BB Creams - Asian Edition

L to R: Missha, BRTC, Clinique

Today I wanted to talk a little about BB creams. I know, they're old news, but hey, I didn't have a beauty blog when they first came out! I've already mentioned before that I'm not a huge fan of Asian ones because of the whole single color thing, but here is my collection.

BRTC Aqua Rush Water Drop BB Cream SPF 28 - BRTC is a popular Korean brand, well known for their wide variety of BB creams. You can buy their products online at Sasa.com or Amazon for between $20 and $30 or at the official BRTCstore.com for $35. I think I got mine at a Sasa store in Hong Kong for about $20. 

The Aqua Rush Water Drop BB Cream claims to "release moisture drops to provide ample hydration and help relieve skin sensitiveness for a more vibrant and flawless makeup look."

I like the texture of this BB cream and it gives medium coverage and a nice dewy, radiant finish. However, the color doesn't work for me at all! It is far too light and a little bit gray. I can't use it because I end up looking like a ghost!

Clinique Age Defense BB Cream SPF 30 - You're probably thinking "Clinique isn't as Asian brand!" but I bought mine in a two pack at the HK airport and it says "formulated for Asian skins" on the back. Is this true? Is there a difference? I don't really know! But I'm looking on the Clinique website and the US version comes in 3 shades, while I'm pretty sure the Asian version only came in one. 

This one claims to "conceal, hydrate, help prevent premature signs of aging with UVA/UVB protection. Optics instantly help reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles. Special ingredients help defend against environmental aggressors and soothe skin. Long-wearing, oil-control formula works beautifully under-foundation or alone. Skin feels soft, smooth. Looks brighter, perfected."

That's quite the mouthful! This one is sheerer than the BRTC and as you can see from the swatch above, it is also quite a bit pinker. It's still a bit too light for my skin tone, but it's a little easier to pull off because it doesn't pull as gray on me. You can buy the US version at clinque.com or at Clinique counters for $37. Is it just me or does this seem a bit pricey for Clinique?

Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream SPF 42 - I received this in a Glossybox, but honestly I considered purchasing it before. I got really lucky and received the perfect shade, No. 31 - Golden Beige (also the darkest shade!). Unlike the other two, the Perfect Cover BB Cream comes in 5 shades suitable for very light to medium skin tones.

The Missha M Perfect Cover BB Cream "offers a novel skincare concept with BB Cream, which lightens skin tone by healing visible wrinkles and blemishes with excellent skin-cover ability and prevents skin aging through effective whitening and anti-wrinkle properties."

I don't know about the whitening and anti-wrinkle stuff, but the color works really well for me and I do get a really nice perfected look. I also love the high SPF factor of 42! This retails on the Missha website for $29.99, but they ALWAYS have sales (right now it's 30% off). 

Well, those are all my BB creams! I used to have the SKIN79 Gold Beblesh Balm (wtf is a beblesh??), but that was also waaaay too light and gray. I ended up passing it on to my grandma and she seems happy with it. Maybe next I'll do a post on tinted moisturizers (my fave!) or foundations (once I get some more). Do you like BB creams?

September Glossybox

I am so so so so soooo excited about the September Glossybox! Glossybox is my favorite beauty box and even though it is the most expensive, I also feel that you really get your moneys worth. It is $21/month, but in California you have to pay sales tax, so it comes out to just over $23. It is still WELL worth it and I am psyched to share with you what I received:

GKHair Moisturizing Shampoo & Conditioner (full size $20) - These were the items that I was the most "meh" about. I pretty unfussy about my shampoo and conditioner, probably because my hair is generally quite well behaved and I've never really been wowed by a shampoo. These smell quite nice though so I'm sure they will be good for travel.

Koh Gen Do Cleansing Spa Water (full size $13) - I am so happy that I received this! I started snooping online at other people's boxes and noticed that someone received this, but most others got some kind of mattifier. Well, I really wanted to try a cleansing water like Bioderma, but couldn't bring myself to buy one until I used up my current eye makeup remover. Now I got one for free!! (well sorta, you know).

Kryolan for Glossybox Moisture Rich Lipstick in Glossy Pink (full size $14) - Pretty nice lipstick in a rosy pink shade. I don't think this is a color I would have picked for myself, but it'll work.

Missha M Perfect Cover BB Cream SPF 42 (full size $29.99) - I actually almost purchased this, but then I remembered that I had given up on Asian BB creams. Most of them are just too darn light for my skin color and give me a bad case of the ghost face. However, the Missha BB cream comes in 5 shades and the shade I received, 31 Golden Beige, is the darkest. I saw that some people received shade 21, which would have been waaay too light for me so I was hoping and praying that I would get 31! I guess I just got lucky because Glossybox doesn't ask about your skin tone.

Anyway, a lot of stuff to be excited about! I might do a more in depth review after giving some of these products a go. I was also really happy because on the tracking info it originally said that the box would be arriving Oct 3-4 which really annoyed me. I don't really understand their shipping system and it annoys me to no end when I see that it takes over a week to get to LA from Las Vegas!