The name 'BB' cream comes from Beauty Balm. It is kinda like a tinted moisturizer, but better. It's a primer, moisturizer, and foundation all in one. It gives a light, natural coverage, but you can build it up easily for more coverage. Or you can put foundation or concealer on over it for fuller coverage. And it typically has sunscreen built it.
I've tried a couple, but my favorites are Smashbox and Maybelline.
The Smashbox is I think $39.95, so it's a bit pricy, but it comes in five different shades, which is (I think) the broadest range on the market. So it matches a lot better with my skin tone. It also gives more coverage than some of the others I've tried. And it's SPF 35.
The Maybelline BB cream is about $8 at any drugstore. It only comes in three shades, but since it's a slightly lighter coverage, it blends really, really well and I think looks much more natural than the Smashbox. And it's SPF 30.
So generally, I use the Maybelline every day, and switch to Smashbox if my skin is a little red or starting to break out to help cover that. Then after the BB cream, I put concealer anywhere I need it, add highlighter, and then I put a finishing powder on because BB creams tend to have sort of a "dew-y" finish, which I don't really like. But with finishing powder on top, it looks really soft and smooth. It's a very natural look, and I love it.
In my experience, the only BB cream I would not recommend is the L'Oreal Magic BB cream. It comes in only 2 shades, and allegedly has smart shade ability, to auto-transform to your perfect color, but to me it doesn't look like it's changing at all. It gives practically no coverage, and it also has what they call 'beauty beads' which just feel gritty, and make it really unpleasant to apply.
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