Welcome to another episode of BB Creamology!
The first episode featured a couple of Western BB creams. Today, I’m going to do mini reviews of more Asian BB creams instead. I’ve always preferred Asian BB creams to Western ones because I think they work better for Asian skin. Having said that, one of my favourite BB creams does belong to a Western brand so I guess you can’t judge BB creams by, er, culture. 😛
The BB creams I’ll be writing about today are only available in Asia at the moment. You can also get them online from Asian beauty e-tailers or eBay (please only go for reputable sellers with high ratings. Personally, I don’t buy from sellers who have less than 99% in ratings).
- Shade: #2 (Natural Beige). It comes in two shades, #1 being the lighter shade. Warm undertones. Matches my skintone perfectly.
- Texture: Pudding (no really, it does feel like pudding! Chocolate pudding to be precise. Yum!).
- Fragrance: Citrus, like a tub of oranges
- Wet-To-Dry Time: Quick to dry upon application. Dries to a matte finish
- Coverage: Medium, buildable
- Sun Protection Factor: SPF20 PA+++
- Price: Retails at RM52.90 in Malaysia (approximately $17). You can get them cheaper online; prices start from $12
- Availability: Skinfood stores (unfortunately these aren’t readily available in Australia), Asian beauty stores, eBay.
Estee Lauder CyberWhite Brilliant Cells Extra Intensive BB Creme
- Shade: It has only one shade. Pinky beige with cool undertones.
- Texture: Creamy
- Fragrance: Slightly sunscreen-y, but not strong enough to be repulsive
- Wet-To-Dry Time: This BB cream took longest to dry out of the three. Dries to a slightly dewy finish
- Coverage: Medium, buildable
- Sun Protection Factor: SPF35 PA+++
- Price: Retails at RM175 in Malaysia (approximately $55).
- Availability: Estee Lauder counters in Asia, eBay
- Shade: Available in 2 shades, Natural and Medium Beige. I can’t remember which one mine is (can’t seem to tell from the description at the back of the bottle). I think it’s the lighter one though. Warm undertones. Blends with my skintone very well.
- Texture: Thick and creamy. Spreads well and thinly
- Fragrance: Similar to Estee Lauder’s. Also slightly sunscreen-y
- Wet-To-Dry Time: Quick to dry upon application. Dries to a semi-matte finish
- Coverage: Medium to semi-full.
- Sun Protection Factor: SPF41 PA+++
- Price: Averages about $20 online
- Availability: Asian beauty stores, eBay
Conclusion:
I picked up the Estee Lauder BB cream whilst flying 30,000 feet in the air over a year ago. I tried it out in Malaysian Estee Lauder counters, thought it was okay but wasn’t sure if I wanted to get it because it was very expensive for a BB cream. Whaddyaknow, up in the air, sensibility got thrown to the wind (excuse the pun). I still think it’s only just okay. It’s not bad, but it could be better. Heck for the price, I expected a lot more.
The Freshel Mineral BB Cream UV reminds me more of a foundation than BB cream. The coverage is excellent yet doesn’t feel heavy or sticky on the skin. When I want more coverage on my skin without it looking cakey especially on the nasolabial lines, this is the BB cream I’d go for.
The Skinfood Orange Jelly BB was a gift from Jyoan (thanks Jyoan!). It’s something I’ve seen in pictures but as there aren’t any Skinfood outlets in Australia, I didn’t get to see it in real life. I really like this BB cream. In fact, it’s more of a BB jelly because when you skim your finger across the surface, it bounces like jelly! I like how light it feels on the skin yet giving me enough coverage for the skin to look naturally good. The Skinfood Orange Jelly BB is my favourite of the three.
I’ll be doing another review on 3 more BB creams soon. I might jump ahead to CC creams first and then go back to BBs. Aww man, too many products, not enough skin!
Have you tried any of these BB creams before? Your thoughts? Yay or nay?
I’ve only ever tried the Garnier BB so quite enjoyed this review. It’s overwhelming how many there are in the market now. What’s the western brand that is your favourite BB?
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I love the Asian version of the Garnier BB cream. It just ticks every box for me. The Aussie version, the oil-free one in the thin tube, is pretty similar to the Asian version. Some prefer thick BB creams (that’s what they’re supposed to be originally; most Korean BB creams are pretty rich), but I prefer the lighter, runnier versions 🙂
There are CC creams in the market now, on top of BB creams. Competition is fierce!
I love BB Cream, and it looks like every brand out here is coming up with one.
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Yeah I know what you mean. Competition is fierce amongst brands to come up with the next big BB cream 🙂
i am usually a shade #2 for BB creams in skinfood range, so this one I think it would work for me too, the EL one seems rather pink, but I think that would work with me also. Freshel I have tested them before when I was in TW, and both shades or was it 3 (?) all either runs too light or too dark or too warm/ yellow for me.
After so many years, I THINK i am of a cool to neutral undertone, because using either pink foundation (ghostly pale) or yellow foundation (sallow and dark) gave me horrible results, especially the yellow ones! It’s hard to find something that’s somewhere in between, especially drugstores stuff!
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I’ve been googling a lot on the Freshel BB cream. The thing is, I don’t know if the one I got from Japan had the old packaging or it’s different because the majority of the search results mentioned that it was Freshel White C Mineral BB Cream UV. Mine doesn’t have the White C. No idea if they are the same thing or not.
My skin has very yellow undertones but find that I can sometimes pull off a cool undertone BB cream or foundation (hence the Estee Lauder one). But the Ettusais mineral BB cream I bought just doesn’t work on my skin as it’s too pink. Something in between would be excellent 🙂
I know Freshel has 3 different types of BB creams.
if you read chinese, try looking up here: http://www.urcosme.com/search/search-2-b1458-d274.htm?product_hasstop=0
here’s where I do my homework usually 😛
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Ooooh very clever! Thanks for the tip. I don’t read Chinese but Google does 😉
I’m loving this series because I’m a BB cream fan. They are so subjective and get polarizing review though, aren’t they? All the more interesting to read about. It all depends on the reviewer’s skin tone and type so I tend to rely on bloggers who have similar skin tone to me before I buy a BB cream.
Oooh I know, right? Sometimes I even find it difficult to describe the undertones of a BB cream when I write about it. I have to google what most people think of the colour before I can say what it is. Sad, right? Unless it’s obviously pink or very yellow, I can’t really tell the colours apart. I figured as long as it looked all right on my skin, it’s good enough. I used to think a particular BB cream had warm undertones, but found out that at least 10 other beauty bloggers who reviewed the same BB cream described it to be cool undertones! Ooops.
I think I get sucked in to packaging and bloggers’ recommendations when it comes to buying BB creams. As long as they aren’t over a certain price, I’m game to try all. BB cream fan, yo! 😀
Tine!!! I just bought Rachel K CC cream yesterday. 🙂 Oh! I never try skinfood orange bb cream yet. By the way, can’t wait for your review on CC cream too!
Cool! Let me know what you think about it. I’ll be reviewing the Chanel CC cream very soon, so do stay tuned for that.
Happy new year! x