Beauty Myth-busting: BB Cream ~ Brilliant Farmgirl's Beauty Secrets™
Brilliant Farmgirl's Beauty Secrets

8/18/09

Beauty Myth-busting: BB Cream

There is a new cosmetic/skincare craze sweeping the Asian beauty industry- BB Cream. The name stands for Blemish Balm Cream, but from what I’ve seen BB Cream makers claim that it does EVERYTHING. Imagine a product that erases the look of pores, spots & lines, treats blemishes (albeit slowly), fights aging, contains ingredients likes caviar and diamond while leaving your skin looking flawless under any type of light using coverage lighter than a tinted moisturizer.

If it sounds too good to be true, it is. The coverage is extremely light, it won’t cover bumps and spots. BB cream typically comes in this lackluster shade of light grey and it’s oxidizes to match your skin tone. No, thank you- grey is simply not a flattering color on any skin tone. It oxidizes and turns skin-color because it becomes exposed to air and the natural oils on your skin. However, if your skin is on the drier side, you might end up wearing that mortuary tint longer than expected. I also suspect that it makes skin look porcelain-like because the grey tint literally counteracts all color from the skin. As for everything it claims it does, I dissected a popular BB Cream’s ingredient list and there’s nothing magical about it. If anything, it contained a number of pore-clogging irritants. It really is just a craze.


I was genuinely curious when I ask a friend of mine why she loves her BB cream. She couldn’t offer anything but “it’s all the rage amongst Asian celebs right now!”. When I offered her my synopsis of BB Cream, she became thoughtfully quiet for a moment and replied “…that might explain why I’m breaking out…!!!” Hmph, the things we are suckered into buying! *shakes fist at the beauty industry* BB Cream’s popularity really boggles me. With that said, the concept is great! Stay tuned as next week, I’m setting out to make my own version of the BB cream, a BB Cream with the perks and none of the setbacks.

42 comments:

chococake said...

i tried bb cream last week and didn't really get what the hoopla is either.

Witoxicity said...

I've been wondering for a while now what the fuss over BB cream was about. It really must be too good to be true. Thanks for this! :)

Monika @ RocailleWrites said...

As always, great review! xxx

Brilliant Farmgirl's Beauty Secrets™ said...

Thanks ladies!

Farmgirl

Holly said...

I've pretty much come to the point where I don't believe a single thing I hear regarding beauty products anymore, especially product claims. I just decide for myself what works for my skin and what does not.

A New England Girl said...

It amazes me what people will fall for! I haven't even heard of this cream, but whenever I see anything promising the world, the moon, the stars and more, I stick my tongue out at it. I don't like wasting money, and that is exactly what you do when buying products like this.

Thanks for the synopsis. Now I know to really never invest in the stuff! :)

Brilliant Farmgirl's Beauty Secrets™ said...

ladies, I couldn't agree more. There are so many great products out there, but sifting for them through a sea of over-hyped and mediocre products really makes doing so a talent!

Farmgirl

justltee said...

I fell for the hype and purchased my first and last bb cream (L'egere BB cream). It was just an oily mess.

I couldn't agree with you more about BB creams. It's just Eh.

I had a feeling it was too good to be true when it claimed it would make me wrinkle free, whiten my complexion, clear off my zits, cover my imperfections, soothe my skin, protect my skin from harmful uva/uvb rays, and make me 2 dress sizes smaller.

Brilliant Farmgirl's Beauty Secrets™ said...

Hi LT,

LOL Don't you just love those beauty ads and the sparkle stars they put around the "AFTER" picture ;) You ladies make me laugh so much!

Farmgirl

Blake, New York said...

Nice, you just totally killed my lemming and saved me $30! Good thing I visited today, thanks!

~Blake

Brilliant Farmgirl's Beauty Secrets™ said...

Hi Blake,

I love it when that happens! :D

Farmgirl

jenna said...

I like my BB cream, but granted I did not have many expectations. I just wanted a light foundation and it's great for that. I guess it depends on what you are looking for. The claims are outrageous, but I'm using Missha M Perfect Cover BB Cream and I am really liking it. Also, each BB Cream is different so I can't say anything about the others. As a light foundation I am liking it a lot though :) I didn't have skin problems however, it may be different for you.

Brilliant Farmgirl's Beauty Secrets™ said...

Hi Jenna!

Thanks for sharing, I'm glad it's working out for you :D I'm sure there are definitely some great BB creams out there, as with anything. I just wish the claims weren't so blatantly outrageous.

Farmgirl

Emily B. said...

Sometimes cosmetic companies do take claims too far, it's hard to figure out what's true and what's not sometimes.

*~kAy~* said...

I own one bb cream and i was expecting it to be soo great.
I like it coz it can be a good tinted moisturizer but it doesnt have very much coverage...
i feel that it is pretty thick and can clog pores.. you are right!
the bb cream didn't wow me as i wanted it to.. :P
but it works.. haha :P

thanks for the great post! :) reminds me not to get sucked in to all these rages :P

Catherine said...

I totally agree!!! I can't understand why people buy into all the hype! Thank you so much for providing a coherent argument here. I'm going to email this to my friends. Most of them are just tinted moisturizers/light-coverage foundations by another name.

Brilliant Farmgirl's Beauty Secrets™ said...

Hi ladies!

Exactly! That's what irks me about "BB Cream". It's as if anything labeled by that name gets placed in some sort of preferential category. Essentially, it's a lighter coverage tinted moisturizer. Hee, I guess cosmetics have to reinvent themselves ;p

Farmgirl

Dawn said...

:0) Havent' heard of it, haven't tried it - clearly wont' need to ;) Thank you for your advice farmgirl! :D

Brilliant Farmgirl's Beauty Secrets™ said...

You're welcome, my dear :D

Farmgirl

Ti_Amo said...

Hi Farmgirl! I'm sorry to hear that your experience with BB creams stunk! Might I ask which one you tried? Like foundations, and tinted moisterizers, there are many good and bad ones [with mostly bad ones. You have to really be picky with these for them to work!]. I love my Missha and Shills BB creams and plan to get more! I hope you don't write all BB creams off and try more of them, and hope that you find one that you love!

Zwala said...

thats a lot of information..
im lemming for BB Creams after reading several blogs..now im completely convinced.. :) thanx

Brilliant Farmgirl's Beauty Secrets™ said...

Hi ladies,

Sounds like Missha gets great ratings! I live in an area where there are lots of Asian beauty boutiques and everytime I'm in one i make sure to test one/ make a note of the ingredients. There are so many BB creams, but I've yet seen one I wanted to own. Granted, there are lots of ingredients I can't use, so many are dismissed when I ID a bad ingredient in the BB Cream. Better safe than sorry ;)

Farmgirl

MYCLOSETGARDEN said...

Never heard of it, but I have to agree anything that says it can do it all is probably full of poopy (I chose the nicer word, lol).

Anonymous said...

Oh darn.. and here I thought bb creams were all so great.. oh well.. I only use it because I don't use foundations and I only need light coverage. But I do agree.. I hate the stupid grey tint -.-

BALLET NEWS said...

Hello, I just wanted to leave a comment and say how wonderful your blog is. I've so enjoyed my visit reading your posts and looking at your pictures. You have a heavenly header too !

Thank you for sharing and best wishes,

Brilliant Farmgirl's Beauty Secrets™ said...

Thank you, Elise, for taking the time to let me know! I really appreciate your feedbacks, it really gives me fuel to keep it up ;D

Farmgirl

Anonymous said...

I would have loved to buy this if it was on the market in the UK,, non the less, this is a brilliant review!

Funkiimonkee said...

Hi there! This was a great post! I've been trying some BB creams and I do agree that they work just like any other foundation and some even worse! I didn't see much improvement in my skin at all- but I still like some of the BB creams I am using but I didn't belive it would do EVERYTHING! Thanks for this!

Brilliant Farmgirl's Beauty Secrets™ said...

Hi Funkiimonkee and Amelie,

Thank you for the compliments!

Farmgirl

Unknown said...

hi... currently i just browse a harmful ingredient list in cosmetics.. n i wonder what my bb cream ingredient is.. can u find it?? =) mine is skin79 hot pink.. thx a lot.. i'd like to be safe too better than faking pretty.. LOL

Brilliant Farmgirl's Beauty Secrets™ said...

Hi nince,

It's very difficult to find the full ingredient lists of many Korean and Japanese products. If you still have th box and can provide me with the ingredients, I can better help you :)

Farmgirl

Shasha Van der Pendersen said...

i like this review, i agree with your observation about most bb creams having a greyish tinge... its really quite bizarre. korean people must have grey undertones haha.

although saying "bb cream is meh" is like saying "foundation is meh". there are all sorts of bb cream(s) plural, and their coverage range from light to medium/full coverage.

most bb creams produced do lean towards the tinted moisturizer texture, although there are at least four brands i can mention off the top of my head that create bb creams with better coverage than mac's studio fix (which i though was very heavy).

as for the ingredients list, the original formula comes from a previous german dermatologists ointment that is still used on patients who have had severe damage to their skin or have had cosmetic surgery :) most of the new bb creams only take elements from that formula, which is why its a load of crap haha.

i suggest you do a review on bb primers, which contain ingredients closest to that of the original ointment.

its good that you have helped people from being sucked into the bb foundation craze, but I really think you should raise awareness on the bb primers! they are simply amazing.

Brilliant Farmgirl's Beauty Secrets™ said...

Wow, Shasha- you have me convinced! I'll definitely be checking out some BB Primers :D Thanks so much for bringing this to our attention!

Farmgirl

Brilliant Farmgirl's Beauty Secrets™ said...

Shasha, is there a brand you recommend? I'd love to know what you use :D

Farmgirl

Joseibi said...

Great article! I couldn't agree with you more. BB creams are nothing more than glorified and hyped up tinted moisturizers, which had existed a long time in many western brands. I also experienced greyish hues when I tried it on.

It's good if you don't think it's a miracle product - it does save you some time in the morning, but my problem with some of the korean ones are that they are grey-hued, and they oxidized. I ended up having to put powder to set it so what's the point? May as well use real makeup.

I hope you don't mind me putting your link on my blog - my readers would love to read this. Thanks!

Brilliant Farmgirl's Beauty Secrets™ said...

Hi Joseibi!

Feel free to link my article :D Glorified tinted moisturizer is right! If I do end up finding one that passes my test, I'll definitely share it here.

Farmgirl

Bruna. said...

Hi, I'm really sorry about your BB Cream experience. I've bought a mini set of SKIN79, and despite of gray undertone, which is kind of annoying, I love my experience, for real. I used to have huge pores, primes make it look smaller for a day, however, with BB Cream, as the time pass, my pores just look much more smaller, naturally, my oily skin is much better as well, I don't need to be retouching it every 3 hours, It lasts a bit more, my make up lasts 6 hours in a hot weather (25ÂșC). Some acne stains have just gone 2 or 2 and a half tone down. And It also made my skin tone uniform.

Brilliant Farmgirl's Beauty Secrets™ said...

Hi B!

Thanks for sharing your experience :D I'm hoping as more BB cream formulas come on the market, they're start making some with really clean/natural ingredients. I'll definitely give it a shot when that happens :D

Farmgirl

Unknown said...

Innisfree makes a couple called "Eco Natural" that do have natural ingredients and none of the parabens and silicones like other BB creams. Right now you can only find it on eBay and Amazon. But if you are looking for a more natural BB cream it might be worth a try.

Brilliant Farmgirl's Beauty Secrets™ said...

Thanks for the heads-up, Oxana!

Farmgirl

Anonymous said...

Hi Farmgirl,

I have been using the Garnier BB cream for two weeks and am actually quite impressed. It isn't grey at all but tinted in two different shades depending on skin colour. I find it moisturising and it has shrunk my pores, going to give it two more weeks to see if anything more positive happens! I agree that it is thick but then I only put a tiny bit on, about two peas size for the whole face.

Anonymous said...

You're so brutally honest yet funny at the same time, I really love your blog and approach to beauty in general. I completely agree with this article and I'm just so frustrated with these companies who make outrageous claims and can't follow it up with results from people other than their hired actresses.

What probably irritates me more is that people are so naive when they're buying this type of product that they completely dismiss reviews from people who have had bad experiences; ignorantly accusing them of using too much product or not washing it all off properly. Many of the reviews from people who gave a low rating for BB creams such as Missha admitted that although it made their skin look flawless, it caused them to breakout or the whitening extract had caused horrible skin discoloration. They were unaware that it was the BB cream causing all the trouble and continued using it in an attempt to 'fix' all their problem areas, creating a vicious cycle.

I'm sorry for the mini rant but I just think that more people should read your blog and be more aware of what they're slapping on their skin. They would probably get better results using an average tinted moisuriser than a BB cream. At least the coverage would be decent!