Thursday, September 13, 2012

Smashbox camera ready BB cream SPF 35 review

Can you believe the BB cream hype lately? It's pretty hard to ignore when every brand around puts out a BB cream weekly (or so it seems!).
Most of the BB creams you see out there are nothing more than tinted moisturizers, hyped up with advertising.
Smashbox did a pretty good job on this BB cream though, I must say.

This BB cream comes in a tiny (1 oz) squeeze tube that has a twist off sort of cap. Not the best packaging but hey, it's not bad.


I got the shade fair, and it was an excellent match on me! It has a very natural finish, and reflects light for a subtle glow.

Swatch of shade fair on my hand:


blended:

And, a (horrible) pic of me wearing just the BB cream by itself. I really should have put more makeup on but I was on holidays.

On my skin you can see this exaggerated dry patches, sunk into pores and didn't cover blemishes all that much. It did cover some redness, gave a glow and evened out my skin.

This BB cream is supposed to: moisturize, prime, perfect, protect and control oil. Seems like a lot for one product to do.

Did it live up to the claims?

- Moisturize? No. I have dry sensitive skin and it did not moisturize, it made dry areas look worse :(

- prime? Yes. It acted as a really good primer for makeup, helped my makeup go on smoother and last longer

- perfect? No. I don't think any product can really 'perfect' skin.

- protect? Yes. The sunscreen actives protect skin from UVA and UVB rays. The formula contains some great antioxidants that will aid your skin as well.

- Control oil? Yes. I do get slightly oily by the end of the day on my nose and chin, and this is where my makeup always slides off. I found the BB cream helped to keep my skin more balanced and less oily in those areas.


I like this product as a primer and sun screen.
It didn't offer enough coverage or hydration for me to wear by itself.
Unfortunately, it started to irritate my skin so I had to stop using it. Turns out I am sensitive to some chemical sunscreen ingredients.

Overall, I think you will like this if you are more oily skinned, and want a good primer with sunscreen. If you don't need much coverage it could be a good light foundation for some.
If you have sensitive skin like me, try a sample first.

One thing I wanted to mention is that this is available in 5 shades!!! All ranging from fair to dark. Now that is impressive, since most BB creams are only available in one or two shades.

It is a very expensive product for quite a small amount, but due to the high SPF rating and inclusion of skin beneficial ingredients I think it is pretty well worth it.
Smashbox did a very good job with this product, and I think it is the closest you will find comparable (locally) to an Asian BB cream. The only difference here is that the Smashbox BB cream does not contain any whitening ingredients like most, and the coverage is not quite as good as Asian ones.

Repurchase? No

Price: $50 CAD

Rating: 4/5

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