We're loving the auld BB Creams on Beaut.ie recently and testin' and tryin' as they come on the market with gusto. Coming at us from Asia - they're hugely popular in Korea - the ones we're seeing here from brands like Garnier, No7, Estee Lauder and 17 are often markedly different from their oriental inspiration, and that's prompted some grumbles from BB purists.
I'm no expert on the originals, hands up, but what I will say is it doesn't make a lot of sense for a beauty brand to release a product that's so specifically tailored for that market to its European customers. For starters, we tend to have different needs. Different climates for one, especially for us up here in dim northern Europe, and that can explain why we may not need so much SPF and oil-reducing and mattifying properties. Those are great for humid, hot climates - for us, well not so much. In addition, Asian BBs often have a grey or a high pink cast to them to cancel out yellow or sallow tones; again, that's absent from the ones we're seeing on our shelves.
So the grumble is ours aren't the same - no, of course not. They couldn't be really, could they? We're getting a reformulated, Europeanised version of a BB to suit our needs. That said, lots of Europeans happily buy and love Asian BBs from brands like Etude House, Skin Food and Dr Jart and get on great with 'em, so you've got to try to see if you like.
Hot Pink Super Plus BB, VIP Gold Super Plus BB, Diamond Pearl BB and Diamond The Prestige BB
The very nice Muse, from the US Musings of a Muse blog, sent me some Skin 79 BB Cream samples before Christmas and I thought you lot would like so see some them compared to their European counterparts so I got busy swatching last weekend. There's not a massive amount of difference really - interestingly Skin79 seems to have lots of BBs for different things and the textures vary from fluid to quite thick - but with three of them there is a strong grey cast which isn't going to be great for a very pale complexion as it'll just make you look even more cadaver-like.
So, without boring the knickers off you, these are all designed to do slightly different things - have a gander at the American Skin79 site for lots more detail but briefly Hot Pink is a fairly basic one-size-fits-all product whereas the Diamond The Prestige BB is a posher spend with peptides and a more fluid finish that seems to have some luminising properties, for example.
Advertised
Psst: Skin79 have a BB called ... wait for it ... the Lovely Girl BB Cream. WE MUST OWN THIS. ALL OF US. NOW.
Swatches of Hot Pink Super Plus BB, VIP Gold Super Plus BB, Diamond Pearl BB and Diamond The Prestige BB
Above you can see the slight grey cast to the first two and last one; the Diamond Pearl BB was the only peachy toned one of the four I tried. The light was wojus the day I shot these though, so they're not the best swatches I've ever done.
How do they compare to the ones we're seeing on the European market?
In general ours seem to be a bit warmer and peachier. If you have sallower undertones, you might find the Asian versions are a better fit, so where to buy?
Advertised
- Skin79 - you can buy from the US site but obviously you'll pay a premium for shipping
- Adam Beauty - this is a brilliant site for Japanese and Asian cosmetics. It's a bit confusing to browse but oh boy, it's like being a kid in a sweet shop
