This post has taken me forever to get finished. I've been coming back to it for four days, and until now have yet to get further than the title. I've had a few freelance projects, I started what ended up being a huge nail polish organization project (I'll share soon) and this weekend is full of birthdays, so I spent most of yesterday baking coconut vanilla cupcakes with vanilla bean frosting (soo good!)
Anyhow, during my business, I also got my Marcelle order which contained their new BB Cream. Over the past few days I've been testing it out. My general rating: okay. Not bad per-say, but not great either.
I don't know if this still needs saying, does everyone know what a BB cream is by now? I'd say yes, but to be nice to those who don't, I'll give you a quick 411. BB cream aka Blemish or Beauty Balm is an all in one skin care/makeup. It is meant to be your moisturizer, sunscreen, primer, foundation and concealer all in one.
Marcelle claims that their BB Cream provides 8 functions. Not too bad, but it is lacking any SPF. I have yet to come across any true BB Creams that don't have SPF. Out of my collection, none have a level lower than 20 and PA++. While I won't title myself as a BB cream expert, I have used a few brands and have used them regularly enough to know what I like in a BB Cream. That said, I find the Marcelle BB Cream to be more like a tinted moisturizer than a BB Cream.
Marcelle BB Cream thick (left) and lightly blended (right)
Marcelle BB Cream fully blended
The Marcelle BB Cream is not as thick as others I've used (all the BB Creams I've used are of Asian origin, all made in Korea to be exact) and is much more yellow toned. I applied this just like I would any of my other BB Creams; by prepping my skin with a facial mist, dabbed on some BB with a foundation brush, then finished blending it in with my fingers. I was a bit worried about the shade (I have light to medium) being too yellow. I seriously looked a bit jaundiced when I first applied it. Luckily the more you blend the more the colour evens out. While I didn't see it on the box, Marcelle's web site claims that this product has "self adjusting pigments that adapt to skin tone". In the end there was so little colour left I considered applying another round. I found that like many tinted moisturizers I've used, the more I blended the product onto my skin, the less colour/coverage I got. I set my BB cream with my usual powder and went about my day.
Aside from coverage being lighter than other BB creams, I found this to be really moisturizing (more so than my other BB creams) a definite plus, and my skin felt amazingly soft, but I did find that my t-zone got oily throughout the day, which is not normal for me.
Skin 79 The Prestige BB Cream, Dr. Jart Premium BB Cream, Marcelle BB Cream, Skin Food Good Afternoon Peach Green Tea BB Cream
Skin 79 The Prestige BB Cream, Dr. Jart Premium BB Cream, Marcelle BB Cream, Skin Food Good Afternoon Peach Green Tea BB Cream
As you can see in the comparison, the Asian BB Creams all lean more neutral in tone and have a thicker texture. While I don't mind the Marcelle BB Cream, I won't reach for it as often as I do my other BB Creams. I'll most likely use it on days where I just want to even out my skin tone, and am not concerned about coverage (of course a dab or two of concealer can help as well).
Marcelle's BB Cream won't be available in stores until Feb. 6th, but can be purchased from their website now, for $22.95 and comes in two shades: light to medium and medium to dark.
Will you be trying it out?