could try those as well.
Being medium-skinned, my 'Oriental Gold' Skin79 cream didn't match my skin well (but feels amazing! I mix it w/moisturizer so it's not as light). This Garnier Fructis product perfectly matched my skin tone as well as my sister's (who is a few shades lighter), but the quality was somewhat inferior.
(note: I don't think GF ever made any reference to this *improving* your actual skin, which is what real BB creams do--it just says it 'instantly improves' when you put it on, which any foundation will do. careful wording!)
February 2012 · Beauty and Personal Care