beautiful face

BB creams are the b-b-best! // Boots’ 17 BB Blemish Balm hits the beauty spot

WTF is a BB cream? I pondered, when I first heard about them, late last summer. I assumed the Big Brother franchise had brought out a range of cosmetics and didn’t think much more of it. Silly me. Turns out BB creams, have naff all to do with Big Brother, BBLM, BB King or even Blackberries. It has taken me until now to realise this.

BB actually stands for ‘blemish balm’ and is a type of nifty new cosmetic/skincare hybrid that reckons it’s a moisturiser, sun block, primer AND foundation all in one. Shit a brick!

beautiful face

These are things BB creams do doubly well:

  • Brightens skin like a primer
  • Evens out complexion like a lightweight foundation
  • Covers blemishes like a concealer
  • Hydrating properties of a moisturise
  • Soothes skin like an anti-inflammatory
  • Offers UV protection like suncream
  • Contains the sort of anti-ageing ingredients more commonly found in serums
  • Floats like a butterfly
  • Stings like a bee

Essentially, they’re the Swiss Army knives of the beauty industry < I may have nicked that quote from somewhere but cannot recall where.

BB creams are all the rage in Korea, where they make-up (every pun intended; it’s me after all) 13% of cosmetic sales. Being a massive beauty cynic – a) I wouldn’t ever dream of shelling out muchas moolah for a face cream and b) I never believe the hype until proven otherwise – I was already to dismiss BB creams as fancy tinted moisturisers with hefty price tags.

That is until I spotted Boots’ 17 BB Blemish Balm – ‘All In One Magic Make-up. SPF 25’, for the very purse friendly price of £6.99 (plus, I got my Advantage points, natch).

Boots 17 BB cream

Magic make-up? Magic fucking make-up?! I was getting ready to give BB creams the HH (heave-ho) unless a genie appeared from my nostril upon application but then something strange occurred. It actually bloody worked.

Now, not sure I need to state the obvious here, but you get what you pay for – it’s a £7 cream fer Chrissakes, so you’re not going to get the coverage offered by pricier alternatives BUT! I’ve been using it on top of my moisturiser for a week or so now and have definitely noticed a difference – in fact (and I shit ye not), I’ve even had several people compliment me on my ‘glowing complexion’ (one cheeky bastard asked me if I was up the duff; my response certainly made them ‘glow’ beetroot red…).

It won’t cover evil red spots (you’ll still need a heavy duty concealer for those little blighters  – or a blow torch) but some of the magical beans in the ingredient list have certainly reduced my skin’s oil-slick-like tendencies. The light formulation glides on a treat, adding radiance and offering lovely sheer coverage.

madge

If you’re after Halle Berry style Hollywood skin, then Boots’ 17 BB Blemish Balm is not The One. However, if you want to Photoshop your face in real life by evening out skin tone with subtle, sheer coverage then this will be the best seven sheets you’ve ever spent in your life.

The only negative thing for me is the size of the tube – it’s on the small side – and coverage doesn’t last all day so you’ll need to reapply at some point during the day, but hey! Have you tried any BB creams yet? Espesh the more expensive versions? Thoughts anyone?

  • Comments

  • avatar
    Paula

    I have the Garnier version – I’m pretty impressed with it so far!

    • avatar
      Natalie

      Ahhh, really? Am thinking of ‘upgrading’ to that one when my cheap-as-chips version runs out. Which will be in approx one day as it’s so bleedin’ small! How big is the Garnier one?

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