HAUL: MORE BB CREAMS (SKIN79), CLINIQUE & THE BALM

How I wish I was attending the upcoming London Fashion Week - I had such a great time in September and I wish I could enjoy it every season, every year for the rest of my life!

Apart from a flying visit to London (which is happening soon), I will be in Asia until at least the summer and I miss the UK awfully already! I will be spending much of the coming month in Beijing, China which may mean that I can't spend much time online. However, if I do manage to get connected then I may have more time to blog again.

I don't mean to be dreary at all, just feeling a bit nervous about everything. I'll be staying on campus at a local university doing a course and I'll be excited to be in Beijing again and to be blogging from there!

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Back to beauty...

You didn't think that I'd be content with trying just ONE BB cream, did you?!

Scroll down to a few posts below to find my review of my first BB cream purchase (the Sasatinnie Sakura BB Cream) as well as a general overview of what BB creams are.

Hong Kong is a cosmetics wonderland and when I saw these two shiny cylinders of Skin79 BB creams I HAD to pick them up. My decision was also made much easier by the fact that the gorgeous Ingrid of missglamorazzi uses the pink version on a daily basis! The two TheBalm items were impulse purchases (sucked in by that packaging again) and the Clinique sunscreen is nothing too exciting but I was on the lookout for something I could wear on my off-days that would give me some UV protection.

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SWATCHES
(L-R)

Skin79 VIP Gold collection BB cream (Pewter packaging)
Skin79 Triple function Hot Pink BB cream (Pink packaging)
TheBalm Bahama Mama bronzing powder
TheBalm Time Balm concealer in Light/Clair

I didn't swatch the Clinique sunblock as it does not really give any coverage at all - it is just a slightly yellow/beige tinted lotion that spreads out to give the TINIEST HINT of colour and a subtle glow to the face. I have been using as a base for foundations that have no/insufficient SPF as well as just an SPF in general!


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REVIEWS

Skin79 VIP Gold collection BB cream (Pewter packaging)
& Skin79 Triple function Hot Pink BB cream (Pink packaging)

If you google these BB creams, you will undoubtedly find a plethora of information regarding all the bells and whistles that come with them including whitening and moisturising effects, sun protection, foundation-like coverage, gold and caviar extracts (VIP Gold), sunflower, rice bran and ivy extracts (Hot Pink), etc etc. In my opinion this is mainly marketing puff and I'm going to focus on my experience of using the creams themselves rather than whether they live up to all these hyped up expectations!

Skin79 is a famous brand of BB cream originating from Korea and is known as the Queen of BB Creams because of its extensive range of products and its celebrity endorsements. Not to mention an endorsement from Ingrid of MissGlamorazzi herself :)

Skin79 suggests the VIP Gold BB cream for people with dryer skins and the Hot Pink one for people with an oilier skin. Personally I find this to be correct as the Gold feels more moisturising and looks dewy whilst the Hot Pink one dries to more of a matte finish (as long as you use a non-greasy oil controlling moisturiser!).

I have included a chart issued by Skin79 to help you figure out where these two BB creams sit amongst their wide range of similar products. They both come in a cylindrical packaging and the product is dispensed by pressing the top down and pumping it out.


- Texture -

The texture of these BB creams is fairly thick, similar to the MAC Studio Tint tinted moisturiser or (more crudely) toothpaste. The cream is thick enough to hold its shape when you pump it onto your finger (i.e. doesn't slide around or plop off).

- Colour -

The 2 BB creams are actually very similar in colour but this VIP Gold one is ever-so-slightly darker. As you can see from the picture above, both of them pull VERY BEIGE, which did alarm me when I first pumped the product out! BB creams generally only come in 1 universal shade (sometimes they range to 3 shades) which is definitely something the market could improve on in general if they wanted to truly compete with the foundation market. At the moment these are equivalent to tinted moisturisers that only come in 1 tint!

- Application -

Upon application to the skin, both of the creams spread out easily and help to even out my skintone. They do not cover up all my blemishes and I need to conceal a bit further - however, you only need a small amount to give a good amount of coverage. I have a yellow-toned skin and upon initial blending, these look VERY VERY PINK on my skin, but they adapt to my skin within 30 minutes or so and are virtually undetectable - no cakeyness here!

EXTRA: I picked up a cute technique for application from a Skin79 video on youtube that would work great for combination skins - apply the more moisturising VIP Gold BB cream all over the face then use the Hot Pink BB Cream on the T-zone to mattify slightly. I have been using this technique and it works great!

- Repurchase? -

I will definitely be repurchasing these, particularly the Hot Pink one but preferably both of them as I think they work well together. I am also intruiged by the rest of the Skin79 range.

Normally, I WOULD say that I would not recommend these 2 particular creams to anyone above NC40 as it may be difficult to blend the light beige cream in successfully. HOWEVER!!! I have used both of these creams on my mum (who is around an NC37) and they blend to an imperceptible and perfect finish on her face, despite looking MUCH lighter than her skin when I first applied it. Very impressed so far!

TheBalm Bahama Mama bronzing powder

Despite how dark this looks in the pan and in the swatch, it is actually a really natural bronzer and applies smoothly to give a warmth to the face. I actually prefer light brown and slightly sparkly bronzers but I am using this to contour lightly and it works well!

TheBalm Time Balm concealer in Light/Clair

Another deceiving swatch - this looks almost salmon pink (much more pink than in my photo) on my hand when I swatch it! However, it blends in GORGEOUSLY with my skin and is creamy and moisturising but surprisingly long-lasting despite its emoillient texture. I use it both for undereye circles and blemishes and it works brilliantly on both! This won't last for hours and hours like some truly long-lasting concealers will but it will never cause flaky patches or sink into the lines under your eyes and I would personally rather top my concealer up once during the day than look flaky and crusty right from the start!

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Phew!!! I hope that was helpful :) If you have any questions then don't hesitate to ask them! I'd love to hear from you guys.

You can also email me or tweet me at http://www.twitter.com/geisharocks.

Love,
Geisha
xoxo