BB What?

I've often wondered how Korean women have such beautiful skin. Is it the water they drink? Their diet? Are they just born with good skin genes? Combination of all the above? I couldn't be sure. But I know one thing I can be sure of is that their makeup lines certainly help in up keeping their skin with that beautiful translucent fair glow.

I researched a bunch of product lines. All claiming to be all natural and healthy for your skin. Now, some will say that putting any type of silicone or dimethicone in a cream is not healthy, but I honestly don't know how else you would be able to have any cream adhere smoothly onto skin.

After googling lines such as Étude House, Missha, Nature Republic and The Face Shop, I decided to finally try it for myself.

The simplest way to tackle this, I felt, was to go with the most popular product out on the market, the beneficial Bb cream. The "bb" stands for "blemish balm" or "beauty balm". Full of moisturizers, sunscreen and vitamins (depending on the line), doctors used to give these creams to patients who were recovering from laser surgery or burns to soothe and protect their tender skin.

Which to try first? Well, other than trying to order them off the net, I felt it would be easier to go with those that I could try in person first. The Face Shop and Nature Republic are stores nearest to me so I opted to go with them first.

I tried products from The Face Shop first. It was closest to wear I live. They offered several bb creams ranging from heavy to light coverage. I decided to try Lovely Me:Ex bb cream (don't ask me what ex means, I haven't the foggiest) and Magic Cover bb cream. (I also tried a bunch of samples like their aqua and waterproof, but I won't cover them here.)

The Magic Cover bb cream comes in two shades, light and natural beige. I am more of a natural beige. It is light, yet creamy with substance. If you put a bit onto your skin it doesn't run and it's not sticky at all. I learned from the first application that you really do not need a lot. I pumped out what I thought would be a reasonable amount, like a dime sized amount, and it was too much. When I put it on my face I looked as white as a sheet. But, my skin looked really smooth. Really, less is more! The cream has a almost baby oil smell and dries matte. It really covered the redness on my cheeks and some imperfections.

The second product I tried was Lovely Me:Ex bb cream. This brand tailors more towards the younger teen audience. Whereas the Magic Cover bb cream had some moisturizers, wrinkle reducer and SPF 40, this one only had SPF 20. And that's it. The cream is a little loose, but still not runny or sticky. It only comes in one shade, or so I saw, and it's actually the best color match to my skin. It's a natural beige with yellow undertones. The Magic Cover had more pink undertones so it kinda made my skin look gray. The Lovely Me cream smelled mostly like baby powder. It's addicting. I actually found with this cream I had to put more on. If you're looking for good coverage, this cream doesn't cut it. For instance, I have under eye circles, but this barely covers it. What it did do was make my skin look slightly made up and imparted a dewy look to my skin. This eventually fades a bit, but there is still that soft sheen.

I love both of these so far, they really sit well on my skin. And they do not rub off or cake under my glasses. Yes, I'm a dork, I wear glasses. I can switch between the both of them depending on my mood. I imagine you can also layer both with a powder foundation, but being that I don't like a lot of makeup on, I didn't apply any on. I included a side by side comparison of how the products looked on my skin. The left is the Magic Cover and the other is the Lovely Me.

Very cool makeup, I can't wait to head to Nature Republic to try their line!

Hope you liked my ramble, comment if you tried these products or if you had another recommendation on what else to try!