The BB Creams Basics

BB Creams Equals No Makeup Makeup Look

If you are a big fan of beauty products and trends, you probably know about BB creams. Then again, even if you do follow the world of beauty, you may have yet to learn about the rise of BB creams. The good news is that they are easy to understand and a wonderful way to streamline and cut the costs of your day to day beauty regiment.

This may sound like a lot of hype, but even medical experts have determined that BB creams can be accurately described as doing “the job of five or six other jars and tubes: moisturizer, primer, sunscreen, skin treatment, concealer, and foundation.”

Naturally, that makes almost anyone sit up and pay attention, and what we are going to do in this article is look closely at BB creams and figure out if they live up to the hype (spoiler alert: they do!) and how to go about integrating one into your beauty regimen.

BB Cream – What Is It and Do I Need It?

So, first things first; what is a BB cream? The BB actually stands for Beauty Balm, and they first appeared in Europe when physicians were seeking a single purpose cream that could help skin in the post-treatment period after any sort of laser treatment. They quickly spread to Asia and then the rest of the world. For a few years now, they have been designed and redesigned repeatedly to provide users with a truly multi-function product that gives natural looking skin coverage and protection.

As another beauty expert wrote, “It will give you a good base for makeup like a primer, even out complexion like a tinted moisturizer, cover minor imperfections and redness like a concealer, hydrate your skin like your day cream, brighten and perk-up a dull complexion and some will even protect with SPF. Some also promise healing, soothing and anti-ageing properties.”

Knowing that, probably has you ready to head right out and find the ideal option for you. Yet, you probably have some lingering questions. Some of the most common include:

• Do BB creams really work?
• How does it differ from foundation?
• Does it replace my foundation?
• Can you use BB cream every day?
• Can I use it with acne?

Now With the Answers

Let’s take a few minutes with each of these questions so you can understand whether you want to integrate this into your routine.

Firstly, do BB creams work? Yes, but with some caveats. For one thing, you won’t find it offering the exact same coverage as a traditional foundation. If you have areas in need of correction, you are going to need a concealer. Additionally, a BB cream is not a product with the same range of colors as you find with foundations, concealers, highlighters, and other base products.

Yet, if you are asking if BB creams work like a moisturizer, a balancing and correcting product, an illuminating product and a light coverage foundation, then absolutely yes it does.

In fact, most are seen as providing:

• SPF protection
• Supplies of key vitamins (A, C and E), peptides and antioxidants to the skin
• Deep penetrating and long lasting moisturizing
• Ingredients to even out the skin’s tone
• Ingredients that reflect light and offer luminizing
• Properties that allow it to perform just like a foundation primer

BB Creams As Opposed to or Along With Foundation

If you require foundation that offers a lot of coverage, such as to deal with uneven pigmentation, redness and so on. You probably cannot count on a BB cream to tackle the work in the same way, yet it can still provide many benefits that make it a good product to integrate into the routine. After all, it offers tremendous value because it has the benefits of a moisturizer and sunscreen along with its ability to work like a primer or base.

It is, as already indicated, a bit tricky to find a BB cream that is a perfect match to every skin tone. Yet, if light texture coverage is your goal, a BB cream can give you a dramatically enhanced product, but it may not be an ideal substitute or replacement for foundation.

Can You Use It Daily?

That too can also be answered in the affirmative. BB creams are an ideal product for daily use. They are, as one beauty writer said, great if you “want a simple daily beauty routine, BB cream streamlines the process of makeup application.”

Ultimately, a BB cream helps almost any product to work better, and for that alone you will want to add one to your daily routine.

Finally, there is the important matter of understanding whether or not you can use it with acne prone skin. First and foremost, another definition for the BB is blemish balm, and this means two things. It can help to disguise blemish prone skin by evening out skin color. Also, if you select an oil free formula, you can easily and safely use it to help conceal the acne without slathering on a lot of concealer or other product. The oil free formulas guarantee that sebum in the skin remains balanced and that less oil can accumulate in the pores triggering an acne breakout.

That brings us to the next key issue, which is to discover how to go about selecting the ideal BB cream for your needs.

How Do I Choose The Right One For Me?

It is important to remember that any BB cream is different from a foundation. As another beauty professional said, “The main difference between BB cream and foundation is this: BB cream is usually lighter in feel than foundation and focuses on a skin-first approach… The main purpose of BB creams is to focus on things like hydrating, illuminating, mattifying, or protecting your skin rather than coverage (which is generally the goal of using foundation).”

Related: Discover the Secret to Flawless Foundation

So, never try to choose your BB cream as you would a foundation. Yet, you do need to base your choice on your skin’s tone and undertone. The tone of the skin is that at the outermost layer, which can change with sun exposure, moisturizing or dryness, and due to skin conditions. The undertone (the color you should base your choice of all makeup products upon) can be warm, neutral or cool. The warm hues veer towards yellow, gold and peach. The cooler hues are blue, pink and red, and neutrals are often olive in nature or a blend of both warm and cool.

We could write entire volumes on tone and undertone, but the point here is that you must select your BB creams based on your undertone. If you have ever purchased a tinted moisturizer, you may understand how to go about making the choice. Again, and as yet another beauty expert said, “They don’t have a lot of shade diversity. Most come in a range of light, medium, and dark. So if you can’t find an exact match to your skin tone, best to stick to those with a sheerer finish.”

Naturally, with the flood of products it can seem impossible to find the ideal solution. However, it really boils down to doing simple, in person tests. Use the cheek or jaw area to test out the option with a pinkish hue along one lower cheek/jaw area. Use a yellower option for the opposite cheek/jaw. Whichever seems to blend the best is the undertone for you. If it still has a painted on look, aim for the more neutral hues until you find the right fit. Yet, always remember that it is not meant to be a full foundation.

If you are also looking to use your BB cream to hide acne or blemishes, keep in mind that it needs to be oil free and colored to counteract or camouflage redness – typically one with a warmer, yellow hue.

Once you have found the right product, it is time to apply it properly.

How to Apply BB Cream?

To use BB cream effectively, try to view it as the ultimate time saver. After all, it could, realistically provide you with the solution to three standard beauty regimen steps. Rather than moisturizing, applying sunscreen and a primer, you might opt for the BB cream. It can even be a light coverage foundation for those who choose this route in their daily routine.

To apply, just put a small amount on the fingertips and apply to your clean skin. Rub it in using gentle circular motions to ensure it is distributed evenly across the skin of the face. If you want a bit more control, you can put a pea sized drop of your chosen BB cream on a foundation sponge and just dab and roll it to spread it evenly over the targeted area.

Related: Everything You Need to Know About Makeup Sponges

Interestingly enough, there are a few tricks you can use with BB cream apart from shortening the morning makeup routine.

• Improve foundation – Blend even amounts of your foundation with your BB cream and it gives you the coverage you want but also provides amazing texture control and a more natural looking glow.
• Enhance blush – A common trick used by makeup artists is to apply blush first and then a coat of BB cream. This creates a diffusion effect like a natural blush to the skin. To do this just apply your blush as always and then use a bit of your BB cream on the “apples” of the cheek and blend outward and towards the temples. It can soften the blush and give a wonderful finish.
• Use it as highlighter – Another trendy thing to do with makeup is contouring and highlighting. You can actually put your BB cream to work as a highlighter by adding a touch of your finishing powder to a pea sized amount of BB cream. Then just dab it on the area to highlight (bridge of the nose, cheekbone, beneath the eye, and so on) before gently blending and softening.

Related: The Best Bronzer and Highlighter Applicator

So, it can be a wonderful primer, a great form of SPF, a moisturizer, a base or light foundation, and also of use as listed above. Yet, it is not an all purpose product. This is important to keep in mind because there is always the need for other items to round out the beauty routine.

You will always want to find the right foundation products, concealer and highlighter for your skin. You also want to consider a CC.

Difference Between BB Cream and CC Cream

There many BB creams and then there are also CC creams. The CC stands for color correcting, and it too is a fantastic multi-tasker. It will cut down on redness, ashen hues or darkness on the face. It too is a balanced combination of skincare and coverage, but it does not cover in the same way as BB. Instead, it has light diffusing properties that enable it to counteract discoloration in the skin. It is much lighter in feel and texture than a BB cream, too.

What does this mean to you? If you are someone who deals with frequent breakouts, a CC cream can be a wonderful way to even out your skin. Yet it is good for those with pigmentation issues and uneven skin tone, too.

In the End

It can be challenging to know when to use a BB cream, CC cream or a foundation. Yet it is not all that complex. If you want a fast way to lay down a healthy base, go with the BB cream. Need to adjust discoloration, the CC creams are the ideal option. If you need more comprehensive coverage, a foundation is the solution.

Don’t forget that you can use them together, building on their results. For instance, treat redness or blemishes with CC cream and finish with BB or foundation. Use those clever tricks, too and soon you will discover why a BB cream product is a must in almost every beauty kit.

Related: The Best Tool for Blemish Correction