Claims: Visibly correct the appearance of skin tone irregularities.
Ingredients (Good): Glycerine, Adenosine and Tribehenin (exclusive fatty acid and ascorbic glucoside, a highly stable water-soluble vitamin C derivative).
Ingrediens (Bad): Alcohol Denat, Phenoxyethanol, and Salt Sodium Chloride (as viscosity agent-can cause drying and irritation on skin).
Ratings: Broad Spectrum SPF 50 PA+++
Cost/Value: $26-28 (1 fl oz) in UK and $38 (1.35 fl oz) in US / Reasonably priced BB cream
It is a Combination Sunscreen which is heavy in chemical filters. Its active ingredients are 10% Homosalate, 5% Octisalate, 5% Octocrylene and 1.63% Titanium Dioxide (which is very low).
It DOES sting my eyes. It migrated into my eyes within an hour of application. There was no tearing and swelling, but there was redness and it was annoying. It was still bothering me about 4 hours later, after which the irritation faded.
It DOES smell. This has a strong chemical smell, that has been poorly masked by sweet floral fragrance.
It DOES gather in my wrinkles. But it is easy to smooth it out with the pad of my finger without disturbing the sunscreen film.
I have the lightest shade of BB cream, the shade fair. I would describe it as a strong light peach. You can see that it is a really a good match for quite pale skin tones. It's actually the best matched BB cream to my complexion that I've found to date.
It did NOT dry down in 20 minutes or less. This has more of a make-up consistency, so it doesn't dry down. It sets a bit in 10 minutes or so but the finish remains sticky and transfers off easily. When worn in a sufficient amount to form an even sunscreen film, it looks streaky and patchy. Within a couple hours, it separates, creases and cracks. When worn like a make-up product applied with a brush or sponge, it still has a thick consistency with streakiness that needs to be actively mitigated, and a very shiny finish.
How does it look under make up: This is really not good by itself, unless you are not applying enough of it to achieve the SPF rating on the tube. In order to wear enough product to get the promised sunscreen protection, I tried it both under make up in a way that I would typically use my sunscreen, and also tried it as make-up over another SPF 50 sunscreen as a base.
Under make up, this did not work well for me. It made my face very warm, very sensitive and very reactive. It dried my make-up out over the course of the day and gave me a very scaly look. Even when powdered, it transferred easily off my skin .
It actually looks best as make-up over another sunscreen. Because this is a chemical sunscreen rather than physical sunscreen, it doesn't make sense to wear it over a primer. It needs to sink in to the skin to do its job. So if you are using it as makeup, it needs to be applied over another chemical sunscreen underneath. However, it will look shiny and sweaty, like you have been working out for an hour. It will look better once you powder it, but it still it doesn't truly substitute for foundation unless you already have pretty clear skin. The most coverage you can achieve with this product is light to medium coverage.
In this video, I am wearing concealer under my eyes that I didn't apply in other places because I wanted you to see how much coverage this BB cream provides. I think you can see pretty clearly along my chin, I have a very visible blemish and on my cheeks my freckles are clearly showing through. I will call them, 60-70% visible.
Cosmetically, it is very well suited to fair-skin. It's hands-down the best colour match I've gotten far best from a BB cream with a high sun protection factor. Unfortunately, this is really not good for sensitive skin. It's drying, stinging, smells like poison and I can't recommend this for sensitive skin.
I would not recommend this BB cream and I would not repurchase it. First, because even apart from stinging my eyes it creates texture issues. It's difficult to work with and it is not very flattering. Secondly, because if I want a beautiful BB cream to wear over a sunscreen, I'll buy one. There is no point in buying a BB or CC cream solely for its high SPF.
