Hi everyone,
Last Friday, I mentioned BB Cream as something trendy in this year. I had no idea I would write a follow up about something closer to home: I have been using Maybelline Clear Smooth BB Cream for a while now. After having various degrees of success with Maybelline Clear Smooth BB Silk Shine Free Two Way Cake Powder, I pushed my own button and bought the BB Cream itself. Maybelline is available here in Vietnam and the prices are affordable. On top of that, the cream was 10% off and I received Baby Lips as a gift with purchase.
I believe this Clear Smooth BB Cream is available in the Asian market only. Outside of Asia, Dream Fresh is the BB Cream Maybelline sells. Since I don't have the later one, I don't know whether the formulas are different but based on past experience between Maybelline products in the U.S, U.K, and Japan, I believe the formula varies if the name is different.
Unlike many other makeup products, this BB Cream comes in a small tube with only 18ml of cream. To put into perspective, a deluxe foundation sample contains around 5-7.5ml. Which means there's not a lot of products to slosh around. The reason people think it's big is because of the packaging. There's simply too much plastic and paper involved in this product. I wish Maybelline to simplify its packaging in the future.
This BB Cream comes in 2 colors: Fresh and Natural. Mine is Fresh, which is a tad too light for my skin. Natural, however, is too dark but has more yellow pigments in it, which makes it more flattering on Asian skins. Fresh, on the other hand, is your typical Asian BB Cream shade: it has this beige color that does not fare well with any skin tones. Once applied, I looked white. Like Michael Jackson white. Like unhealthy ghostly white. Like really, really white.
It freaked me out a little. So I waited for it to oxidize, which it did for a moment to make my skin look kinda pumpkin like before I looked less white again. But still, my face was lighter than my neck unless I applied some bronzers to even things out around the jaw line.
Texture-wise, it is creamy in the way of a strong non-oil free moisturizer. My face felt very comfortable for the first few minutes before it looks greasy. And greasy it is! This BB Cream creates the greasiest mess on my face since I started puberty. I've come to learn that using silica microspheres as a finishing powder would eliminate this problem. Yes, that's the stuff in Make Up For Ever HD Powder, ELF HD Powder and the like.
To fix the weird whiteness problem, I mixed this BB Cream with my MAC NC25 foundation and it looked less pale, more human. Also, since my MAC foundation has lots of oil-controlling properties, the mix created a dewy look that was so beautiful! Reader Laura Humphries mentioned using her new CoverGirl Outlast Stay Fabulous Foundation on top of her Two Faced BB cream and had a dewy finish as well. You should give that a try, too.
Here is a list of pros and cons:
Pros:
Ok, here are two interesting pictures: unblended BB Cream on the left and blended on the right. Look how much brighter the skin on the right hand picture looks :)
Last but not least: would I buy it again? Hell to the no! Or maybe when I reach my 40s and my skin gets much drier. Maybe.
With love,
Dao xoxo
P.S: Please show your support by following my blog and
subscribing to my feed. Thanks a lot!
Last Friday, I mentioned BB Cream as something trendy in this year. I had no idea I would write a follow up about something closer to home: I have been using Maybelline Clear Smooth BB Cream for a while now. After having various degrees of success with Maybelline Clear Smooth BB Silk Shine Free Two Way Cake Powder, I pushed my own button and bought the BB Cream itself. Maybelline is available here in Vietnam and the prices are affordable. On top of that, the cream was 10% off and I received Baby Lips as a gift with purchase.
I believe this Clear Smooth BB Cream is available in the Asian market only. Outside of Asia, Dream Fresh is the BB Cream Maybelline sells. Since I don't have the later one, I don't know whether the formulas are different but based on past experience between Maybelline products in the U.S, U.K, and Japan, I believe the formula varies if the name is different.
Unlike many other makeup products, this BB Cream comes in a small tube with only 18ml of cream. To put into perspective, a deluxe foundation sample contains around 5-7.5ml. Which means there's not a lot of products to slosh around. The reason people think it's big is because of the packaging. There's simply too much plastic and paper involved in this product. I wish Maybelline to simplify its packaging in the future.
This BB Cream comes in 2 colors: Fresh and Natural. Mine is Fresh, which is a tad too light for my skin. Natural, however, is too dark but has more yellow pigments in it, which makes it more flattering on Asian skins. Fresh, on the other hand, is your typical Asian BB Cream shade: it has this beige color that does not fare well with any skin tones. Once applied, I looked white. Like Michael Jackson white. Like unhealthy ghostly white. Like really, really white.
It freaked me out a little. So I waited for it to oxidize, which it did for a moment to make my skin look kinda pumpkin like before I looked less white again. But still, my face was lighter than my neck unless I applied some bronzers to even things out around the jaw line.
Texture-wise, it is creamy in the way of a strong non-oil free moisturizer. My face felt very comfortable for the first few minutes before it looks greasy. And greasy it is! This BB Cream creates the greasiest mess on my face since I started puberty. I've come to learn that using silica microspheres as a finishing powder would eliminate this problem. Yes, that's the stuff in Make Up For Ever HD Powder, ELF HD Powder and the like.
To fix the weird whiteness problem, I mixed this BB Cream with my MAC NC25 foundation and it looked less pale, more human. Also, since my MAC foundation has lots of oil-controlling properties, the mix created a dewy look that was so beautiful! Reader Laura Humphries mentioned using her new CoverGirl Outlast Stay Fabulous Foundation on top of her Two Faced BB cream and had a dewy finish as well. You should give that a try, too.
Here is a list of pros and cons:
Pros:
- Affordable: cost me around 4 USD and I had a free lip balm
- Can be applied with fingers, although a dual-fiber brush provides much better texture
- Can conceal dark circles to a certain extend
- Feels very comfortable on skin
Cons:
- Has only 2 shades: therefore, those with darker skins or are in between shades can't use it
- Light shade has weird alien white color
- Is greasy!
- Packaging is bulky!
- Needs a lot of creative energy to make it more wearable
While I love this BB Cream, I don't think it's for me. Those with dry skin can benefit greatly from it as it moisturizes well. However, those with oily skin can move a continent away from this thing. The finish is fabulous, which makes this a regret for me. I truly hope the Dream Fresh BB Cream to be better as Maybelline seems to have many great products lately.
Here are some extra pictures:
 |
| The promises: surprisingly, it does all of those, especially the brightening part to the point of whiteness! |
 |
| Ingredient list |
Last but not least: would I buy it again? Hell to the no! Or maybe when I reach my 40s and my skin gets much drier. Maybe.
With love,
Dao xoxo
P.S: Please show your support by following my blog and
subscribing to my feed. Thanks a lot!
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