Sunplay Skin Aqua Moisture BB Cream Review

Today I'm reviewing a great BB cream that I bought from Sasa.com awhile ago.

I like to keep my makeup light, especially in Summer when the weather is warm and too much product makes my face feel/look greasy. I decided to try this BB cream out for special occasions where I want a little coverage on my skin, but still want natural looking skin. The Mentholatum Sunplay Skin Aqua Moisture BB Cream SPF27PA++ sells for ~US$ 17, and is one of my favourite BB creams so far.

Front View:

Back:

This BB cream claims the following properties:

sun protection

whitening

moisturising

anti-ageing

oil control

concealer

foundation

The BB cream has a thick, creamy consistency, and a nice smooth texture. Like most BB creams, it only comes in one shade. Unlike other BB creams, this one doesn't have a greyish tinge to it. Instead, the colour is a warm beige when squeezed out of the tube.

When spread out, the colour turns slightly lighter.

I find that the resulting colour matched my skintone exactly.

Here's a picture of my skin with the BB cream.

Texture, coverage, and scent:

The BB cream is pretty thick, which makes application a little hard. Once spread evenly, it provides good medium coverage. Less is more with this cream, applying too much would give a slight cakey effect and would also be difficult to apply. It has a light scent which is hard to describe (but not unpleasant). I found that the BB cream does have a moisturising effect on the skin, but would still use if over my daily moisturiser.

Finish:

I love the finish of this BB cream. Eventhough it's a moisturising BB cream it does not leave an oily looking finish. Instead, the effect is more demi-matte. A plus point is the radiant glow it gives my skin despite being slightly matte.

Pros:

-contains SPF

-gives a dewy finish yet does not look oily

-good coverage

-did not irritate my skin

Cons:

-not available in the UK

Missha M Shiny BB Cream Review

I wrote this post ages ago, and completely forgot about it!

I'm reviewing another BB cream, this time it's Missha's M Shiny BB cream SPF27 PA++. I bought this at Cosme-de.com which does free shipping worldwide. It comes in this really pretty and cute pearly tube:



This BB cream is said to contain pearl powder to give a radiance to your skin. It's moisturizing and antioxident ingredients protect your skin and provides a natural glow. I'm a huge fan of dewy, radiant skin so this BB cream sounded hugely promising.

I was very excited when my BB cream arrived. I found gave a nice, light, even coverage. It wasn't a thick cream, so it was easy to apply and spreads quite well. I also liked the fact that it contains SPF, and felt moist and comfortable on the skin.

However despite all this, I'm not a big fan of this BB cream. The dissapointing thing about it was it's glitter overload. It's really difficult to see in the picture below, but the BB cream was much to glittery for my taste. You can just make out white flecks in the pic which are light reflected from the glittery particles. The glitter is much more apparent in real life than in this pic.



My concern about how glittery this cream is grew when I tried it on my face. I was happily working on my laptop, when my husband came to see how I was doing. He greeted me with 'hello sparkly face'. Appalled, I looked in the mirror under bright light to see my face was extremely sparkly. I felt lit up like a Christmas tree. After that, I have never used this BB cream again.

Rating:

This BB cream definately had its good points, but the sparkles but me off it, hence the rating above. I've read reviews though, where others have not found this cream too glittery. Maybe my batch was particularly sparkly, or it could be that everyone has a different sparkle threshold.

Skinfood BB cream review

This review was done quite some time ago before I went on a self imposed foundation diet. Before I start, I'll very briefly explain what a BB cream is for those who've not heard of it before.

A BB (blemish balm) cream is a product which combines foundation, concealer, moisturizer, SPF, anti-ageing, anti-acne, and whitening treatments in one. It was originally developed in Germany by dermatologists to soothe the skin of patients who have undergone laser surgery. Korean companies then made this product widely available, and soon BB creams became hugely popular in Asia.

This all happened around 3 years ago. Nowadays there are so many brands of BB creams. I started revisiting my interest in BB creams whilst trying to find the perfect alternative to foundation. I've tried some of the most popular brands (Skin79, Dr Jart, Missha, L'egere and Skin Food) and am reviewing one of my favourite brands today -Skinfood.

I've tried both the Skinfood Gingko BB cream and Mushroom multi care BB cream

Skinfood Gingko BB cream

This BB cream is formulated with ginkgo and green tea extracts. It has a slight herbal smell which I quite like. The coverage is sheer and the texture of the cream is fairly thick. A major downpoint of BB creams is that they are usually only available in 1 or 2 colours. I have this BB cream in Shade 1.

(shade1-for fair skin with yellow undertone, shade2-for slightly darker skin with pink undertone)

It's one of my favourtie BB creams due to its sheer coverage, and the fact that it doesn't really irritate my skin. It also gave my skin a dewy look, which is what I look for in foundations. I would like it alot more if it included an SPF.

Though I like this BB cream alot, I find that I hardly ever wear it. In general I do not find that BB creams improve my skintone overtime.

Skinfood Mushroom Multi Care BB cream SPF20

This BB cream contains aloe and mushroom extract. The consistency is similar to the Gingko cream, but it provides a much higher coverage. What I like best about this BB cream is actually the scent. It smells divine... It's quite a strong scent which exactly smell like mushrooms. I can't quite pinpoint the scent.. I'd probably describe it as ever so slightly medicinal (but in a good way!). I have to say that not everyone likes this scent though.

I don't have a pic of it on my face, but here it is on my hand. (Shade 1)

It spreads relatively easily to provide medium coverage. If too much is applied, it does have a tendancy to look slightly cakey.

All in all, I quite like the BB creams. However, I generally find that BB creams do not live up to their massive hype, and would really only ever wear them when my skin needs some coverage and don't want to wear foundation.

Foundation alternative I: Bobbi brown TM review

I'm on a quest to find the perfect foundation alternative for days when I want abit of coverage on my bare skin. I've been looking heavily into tinted moisturizer and BB creams. I'll do a post and reviews about BB creams in the future, but today's post will focus on Bobbi Brown's Extra SPF25 tinted moisturizing balm.

I love anything with 'balm' in its name. Sounds comforting and almost..healing. This balm is great for dry, dehydrated skin, and I think it's especially great for winter.
thick, creamy texture
partly blended on hand

Here's a pic of my bare skin, with my dark undereye circles in its full glory (I suffer from insomnia from time to time): I find I have larger than average pores around the nose areas, which I'm trying to minimise. I also want a nice and even overall complexion.
What I look for in a foundation alternative is something which makes skin look flawless, yet feels good for the skin. Alot to ask for, I know. This TM had a thick consistency, but felt really light on the skin. I don't know how to describe the smell...maybe...herby..? It's quite a pleasant smell anyway.
On the skin, it looks super dewy. I love the moist, glow it gives my skin. However, it was almost too dewy and made my skin look shiny in areas, so I'll need apply some loose powder on my T-zone. I found the coverage extremely really sheer. Perfect for those wanting a really natural look.

All in all, I quite like it. It soothes my winter parched skin, and it's great for days when I want to look like I'm not wearing any makeup but feel my skin still needs a little coverage.