Graftobian HD Cream 60-pan Palette (warm)
Pretty & Cute Contour Palette
Kevyn Aucoin The Celestial Powder in Candlelight
MAC Select Cover-up Concealer in NW15
MAC Carbon eyeshadow (for brows)
MAC Fluidline in blacktrack (lids and lashes)
Dolly Wink #1 lashes & random long Chinese lashes (upper lashes)
Kiwiberry1 lashes in style Glamorous #6 (lower lashes)
Lioele Real Vivid Matte Lipstick in #6 Sandy Beige
MAC Lipglass in Instant Gold

Hi everyone! So today's blog post is going to cover a topic that is probably one of the most-requested subjects that I get: BB Cream.

To explain quickly, BB Cream or "blemish balm" is sheer foundation-like, multi-functional cosmetic that is purported to be good for your skin. It was initially developed in Germany as a healing cream with coverage properties to help patients who have undergone plastic surgery or other cosmetic procedures. The Korean cosmetics industry took that idea and ran with it, creating various different "bb creams" that usually have skin benefits such as SPF, whitening, anti-wrinkle, and nutrients to help improve the health of your skin.

I've entrusted my friend Hannah to help me review 9 different BB Creams to show their effectiveness and shades on varying skintones and skin types. :)

For reference, Jen is MAC foundation shades NC25-30 and combo-oily to normal skin, and Hannah is NW15-NC15 (NC15 is slightly darker than NW15) with eczema and dry skin.


(For those asking, Jen's headband is from Urban Outfitters, necklace is from See Jewelry, and cardigan is from Banana Republic. Hannah's hair was curled using the Remington Air Wave which I did a tutorial on in this blog post. ^_^)

BB Creams reviewed:
Skin79 DermaRX BB Cream
Skin79 Super Plus Triple Functions BB Cream (hot pink)
Lioele Beyond the Solution BB Cream
BRTC Gold Caviar BB Cream
Missha M Perfect Cover BB Cream No. 23
Missha M Perfect Cover BB Cream No. 21
BRTC Jasmine Water BB Cream
Skinfood Ginko Green BB Cream
Hanskin Super Magic BB Cream

Skin79 DermaRX BB Cream
Consistency: light like tinted moisturizer
Shade: oxidizes to NC30, greyer
Benefits: fades acne scars (contains arbutin), SPF 15, softens skin texture
Oil-control: Medium. I had to powder in summer, in winter I can just wear this alone.
Bottom line: Best I've tried for acne-prone skin. Fades acne scars, but coverage is light so it doesn't fully cover hyperpigmentation.








Bottom line: Basically just has sheer coverage. No SPF and no noticeable moisturizing or skin improvement.




And here are the very-important comparison swatches:


As you can see from the swatches, most of these bb's look very grey. Thankfully they tend to blend in better after oxidizing but it's definitely something to keep in mind if you apply it heavily and it looks off at first.

In the Summer, I tend to match Missha M #23 and Skin79 DermaRX best but they do tend to both lean grey/pink at first and are lightweight. For winter at my lightest I will probably go for BRTC Gold Caviar or Hanskin Super Magic. Currently, I've been using Skin79 Hot Pink and it's been working out great. :)

Hannah likes the Missha M #21 a lot and will probably also use the BRTC Jasmine Water more through Winter. She is also going to look for the new Missha color #18 which is supposed to be super fair! We learned about that one from reading the Youtube comments. Speaking of that, there is also a darker tan Missha color #32 that I'm quite curious about since it apparently matches NC35-40 and leans very yellow. Maybe I could mix that with my Missha 23 to make it less grey? Hmmmm...

One last note, I do want to emphasize that BB Creams ARE makeup and you must remove it at the end of the night just like regular foundation. There is a possibility that some BBs can break you out like any other makeup and everyone's body chemistry can react a little bit differently to each one so it's helpful to try samples if you can. I believe they do contain parabens so if you are hesitant about that sort of thing then be sure to watch out for it.

Alright, I hope that was helpful for those of you who are wanting to try out BB Creams but don't know where to start. It sure took a long time to put together! Also, HUGE thank you to Hannah for helping me with these videos and swatches. You reviewed for the first time like a pro! <3

Let me know if you guys have any more questions in the comments and I'll try to answer to the best of my knowledge. I haven't tried any other BB Creams yet but maybe some of you can add your own knowledge there as well, so go ahead and comment about your favorites too. :)

Disclaimer: BRTC BB Creams were provided by a representative of the company. Lioele Beyond the Solution was provided by prettyandcute.com. Skin79 hot pink was provided by Pinky Paradise. All other items mentioned were purchased by ourselves because we are crazy maniacs obsessed with bb creams.

Hello lova-lovers! I've gotten a few requests in the past to do a tutorial doing makeup on someone else. Frequenters of my blog know that I love doing makeup on all different types of eye shapes and skintones so I wanted to share this tutorial featuring one of my best friends, Hannah. (If you remember, Hannah is the amazing hair artist from this post and my zipper rose pin from this post. Mind you, the pin was back before anyone was doing it, before it was everywhere at Forever 21. She graduated with me in Industrial Design so we share a passion and value for intellect, design, creativity, and making things with our hands.

I've been URGING her to make a blog and I think she'll be putting that into action soon. She's a huge jewelry-maker and we are basically twins, aka she is 8" taller, blonde, blue-eyed and awesome. Well, at least we are the same at heart! ;D

Background to this look is that Hannah was convinced that both purple and copper don't look good on her and won't go with her skintone. I love a good challenge and vehemently disputed her claims and she, being a wonderful sport, let me play.

Here is what we came up with.



Products used:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Taiwanese Shimmer Stick in Pink (from www.prettyandcute.com)
NYX Single Eyeshadow in Purple
NYX Ultimate Pearl Eyeshadow in Gold Pearl
NYX Ultimate Pearl Eyeshadow in White Pearl
MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack
Random Pink Eyeliner
Majolica Majorca Lash Expander Frame Plus Mascara
Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Ransom
Anastasia Brows in Bloom in Brunette
Panasonic Heated Eyelash Curler
Sigma Blushes
C.O. Bigelow Lip Cream
Rimmel Kiss Off Lipgloss in Fever

The key points to this tutorial are:

1. The importance of a long-wear cream eyeshadow base
Taiwanese shimmer sticks are WONDERFUL! You can find them here at prettyandcute.com for a ridiculously cheap price. $3.50. Just mind-boggling.

2. Eyeliner tricks
Tightline upper waterline and between lashes to fill in gaps and line the lower lashline with a blank space in the middle to lessen the severity of the line.

3. Contour color application on small lid space
Use a small eyeshadow brush such as a pencil brush so the crease color shows above the crease, but not so high it overwhelms the brow bone color.

And here are pics of hottie Hannah!




If you need more help with "undertones" and figuring out which shades would be most flattering on you, please refer to my Beauty and the Color Wheel Theory post Generally, it's safe to say that warmer colors flatter warmer skintones while cooler shades flatter cool-toned girls. "Cool" usually means pink and "warm" usually means yellow-undertoned with an exception being MAC (mac cool = yellow and warm = pink. NC30 = neutral cool or yellow undertoned in shade 30).

Hannah's blessed because she falls pretty neutral and slightly warm so most shades will work for her except bruised colors like plum and pink. She wears a lot of greys and blues but I personally love bright colors on her like teal and green. ;)

Anyway, if people like this I might do more of these with a variety of different people. ^.^ What do you think? Diversity for the win!


Happy Earth Day y'all!

Disclaimer: Taiwanese Shimmer stick provied by PrettyandCute.com. Sigma Blushes provided by Sigmamakeup.com. All other items were bought by me or are Hannah's own.