What is BB Cream?

Long after we’ve all grown up, we still have our fads. If you’ve never thought about it like that before, then let me be the one to break it to you. Makeup, beauty and fashion fads are not that different to the fads you went through in school. 

BB cream seem to pop up without warning and it was hard to tell what brand had the original. For the first few months that it hits the beauty headlines, no-one is even quite sure what BB cream is, but we all buy a bottle because we figure there must be something different about it.We're left wondering whether BB is actually some intriguing new ingredient, discovered to make us look more beautiful perhaps?  And sadly, we’re all too unsure to be the one to say ‘what the heck is BB cream?’. Just like a fad at school, we don’t want to be faced with those stunned looks, the shock and horror on everyone’s faces when we admit we don’t know what BB cream is!

Ok, so it sounds like I’m picking on BB cream a little, let me give credit where credits due before this tangent about beauty fads loses its meaning.

What does the BB stand for?

As far as my research can tell me, BB stands for beauty balm. Something to do with being an all rounder skin care and foundation, which was originally designed as a sort of post-skin peel foundation. I’m no chemist. And in the spirit of always being honest with you, I don’t even know that much about makeup ingredients. But most makeup artists don’t. We know what textures works best on the skin, what tones look good and how to best apply a foundation to make your skin smooth and glowy. But as far as the chemistry of makeup I’m pretty clueless. And I don’t mind admitting it because let me assure you I’d love to know more, and I am continually investigating as best I can.

What is it used for?

BUT, you ask, what is BB cream? Well from my experience with the product, the texture is no different to tinted moisturiser and the coverage is about the same too.  It depends a lot on what brand you buy – I tried Garnier, just to see what it was all about, and I wasn’t phased at all. But I also don’t usually bother with tinted moisturisers.

So is it any different to tinted moisturise? Again, we’d all need a chemistry lesson to know for sure. But from an application perspective, no, not really. I think perhaps BB cream is supposed to have more skin care benefits – or so my research tells me. But once you hype up a product, most brands want in on the action, (and quick!), so there’s a good chance you’re not buying anything that different to a tinted moisturiser.

Invest or not? If you want very minimal coverage (you get just enough tint out of it to give your skin a bit of color, but coverage will be very low) then go for it. Or, you could just buy a good quality tinted moisturiser.  

Love to hear your thoughts too if you've got a BB cream you love, or are a chemist and can teach me a thing or two - go ahead and share below!

Vanessa