Hello Ladies! Today I bring you a quick review of a product that I have fallen in love with. This recent love affair has betrayed my supposed love for NARS sheer glow foundation, as well as my Artistry Tinted Moisturizer.
This is the only BB cream I have ever tried, so I cannot compare it with other BB creams. But I've tried my fair share of different foundations and this beats them all!
Currently, this is my HG foundation, because although its a BB cream and it feels like a tinted moisturizer, it has the coverage of a foundation. And I have to say its quite amazing, really.
My initial experience with this was not too good. When I first applied it, I thought it was slightly too dark for me or maybe it just made my skin look ashy? But the reason why this happened is because I applied too much on my face. So if you get this product, don't over apply. And although wearing less made it better, it was still a little too beige looking. I solved that by adding a drop of liquid highlighter to one pump of the BB cream. This made it look more bright and less beige. I don't think too many people will have this problem. I think I am slightly too light and have a both a yellow and slight pink undertone.
Fragrance
When I first applied this, I noticed the smell. I really dislike the smell of this. I can't even describe what it smells like, its kind of odd. It border lines between smelling good and smelling gross. Hmm. I'm really bad at describing smells so I will leave it at that. Besides, you will only smell it when you are applying it, after that you won't smell it at all.
Wear
Next thing to consider was how long it lasted on my skin. I have combination skin that is dry, but I tend to get oily on my nose when I have makeup on. This BB cream does a better job mattifying my skin than my NARS sheer glow. Without powder, It will prevent oiliness for about 5-6 hrs and with powder it will last pretty much all day without touch ups. I prefer not to set it with powder, since I like the dewy finish it gives, but I do powder my nose in the morning with MAC's Prep and Prime Translucent Powder. So for lasting power, this is great. Don't expect it to last 24 hrs without touch ups, because that is not going to happen. But this last much longer that many other foundations/powders/tinted moisturizers do.Compared to the Artistry Moisturizer, it has far better coverage and greater lasting power. But then again, the Artistry one is much more sheer and it does not cake at all. with this BB cream it is possible to have it cake up on you if you apply too much.
Does this Break out the skin?
My next point on my list is an important one: whether this was breaking me out. I get hormonal breakouts along my jaw frequently, and when I started using this, I broke out. I was very hesitant about using it again because I didn't want to use something that broke me out. But I loved this so much that I kept trying it out. The first couple of times, I felt that it was indeed breaking me out. I was so upset since I have had a similar experience with MUFE HD Foundation. But, I decided to give it one last try and I've been using it since. Now, I don't feel that it is breaking me out. On the contrary, I actually think it is helping with my acne. I feel as though this product does not mask my skin as much as other foundation do, so it feels like my skin can actually breathe through it. I don't know if that even makes sense. But the bottom line is I haven't broken out since I started using this consistently, which for me is amazing. I would at least have one small blemish on my skin by now. Not only that, but this makes my skin, which I am very self conscious about because of my acne and acne scars, glow! I actually feel as though I have nice skin and I feel much more confidant about facing the world.
Price
Lastly, we have the price. As I mentioned before, I was using NARS Sheer glow before using this. That is $42 plus tax. Not only that, but I was using two pumps every day. Dont get me wrong, I still love my sheer glow, but this is much better and much cheaper. I bought this online for about $33 I think. And I only use one pump, and I feel like the container is more convenient that the sheer glow bottle. I don't know if its just me, but I think the tube it comes in is super cute!~
So to sum up:
PROS:
~Great coverage
~Does not look cakey if applied correctly
~Gives a natural, dewy finish
~Lasts a long time
~Decent oil control
~Not too expensive (compared to other foundations at least)
~Has helped improve my skin (along side my skin care, of course)
CONS:
~Bad smell
~Color match could be slightly off, or way off in the case of much lighter and darker skintones.
~Not easily accessible
~Can look cakey and sometimes ashy, if not applied correctly
Here is the link where I purchased this:
http://prettyandcute.com/Lioele-Triple-Beyond-Solution-BBcream-SPF30-pa-p134.html
I am sure you can find these else where, such as in Asian stores or Ebay.
For swatches go here:
http://yamismakeup.blogspot.com/2011/02/follow-up-liole-nars-artistry-swatches.html
~Yami <3
