Anyway, I've been using this on my stay-at-home days. The sun protection in this product, no, all other skincare and cosmetic products that are not actual sunscreens, is useless and shouldn't even be a part of the consideration. Again, to get that labeled SPF and PA protection, I would have to goop a 1/4 teaspoon of the stuff onto my face. For skincare products like moisturizers, I might as well go fry an egg with the oil slick. For cosmetics like foundation or bb cream, forget it. I doubt they use that much for the stage or even HDTV. And don't think you'll get half the protection using half the amount required. It just doesn't work that way.
All pictures taken in natural light without flash.
This bb cream has a thick creamy texture and comes out of the tube an ashy beige. It does oxidize and turns slightly pinkish. It turns my fair-medium skin pinky immediately upon application, but after another 20-30 minutes it "adapts" and looks a lot more natural. In bright natural light, if I were to stare at my face and neck long enough I will see the pinkiness, which means no one is going to notice any difference without acting creepy :P In direct sunlight with the sun shining onto my face or with indoor lighting i white and yellow lights, I can't tell any tonal difference at all and the match is pretty much seamless!
But of course this is my skin, and this bb cream comes in only one shade. So given the pinky oxidation, it might not be a match for you depends on how much yellow there is in your skin tone. To be fair, the vast majority of bb creams only come in 2 shades at most, but the choices for bb creams are endless. If this one doesn't work with your skin tone, you'll undoubtedly find one that do.
I've been trying it during various stages of skin prepping just to see how well it layers over other products, especially since instructions on the packaging says to apply it as the last step of skincare. I first wanted to test how moisturizing it is so I applied after toning with Shiseido The Skincare Hydro-Balancing Softener (will review soon), SK-II Facial Treatment Essence, Lancome Absolue Eye Premium BX, and Hadanomy Collagen Concentrated Mist, skipping the following moisturizers. This made my skin absorb the bb cream instantly, and spreading and blending was a bit of a challenge without using more of it. But then using too much of it led to thicker coverage and more caky appearance.
Anyway, skipping moisturizers gave me mixed results. After struggling to blend I got a lovely satin finish that evened out my skin and made me look *almost* flawless. However, I also a got couple of dry patches around the mouth and cheeks, basically the driest areas on my face as I have dry combination skin. It also creased on my lids after 5 minutes and gave me a shiny nose after a couple more hours (cue Boscia Blotting Linens!). While my face was soft and comfortable at first, by the late afternoon it felt significantly more oily. Appearance wise, it held up much better, so as oily as my skin felt it did not look it at all. Also, it transferred onto whatever that touched my face, and even after a few hours of wear, it still came off on my napkin. That said, the transferring did not seem to affect its coverage, not even in the areas that were wiped. So by the end of the day, there was zero patchiness and my skin remained even-toned and balanced no matter what, where, or how I wipe my mouth or blow my nose. That was really nice.
Done testing this bb cream without moisturizers, I then followed the instructions and applied it as the last step of my skincare routine, after Hadanomy Collagen Milk and Steam Cream. I noticed the difference in ease of application as well as translucency almost immediately. It stilled absorbed quickly, but it glided smoothly over my skin and I was able to reduce to almost half the amount I used when I skipped moisturizers, which means no caky appearance and no effort in blending! I still got a lovely satin finish that evened out my skin and made me vain, only with no dry patches!
Sadly, just when I thought this product has converted me to a bb-cream-worshiper, the narcissism-inducing satin finish turned dewy. Eventually, I got another shiny nose, actually, a whole shiny t-zone! There were cons with layering this product over moisturizers after all! The moisturizers didn't just cause the oiliness, it also lessened the substantivity of the product, and I ended up with patches around the nose and the mouth areas where I wiped and blew. Ha...
Finally, this bb cream is scented with a fresh but feminine fragrance that reminds me of my aunt ^.^ I don't mind it so much though since it's not too strong. However, the scent does last a very long time. After taking the swatch picture I went to wash off the back of my hand with soap and I could still smell it fairly well afterwards!
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