| BB cream has been such a big thing in Asia for years now, so understandably I was really excited when western brands started to release their own versions of this fantastic product. Lancome has very recently released its BB Complete in Australia, boasting a ‘complete triple potency action’: Cover, Correct and Protect! This BB cream has become a favourite for me, and is great worn by itself or as a primer. Read on to find out more!
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| Missha M Perfect Cover BB Cream is one of those Korean cosmetics products that’s been around for a long time and has countless fans around the world (and also a few naysayers). Having used this BB Cream on and off for the past year, I thought it was finally time for me to write up a proper review. Its promises:
Read on to see if this product lives up to its promises! |
 I never thought I would try a mousse foundation product because, well, I’m afraid that in my early morning grogged out state I might accidentally try to style my hair with it. I guess I’m a traditionalist. Even power foundation totally confuses me. But objectively, there’s so much to love about mousse foundations, which boast benefits such as easy and light application and a natural looking finish. Skin79 Chiffon BB Mousse does all of those things and more. |
A product that isn’t talked about all that much, and which until recently I had never heard of, is ‘facial mists’. They are basically moisturizer in aerosol form, although many simply contain mineral water. Toner can also be found in mist form, like Jurlique Toning Mists. Though this looks like just another way of delivering skincare products to the skin, and would be perfect for dry winter days, or cooling off on a hot day, facial mists are, as I have found out, actually extremely effective for setting your makeup, to give that dewy (note: not shiny) finish. It’s somewhat of an alternative to using powder to set makeup (and setting one’s makeup is so very important!), where on the one hand powder creates a porcelain matte finish, facial mist is more apt to give you a dewy, beachy, glowing look.
Now, I know my readers, so I know you must be thinking: ‘but why would I want to look dewy when I’ve been trying so hard to mattify my oily skin?’ My answer to that is that there is a big difference between dewy looking (from healthy looking skin) and shiny looking (from excessively oily skin) skin. The single biggest giveaway that someone is wearing heavy foundation is probably that their skin looks unnaturally matte. So a trick to looking like you’re wearing no makeup, is to make your makeup mimic the look of bare skin, which, when healthy, is naturally dewy.
If you’ve ever wondered how the stars achieve that dewy glowing look on the red carpet, then the answer is probably facial mist!
When I was asked to review products from Korean company Amore Pacific, without hesitation (and a little consultation with Hope In A Blog), I asked to be sent Aritaum’s new and improved Baby Face Mist.
Baby Face Mist comes in three types, Smooth Radiance, Firming Honey Radiance and Hydra Radiance. Each one is formulated to have specific skin benefits. Each product promises to effectively moisturise, but are also formulated to be applied on top of makeup without causing it to run or clump, making these perfect for setting makeup.
Baby Face Mist comes in a hairspray-esque pressurized aerosol bottle. Due to the similarity in appearance, you’d be forgiven for expecting it to blast you in the face like hairspray would. But Baby Face Mist is actually extremely gentle. The liquid is vaporised into tiny particles, and feels like, well, mist, on your face.
In terms of packaging, I do think that Baby Face Mist comes in too large bottles. The sample size that you can get is probably more practical, as you’d want to have one in your bag to apply during the day. I couldn’t imagine pulling out the full sized Baby Face Mist and spraying it in public!
Below is a run through of each type, which I have used to set my makeup. For base makeup I used Skin79 Orange Super Plus BB Cream, without powder. It’s somewhat pointless to use facial mist over powder, as powder is designed to reduce excess moisture and oils on your skin.
Smooth Radiance:
Baby Face Mist Smooth Radiance aims to improve skin texture and brighten the look of skin, with soothing lavender extract.
Using this Smooth Radiance to set my makeup, it’s clear to see that my skin has become smother and appears to glow, after application.
Firming Honey Radiance:
Firming Honey Radiance promises to do just that, firm up the skin, and contains honey.
Here’s the before and after. While I can’t tell that there has been any visible sign of firming of my skin (except for perhaps under my eyes), my skin does appears to be much smoother and healthy looking, after application.
Hydra Radiance:
Finally, Hydra Radiance is more intensively moisturizing than the other two types, and promises to maintain skin moisture to make the skin look more youthful.
While Hydra Radiance promises to be highly moisturizing, I didn’t feel a significantly increased level of moisture using Hydra Radiance compared to the other two types. However, the look achieved using Hydra Radiance to set my makeup was smoother and brighter looking skin.
Overall, I was extremely impressed with Aritaum Baby Face Mist. Personally, I couldn’t tell a great deal of difference between the three types, but each performed equally well in achieving dewy and glowing makeup finishes, and also helped keep my skin moisturised all day long. On top of that each of the Baby Face Mists smell amazing, and feel so refreshing to apply! I think every girl should have a facial mist in their makeup stash.
Finally, a question that might be on everyone’s mind might be whether using a facial mist is ideal for oily skin. I think it’s generally understood that it’s a myth that people with oily skin shouldn’t use moisturising products. I personally do have oily skin, especially around my T-zone, and I have not noticed any increase in oiliness using Baby Face Mist. On the flip side, I don’t think facial mist would in general offer enough moisture for extremely dry skin, and probably would not be as effective to use instead of a good hydrating moisturiser.
Amore Pacific is the Korean parent company of a number of popular brands, their most well known one being Laneige. A full range of Amore Pacific products are now easily accessible on their ebay store including Auritaum Baby Face Mist!
Don’t forget, this is the last day you can enter my giveaway with Sheinside!! Hurry!!
With my current run of reviewing various BB Creams by Skin79, I was delighted to be sent new Etude House Shini Star SHINee special edition Clear BB Lotion by my sponsor http://www.pinksakura.com.au/! I have tried Etude House Precious Minerals BB Cream before, and was very impressed with the quality, so I expected great things from this product. Believe me I was not disappointed. Let me explain why.
Before we begin, I thought I might just talk briefly about the context of the ‘SHINee Special Edition’ aspect of this product. So SHINee is South Korean R&B boy pop group, formulaically made up of five cute guys with fabulous hair. SHINee, along with Dara from popular South Korean girl group, 2NE1 are currently endorsing Etude House. This follows the trend of Korean male recording artists endorsing cosmetics brands, such as ZE:A’s Siwan for Skinfood, and Kim Hyun Joong for Slim Beauty House.
So you might wonder what’s the logic behind a boy band endorsing a women’s makeup brand? No, it’s not because men could use this product too – there’s special BB cream for men! The message between the lines is probably: if you wear this product, you will become the type of girl that SHINee boys would date.
But just take a look at this promo picture with these 5 effeminate boys apparently playing with lipstick, which they are endorsing. It looks like a boys only makeup party, and it’s 100% socially acceptable because they are cute, and it’s Korea! Oh and what can we see sitting on the table? Tubes of SHINee limited edition Shini Star Clear BB Lotoin!
Just try and fight off the girls (with a stick) from buying this product after seeing a promo photo like this!
As hilarious the promo background to this range of products is to me, I really love this product.
First of all, how can you not fall in love at first sight with this adorable mint coloured matte finish pump tube? And by the way pastel colours are the biggest thing for 2012, so this is an automatic tick.
While I think the signature Etude House BB Cream squeeze slash pump bottle is a super aesthetically pleasing design, I find it a bit challenging to get the product out without the inevitable BB cream ‘fart’! So it’s best to keep this sitting upright when it’s not being used, so all the air bubbles go to the end of the tube. This means that storage in your makeup bag, for example, isn’t ideal. For this reason I personally prefer the upright ant-gravity pump design of Skin79 Super BB creams.
And the BB lotion itself?
The first thing you notice is that it’s a very light shade, several shades lighter than my skin tone.
The cream is silky smooth, and, unlike many other BB Creams I’ve tried, is quite thinly formulated, easily blended out, and a little really goes a long way.
When fully blended, and allowed to oxidise, Etude House Shini Star Clear BB Lotion gives a light dewy finish that is very fine and even. I must say, it looked perfect and flawless on the back of my hand!
And what about coverage?
Etude Shini Star Clear BB Lotion offers light to medium coverage. You can see in the snaps below. With just Shini Star Clear BB lotion, it doesn’t quite cover my imperfections, but does very effectively even out my skin tone, giving it a super smooth appearance. Finished off with some Concealer and set with powder, I can only describe the effect as ‘extremely fine’ and definitely porcelain. The difference it makes to the appearance of my skin is quite dramatic!
Here’s my look created with Shini Star Clear BB lotion! I think the results speak for themselves.
I am completely in love with this product, and it’s definitely one of my favourite BB Creams so far! Pick up an adorable tube of Etude House Shini Star Clear BB Lotion for just $16AUD from http://pinksakura.com.au/!
Pink Sakura is a new Australian based Asian cosmetics retailer on the scene, specialising in GEO Medical contact lenses – stock including the popular Bambi Princess Mimi series – yay – and Asian cosmetics, with mostly Korean brands like Etude House, Tony Moly and Holika Holika! They also sell nail art supplies and Kawaii Items! I’m super excited about their range of Fimo nail art slices, which are priced at only $1 each for 40 pieces!
I have to also give a mention to the excellent customer service at Pink Sakura. They put so much love into wrapping my package. Shipping was also super fast. I received the package in just two days from being advised that it had been sent – wow!
Pink Sakura also sent me a number of other items that I will review in my second instalment – stay tuned!
Since my Skin79 Orange Super Plus BB Cream review, people have been asking me whether they should get the Hot Pink or Orange Super Plus BB cream. Now that I have come into possession of both of these BB creams, I thought it would be interesting to compare the two to help anyone out there trying to decide which one to get.
I’ve lined these two BB creams up side by side, and you can see that Hot Pink seems to have more of a grey undertone than Orange. Orange also seems to be a little lighter in tone.
(You might notice textural different between my Hot Pink and Orange BB Creams, but this is just because my Hot Pink is considerably old now!)
[I’ve had some comments from people wondering if my Skin79 Hot Pink Super BB Cream might be fake! For tips on knowing when Skin79 BB creams are fake, check out this article by Little Makeup Box: http://littlemakeupbox-eng.blogspot.com.au/2010/05/skin-79-real-vs-fake-bb-cream_13.html. Please note that Skin79 products have been redesigned, and so older products may not look like the newer ones. I don’t believe my Hot Pink is fake, as it appears to exhibit all the indications of the real thing, but just in case, I also have the miniature Hot Pink sent to me by the official distributor www.mybbcream.com.au and the below swatch was made using the miniature.]
After blending, it’s clear to see that while Skin79 Hot Pink has a distinctly dewy finish, Orange is completely matte. Also, while it’s difficult to represent this in photos, Hot Pink has a clear greyish undertone, while Orange is much warmer. One other thing I noticed is also that Orange appears to have better coverage potential, applying much more opaquely than Hot Pink on the first layer. Of course, both BB Creams are very buildable.
The formulation of these two BB creams are also quite similar, being on the thick and sticky side.
There are also important differences in the benefits each one offers. Below is a comparison of respective benefits each product boasts.
| Hot Pink | Orange |
| Enhanced sebum control | Controls oil and moisture balance |
| Increased hydration | Maintains moisture |
| Skin whitening | Skin whitening |
| Anti Wrinkle | Anti Wrinkle |
| SPF25/PA++ | SPF50+/PA+++ |
| - | Skin soothing |
| Fast absorption | Fast absorption |
| Dewy finish | Matte finish |
| Soft and smooth skin | Transparent and clean skin |
So you can see that Hot Pink and Orange promise different benefits to cater to different skin needs.
Based on the promised benefits, I would say that Hot Pink would be more suited to people with oily skin, while Orange would be great for people with normal or combination skin. Also, if you are particularly concerned with sun exposure, Skin79 Orange Super Plus BB Cream would be the one for you, with double the SPF rating than Hot Pink!
One final difference between the two BB creams how they smell. Hot Pink has a soapy powdery scent. Orange is floral and zesty.
Check out my Skin79 Orange Super Plus BB Cream review for further information!
My Skin79 Orange Super Plus BB Cream and miniature Skin79 Hot Pink Super Plus BB Cream were provided by www.mybbcream.com.au, the only authorised distributor for Skin79 in Australia!
I’ve seen a lot of comments on my BB Cream reviews that people are not getting the best results out of BB Cream because of oily skin. So here is one of the few BB Creams that is specifically designed for oil and sensitive skin types – Skin79 dream girls BB! Also, like the Skin79 Lovely Girl BB Cream I reviewed a couple of weeks ago, and you can guess from the whimsical packaging, Skin79 dream girls BB is marketed towards teenage skin.
I love the quilted embossing on the box of Skin79 dream girls BB – it reminds me of my pillow haha.
Like all Skin79 BB Creams, dream girls BB comes foil sealed, so you can have complete peace of mind that this is fresh from the factory to you!
So now on to the promises of Skin79 dream girls BB! These are:
Apparently Skin79 dream girls BB is also suitable for dry skin types, complimented by your usual skin moisturising regiment. For oil skin types, it is recommended that you skip any moisturising step prior to applying BB cream.
So here’s the product out of the tube. Immediately you can see that this formulation is very different from other Skin79 BB creams in that it’s much thinner and begins to flatten out immediately.
Skin79 dream girls BB is so smooth and easily spreads onto the skin. It is non-oily, as promised, and feels very fresh on the skin. A little also seems to go a long way. Compared to the Skin79 Super BB creams, dream girls BB is much more sheer, and therefore more readily blends to your skin colour. However, as discussed below, it has less potential for coverage. The finish is dewy…at first!
And it appears to turn matte after the moisturising component is fully absorbed into the skin. I prefer a matte finish, so this gets a tick from me!
Now to the coverage. (If you’ve been following my BB cream review series, you’re probably getting sick of seeing this side of my face!) You can see that in the first picture, my bare skin has quite uneven skin tone and some pesky pimple scaring. After applying two layers of Skin79 dream girls BB, my skin tone is much improved. Notice that this BB cream hasn’t totally made my face pale! However, while my scars have become a little fainter, they are still definitely there. So to complete the look, I applied concealer to completely erase the scars and then mineral powder to matte out the finish.
I think looking at these snaps you’ll agree that Skin79 dream girls BB really does help you achieve the appearance of baby soft skin! Because of its lower pigmentation, it’s completely buildable even for people with darker skin tones. But due to the relatively light coverage, it’s probably not a BB cream that you can wear on its own. Concealer is definitely a must. This BB cream would also be perfect as a non-irritating, non-oily makeup base under foundation.
Here’s my look, created with Skin79 dream girls BB cream!
When I first tried this BB cream I was disappointed by the low level of coverage. But as with all BB creams I’ve reviewed, I continued to use the product for at least one week before forming an opinion. My final assessment is that while Skin79 dream girls BB cream has less coverage than other BB creams I’ve tried, I love the way that it makes my skin look so smooth and…well..fresh! Also I’ve found that applying multiple layers greatly improved the coverage potential. I also love that it doesn’t completely pale out my skin, even when several layers are applied. Best of all, this BB cream has been great in controlling oiliness. I experienced no shine throughout the day.
This BB cream was sent to me by www.mybbcream.com.au!
I first caught wind of this vendor when I saw their special offer on http://www.ouffer.com/. It seemed clear to me that this company was interested not only to sell BB Cream to current fans of BB Cream in Australia (mostly Asian customers), but also to bring Korea BB Cream into the main stream. If this is one of their goals then I’m right behind them – in my mind Korean BB Creams are still the ‘original’ and the best.
This from their website:
If you are wondering which BB cream is right for you, check out mybbcream’s skin type analysis and their 2 step process to picking your perfect product!
I had a read of their Wholesale page and it looks like if you can get 4 of your friends together to buy and share, you can get 1/4 knocked off the price! This from the website:
Also, for a limited time you’ll get miniatures as free gifts of any purchase of full sized BB Cream!
As well as BB Creams, Mybbcream stocks an impressive range of other Korean beauty products from makeup to skincare.
They have a great well structured and easily to navigate website – I really hope you guys check it out!
Also don’t forget that there are less than FIVE DAYS to join my Favourites Giveaway!
Don’t miss out!
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