I realise I’m going to be quite unpopular with the BB Cream-wearing crowd after this, but I can’t just sit by and nod and smile and pretend that I’m willing to be privy to the whole madness that is BB Cream, or CC Cream, or any other alphabet cream they choose to come up with. I know DD and even EE creams exist but that’s just nonsense if you ask me.
I have been sceptical about these seemingly all-in-one products for a long time, ever since I told you way back in the day that I didn’t want to talk about BB Creams. Where possible, I still don’t. Unlike many people, I have not been sold on the idea of BB Creams at all. Sure, I use them. But I use them as I would any other makeup, and I treat them as I would any other makeup i.e. It goes on only after my skincare and must be properly removed at the end of the day.
Despite what we are fed and led to believe, BB Creams are NOT skincare. BB Creams are NOT sunscreen and BB Creams are not a miracle skin perfecting product.
And this is my biggest beef with this seemingly miraculous product. I still stand by everything I said back in 2010 about BB Creams. I use them, and my BB Cream horizon has expanded and I even have some faves, but some recent revelations from people have surprised me so much that I’ve realised that BB Creams could actually be doing more harm than good to the general public. Naturally, you don’t have to agree with me 🙂 In fact, I’d like to hear your thoughts on this after I’ve had my say.
BB Creams are NOT skincare, they are makeup
I cannot stress this point enough. The statement put to me that bowled me over was when people asked if you could apply BB Cream at night, or if you can sleep in your BB Cream or better yet, whether you need to remove your BB Cream at all at the end of the day.
When asked why they thought the way they did, the answer that came back was “Because BB Cream is skincare, isn’t it?”
Fact is, it is not skincare, no matter how long the list of benefits to the skin it carries. The original concept behind BB Cream was to allow women to wear makeup post-laser treatments when their skin was thin and sensitive. A product that combined makeup (foundation) properties and a healthy dose of skin caring benefits was introduced. This was the BB Cream or Blemish Balm Cream. These days, BB can mean anything from Beauty Booster to Blithering Baloney.
This product does not replace your creams and moisturisers at all. By telling people that a BB Cream has 8-in1 or 10-in-1 benefits that includes whitening, hydrating, anti-aging, makeup etc is almost BS. In the same breath, we are advised to use only a small amount so it doesn’t look heavy on skin.
Now think about that for a minute. How on earth are you expected to derive any skincare benefits from a tiny dollop of cream? If you have believed this, and if you have been abandoning your normal skincare for BB Cream and if you are wondering why your skin is dehydrated and dull, herein lies your answer. You just aren’t doing things right. Ditch the BB Cream, go back to your skincare and moisturisers and creams and you’ll see much better results.
BB Creams do not offer sufficient sun protection
Another statement that has bowled me over is the use of BB Cream in place of a proper sunscreen product. This, I almost blame squarely on the brands who tout their SPF and UV protection properties in their BB Creams, leading people to believe that “Wow! Look, I can skip one step and save on sunscreen! Yay!”
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
High SPF only lulls consumers into a false sense of security. Again, the product may contain a high SPF factor, up to SPF50. But how much of a BB Cream do we put on our skin? A tiny bit. Remember? We are only supposed to use a thin layer so it doesn’t look fake and thick. So, how do you expect to get any or sufficient sun protection under our tropical sun, with just a thin layer of protection between your skin and the skin damaging UV rays?
You can’t.
So, the proper thing to do is to wear a separate sunscreen. Treat the SPF in the BB Cream as a bonus, if you must but it is definitely NOT a replacement for sunscreen, and definitely NOT sufficient for daily wear. I personally discount any reference to SPF in a makeup product. You just won’t use enough of it to be beneficial. If you really want an all in one product, get a tinted sunscreen instead. That is a sunscreen first, makeup second.
BB Creams must be removed at the end of the day
No brand tells you this, but BB Cream is makeup. My advise is to treat BB Creams as you would makeup, and get a proper makeup remover to remove it at the end of the day. This applies to any colour you put on your skin. No matter how beneficial it is, it is still makeup.
The problem I have when seeing BB Creams being pushed, is that the brands will extol the virtues of the skincare benefits and this confuses the customer into thinking that this product is a skincare item that can be left on the skin. Just take a look at the box of your BB Cream. The blurb is almost exactly what you’ll see on a box of face moisturiser. Some even tell you to “Use it as the last step of skincare”. Now if that’s not confusing, I don’t know what is! So, if its skincare, you don’t need a makeup remover right? Perhaps, just a quick wash with a regular face cleanser at the end of the day will do it?
Nope, that’s not the case.
I’ve personally found that the texture of BB Creams tend to sometimes be a bit heavier and oilier than regular foundation. It is also more sticky and sticks to skin. What this means is that the potential to clog pores is also higher. Also, not many people just wear a BB Cream and head out. They will likely pat on some powder or dab on some concealer… you get the picture. It is not skincare, ladies. Let’s wise up, yes? Use a proper makeup remover.
BB Cream is nothing but foundation
Ultimately, this is the take away of it all. A BB Cream is nothing more than a foundation. It could be sheer, medium or full coverage but the primary purpose many people wear BB Cream, if you ask them, is because they want their skin to look better and more eventoned. This is what foundation was designed to do. No one wears a BB Cream because “I am too lazy to use a proper moisturiser and sunscreen”.
When people tired of heavy foundations, along came tinted moisturisers, the pre-cursor to the BB Cream. But these days, foundation runs the gamut of textures from sheer to full coverage and everything in between. Many have included SPF and there are foundations that offer skin caring benefits as well.
Why not use something that has a targeted purpose instead of an all-in-one-master-of-none product?
I’m not saying don’t use a BB Cream. I’m saying, use one if you like but be aware as to what it is. Don’t believe all the miraculous all-in-one claims. Don’t wear it and then tell people you aren’t wearing makeup. You are. You have just been confused to the extent that you never realised it.
I don’t deny that I do use BB Cream (I just found one I like from Guerlain!) but I do not subscribe to the seemingly wonderful skincare benefits they tout. For me, a BB Cream is nothing but base makeup and I treat it accordingly. It goes on after my sunscreen, which is the last skincare product to go on my face. Some work for me beautifully, many don’t. But I think we’ve had enough. The Age of the BB Cream is past and brands should just go back to working on their foundations and making it better instead of churning out crowd-pleasing products, that are the alphabet creams.
Here’s what I’d like to see the brands do : Market a BB Cream as makeup. Scrap the CC Cream. Improve on foundation textures and benefits. Keep the skincare benefits of BB Creams secondary. Stop confusing the public. Our skin will thank you for it.
How much of a BB Cream’s claims do you believe?
None, in my case. I only measure how it works as foundation and discard all skincare/sunscreen benefits. I don’t expect anyone to agree with me on this. But if you’d like to share your views, please do. The soapbox is now yours 🙂
Paris B
None. I’m a skeptic. To me, they’re really makeup that I slap on weekends because I might not need such full coverage. (I really could just switch to lighter foundations but curiosity kills the cat!) And yes, makeup should be all removed at the end of the day. I go to bed with only skincare.
You got that right! I find that the ones I like to use give me an approximation of foundation without the heaviness associated with foundation if that even makes sense? 😛 I don’t know how anyone could sleep in this. It’d feel so uncomfortable!
BB cream was never skincare. It has been a makeup product right from the beginning. I use BB cream because it requires little effort to perfect my flawed skin. At the end of the day, I remove it with makeup remover. There’s a CC cream brand that says it is fine to go to bed with the CC cream on the face, and when you wake up in the morning, your skin looks beautiful. There’s no doubt that there are some people who would do as said. I find that very wrong because doesn’t matter whether it is a BB cream or CC cream or even DD cream, it was never a skincare product. You have to remove it properly every day before you go to bed.
You said it Angelina! I think its so misleading of that brand to actually say people can go to sleep in it. Its like those mineral makeup brands who make the same claim, that you can sleep in your makeup. It lulls users into a false sense of security and then they wonder why they break out…
Kinda OT here, but I do have a friend who goes to bed with her make up on, especially when her bf is around. I guess vanity is more important than healthy skin to her.
You know, I’d read about people who did it, or who get up extra early to put on their makeup so their partners don’t have to see them without! I found it a little mind boggling, no offence intended to your friend! But I’d much rather she woke up early to put her face on than to go to sleep with her face on.
Blithering Baloney, buahahaha!! You’re always so funny! XD
Yup, I’m with you all the way. BB cream IS makeup. Period. I use them because I prefer their light(er) coverage compared to an actual foundation – not because I subscribed to whatever skin care benefits they claim. Even if they have SPF50 I’ll still use a separate sunscreen!
LOL yeah, its the first thing that came to mind for BB 😛 I do use a BB Cream with SPF50 and I still use a SPF50 sunscreen. I’d feel naked without my sunscreen, but not without my BB Cream 😉
Lol…very defensive article but i love it. if its skincare…the brands will tell u to slap the BB cream before u sleep.
Thanks Esther, I thought I was being quite offensive haha! 😉 Are there really brands that say you can apply BB Cream before bed?! What are they smoking?!
I agree with you, bb creams are just a type of foundation for me (like tinted moisturizer, powder foundation, liquid foundation are all just types of foundation). I think the spf is just a nice bonus, as long as you’re wearing a real sunscreen underneath. I don’t think, however, that ludicrous claims are limited to just bb cream – I see all sorts of ridiculous statements from makeup brands all the time. This mascara will lengthen your lashes 5x!! (with accompanying obligatory photo of model wearing obvious falsies) This foundation is non-comedogenic, GUARANTEED! Cleanser sourced from all-natural ingredients! free of CHEMICALS! Ugh. To be fair, though, false or misleading advertisements have been around for a very long time, probably ever since anyone started peddling cosmetics. We consumers should know better by now, but it is still shameful that companies not only stoop to such snake oil lies, but actually make promises that can actively hurt or harm an innocent consumer. It’s really sad that so many (not all) makeup companies are just after money, churning out whatever seems to be trending at the time instead of taking real pride in their products’ quality and uniqueness.
I do agree with you about how ludicrous many beauty claims are, Julia. Sometimes exaggeration gets them the attention and the sales. Everyone wants to try that brand of mascara to see if it WILL make their lashes look like falsies right? 😉 I’m not too fussed in general about makeup claims but its when the lines between makeup and skincare are blurred that get my goat, especially when consumers are conveniently not told that “evens out skintone” means applying a layer of foundation over your skin. That’s just not right.
I’ve only sampled a few, and currently only own Garnier’s offering for oily skin (which is fine as a lightweight foundation/tinted moisturiser, which by the way? Most products these days totally blur the lines between the two!). For the most part, they just seem a bit like the desktop printer/fax/scanner combo — jack of all trades, master of none. I’d rather use proven, effective skincare for whatever specific concerns I have, and go for coverage in a colour that actually fits my skintone perfectly!
HAHA! I love your analogy, Teresa – desktop printer/fax/scanner – so apt! 😀 I often have trouble finding a skintone match in BB Creams which usually only come in at most 2 shades and even then, not for the very dark skinned or the very light. I think most of us will be better served using a proper foundation.
the Stila one is great, it is a 10 in 1, but the benefits are “can be used as a primer under foundation” etc, it comes in one universal shade, and I’ve only had 1 customer not match, and she was super super super dark skinned. I recommend BB creams to those that don’t want something as heavy as a foundation, or don’t want to take that much time… and I ALWAYS press the importance of a skin care routine and sunscreen
Ding ding ding! You got that right. The problem with how BB creams are marketed is the claims that it’s a cross between skincare and makeup. That it’s also sunscreen. Sorry for bursting that multi-tasking bubble but no, no and NO. BB creams are nothing more than foundations. They’re just makeup. You’ll always need a separate sunscreen and they have to be removed like makeup at the end of the day. Sometimes I feel like screaming at ridiculous claims and descriptions of BB creams (especially the ones from Asian brands). Promise us the sun and moon too, why don’t you? 😛
You know what Tine, I think the worst is when people use BB Cream IN PLACE OF sunscreen because “it has SPF50, why not?” That is the biggest mistake anyone can ever make simply because so few people tell them its not the case. The brand will happily push you the BB Cream in place of sunscreen if it’ll make them a sale. Also, when a BB Cream is placed not with makeup but with skincare, that really bugs me 😛
I’ve always treated BB creams as a very lightweight foundation. I’ve never really believed too much of any ‘benefits’ made by any company when it comes to makeup.
And that makes you very wise to see past the smokescreen 😉
Paris, I am completely with you on everything you’ve said. I myself made a post a couple of years ago warning about mistaking BB creams as sunscreen.
Truth is, a standard person needs a few millilitres of sunscreen to fully reap the benefit of one. And yet nobody puts on that much BB cream.
I really wonder how BB cream can replace skincare, oh gosh.
And yes, I dislike it when companies churn out BB after BB, and CC, and whatnot. All gimmicks.
Not that they are not good. In fact, I like the Chanel CC cream. But like you, I think BB and CC creams are grossly misrepresented. It is like a pile of words construed to glorify the product beyond what it is. Or maybe… It is just our own fault that many can be more media literate.
I still love my BB creams. And I advocate them, I mean, real traditional Korean ones, not gimmicky western ones. But that is because I have sensitive skin, and I swear that for some reason, BB creams do not irritate me the way foundations do!!
I guess it is really because BB was invented for the laser-peeled, ultra sensitive face. But foundations were not.
Then again, I also must agree with you that modern foundations are much better for sensitive skin. I can use, and actually love the UD Naked foundation.
Bottomline is, whatever these things are, they are makeup.
To be honest, not many of us will put on that much sunscreen needed for true sun protection either, and then reapply every 2 hours! I too have my favourites in the BB Cream genre but because I treat them as a makeup item, I judge them accordingly so I get it when BB Cream purists thumb their noses at me and tell me that a Western BB Cream isn’t a true BB Cream. Yet, for the most part, I’ve noticed that its the Asian brands that really tout the skincaring benefits of a BB Cream over the makeup benefits. I have no doubt they were originally manufactured to be “foundations for sensitive skin” but as far as they’ve evolved, its no longer that anymore. Who really wants to use the original thick, goopy, grey shades of BB Cream that first came out? No one, I bet!
As much as i love my bb cream i have to say that whoever thinks bb cream is a skincare is so wrong. BB cream clogged pores worst than foundation if you do not removed it properly. I use my bb cream almost everyday because yeah I am bit lazy person and I just need a little mild coverage to even out my skin tone so I look better. I don’t believe all those benefits stated on their ads because they are all the same for me. Makeup base. The only diff is only their texture and coverage. For me those whitening, hydrating etc are all hoax. But OMG! I did skipped my suncreen sometimes if I uses a bb cream with SPF 50. I shall slap my normal suncreen now if I remembered. :p
Nothing wrong with loving a BB Cream, Cynthia 🙂 I too have my faves, but I think a lot of it has to do with our expectations of it and what we understand its use to be. I tend to agree with you about BB Cream clogging pores. The reason I couldn’t use many Korean brands was for the reason they clogged my pored despite proper removal and were heavy, oily and weird coloured. And yes, don’t skip your regular sunscreen 😛
Such a good article on the how falsely BB creams are marketed. I smiled when I saw your phrase ‘Blithering Baloney’. Hahahaha. It sounds like something from Harry Potter. Lol. Laughs aside, BB or CC creams are makeup, period. We still need to use proper skincare and sunscreen before this and it needs to be remove with proper makeup remover by the end of the day.
Thank you Victoria 😀 Now that you mention it, it does sound rather Harry Potter-ish yes? 😀 I’m glad that many of us here “get it” about BB Creams and what they are and that we can’t be faffing about with them as skincare. We all deserve a pat on the back! 🙂
I’m a firm BB cream user and I agree with everything you wrote! I’ve never treated it as skincare from the very start and am flabbergasted that anyone would think it is. I still use moisturizer and sunscreen before application of the BB cream.
Many misconceptions and the eventual lamentation that come from people who claim that products don’t work for them or cause worse skin conditions are really down to that they 1. don’t read instructions or 2. don’t bother doing proper research or 3. don’t use common sense … or all of the above. I mean, for example, thinking that BB cream is skincare and not needing to be cleansed with a proper MU remover – if one bothered to test the first usage with MU remove, one would immediately notice how much gunk comes off on the cotton pad when using BB cream. How can one then surmise that BB cream is “skincare and don’t require proper cleaning”?
My choice to use BB cream is purely because I find that it sits well on my skin for coverage purposes and I can use very little of it to get the effect that I like. That’s it.
Great post, Paris!
I’m glad you enjoyed it Isabel 🙂 And I’m also glad that you saw through the smokescreen of BB Creams and recognize them for what they are! I had to laugh at your reasons for why products don’t work for some people, and you are absolutely 100% correct! I think recognizing that BB Cream has to be removed may be something some people recognise because who really wants a dirty pillow in the morning right? But the sunscreen thing really troubles me because its so convenient! And yet, it could actually do more harm to the skin.
SO TRUE!! Agree with everything you say Paris! Especially here in North America-BB Creams are just tinted moisturizers-that’s it. Nothing more.
Its not just in N. America, Tracy LOL I read in a magazine somewhere many years ago that they were called BB Creams because Koreans found it hard to pronounce tinted moisturiser or blemish balm 😛 Don’t shoot the messenger, I just read it and found it so weird!
Thanks for the timely reminder. Lots of sound information there. I love bb creams as I find that they have a more natural finish than foundations on my skin. I’m plagued with dry skin and pores 🙁 and my favourite bb cream is able to tackle that problem plus is long lasting as I perspire a lot in our humid climate.
Having said that I am guilty of skipping the sunscreen step! I thought I could skip the moisturizer step and quickly realized that the finish looked terrible…. And I never did that again. You’re totally right, it’s not even a tinted moisturizer, and the texture is pretty thick.
Because of its super strong staying power, I wasn’t comfortable using any other cleanser other than my trusty cleansing oil 🙂
What’s your favourite bb cream? If you are able to reveal, that is! mine is a famous Korean brand which comes in a pink pump bottl. 🙂
You’re welcome, Jan and I’m glad you enjoyed this little rant haha! 😀 I have to agree with you that a good BB Cream that works for your skin can look a lot more natural than a light foundation. Somehow, I find that a good one is sheer, yet covers what needs covering, whereas a sheer foundation usually doesn’t do much covering of anything. So far, the BB Creams I’ve liked using are Diorsnow BB Creme and the new Guerlain BB Cream. I can’t use Korean brands because they tend to have a grey cast that that reacts poorly with my skintone. I’ve not yet found a Korean brand I can use. Also, I don’t like the texture because again, Korean brands tend to be heavy and a bit more oily so I suppose I could try them, but they aren’t top priority for me since I don’t really care for them as skincare anyway so I just use whatever looks good on my skin 🙂
Paris you’re right as I told you in Twitter they are for me glorified moisturizers and what annoys me it’s when they start talking about how they heal skin and you can skip all your skincare routine and you say that isn’t true: they don’t believe you!
However truth be told when someone tells me she/he doesn’t use sunscreen I prefer them using a BB cream than nothing.
Gosh! Are there products that say you can skip your skincare?! I wonder what they are smoking 😛 But you are also right about the sunscreen thing. Perhaps a little protection is better than none at all 🙂
I’ve always treated BB creams as make up! I don’t think that’s ever been confused with skin care, and even so if I’m using a tinted moisturiser I still take it off when I get home! I’m actually surprised that some people think it’s ok to leave it on when you get home!
I know, Sam! It puzzles me how anyone can go out, then come home and not wash their faces. don’t they feel grimy? Well, possibly not then 😛
Totally agree with this. You only have to take a cotton pad with makeup remover/cleansing water to your face at the end of the day to know it’s makeup and not skincare–do you really want all that brown/tan/beige/grey stuff clogging your pores while you sleep? Real skincare isn’t supposed to cover anything. 🙂
Nail on head, Kari! Proper skincare does its job to protect, nourish and heal our skin. Covering it up should send warning bells that something isn’t right! I suppose if what they meant was that the base would protect your skin “like a moisturiser” maybe that might make sense but not when they claim to do evreything that a moisturiser does. Gosh!
I’m totally agreed with Paris b!!!
I treat my La Roche-Posay BB cream as a tinted sunscreen because it’s formulated as such. Lots of French pharmacy brands do tinted sunscreen.
My dermatologist told me to lighten up on the sunscreen use as it was breaking me out terribly and clogging my pores (even though it said non-comedogenic on the box!). He said it’s better to avoid the sun rather than use lots of sunscreen, unless I’m doing outdoor sports etc.
I didn’t know Guerlain was doing a BB cream! Can’t wait to see what you think of it.
I like French pharmacy brands! They make a lot of sense somehow, and don’t mess around too much, sticking to what works and what makes sense 🙂 Thankfully my skin works well with them too. Not with many of the higher end relatives though LOL! Pity we don’t get many of them here. I only just found out about Guerlain’s BB Cream when I was at the counter recently. You can imagine my surprise! It actually feels nice, if you look at it from the point of view of it being a light base 🙂
It’s funny, but i started my venture into the makeup world through BB creams. 😛 Initially to me, i used it for its sunscreen functions, so i’d use BB creams with high spf (50 and above). Moreover, it gave a natural finish and sufficient coverage to hide my teenage blemishes. However, I did not see any skincare benefits from long term usage. I was guilty of not using a proper makeup remover 😛 just used a regular cleanser at the end of the day. With hindsight, Thank God it did not give me much problems! I think i only realised that it was a makeup item when i slowly tried much thicker and higher coverage BB creams that lasted the whole day. The lighter and thinner BB creams i tried before really didn’t feel like I’ve put on makeup as they would melt away at the end of the day. From then onwards, I treated BB creams as foundations, double cleanse and use a separate sunscreen. 🙂 I still use BB creams, but now i prefer foundations that match my skintone. BB creams, i found, are harder to match and oxidises way more than foundations. I only use my high spf bb creams in place of foundation when i know i’ll be out in the sun for the day as an added protection to my usual sunscreen. 🙂
Aww Its great that you managed to venture into the world of makeup via BB Creams, Dee. It just sums up precisely what BB Creams are all about isn’t it? 🙂 Its good to know you paid attention and noticed that it needed proper removal and a proper sunscreen 😀 I actually experienced the similar things you did about BB Creams. They oxidised on me, looked grey (it was so weird!) and would be really oily on my skin. I personally found that Western brands weren’t as bad, but then purists will chastise me and say those aren’t “real” BB Creams! HAHA
I agree, BB cream is makeup, nothing else. I don’t really rely on their sunscreen (well, except on lazy days) or skincare properties, so I always make sure to remove it thoroughly at the end of the day if I’m wearing it.
Its funny how many people are willing to forgive its sun protection 🙂 I suppose I’ve been using sunscreen for so long that its now second nature to me that my routine isn’t complete if I don’t put it on in the mornings 🙂 But still, I suppose BB cream would be better than nothing!