We are all aware that skin care changes as the seasons do. In the winter, it’s important to load up on moisturizers to avoid flaky, chapped skin. The same occurs in the spring and summer. Though it’s never a great idea to remove moisturizers from your skin care routine, it’s important to take note of how your skin changes in warm weather.
If your skin is oily, combination or acne-prone, you may notice that it’s tough to leave home in the warm weather without returning looking as if you’ve basically spent 12 hours melting your face off. Avoiding a sweaty face can be annoying and may even seem impossible. Even with all the primers, matte foundations and blotting papers, your oil production could still go from 0 to 100 real quick. That’s where BB creams come in.
What is BB cream?
BB creams are a step beyond tinted moisturizers as they offer more beauty benefits. Benefits range from anti-aging to evening skin to even fighting acne. Most provide SPF protection, but you may still want to work in some sunscreen if the coverage falls below 30 or if you’re only applying a thin layer of the best BB cream to your face.
Can we use BB cream instead of foundation?
Once oil enters the picture during the warmer months, an invitation goes out to blemishes to come have a party on your face. A party that can last days, weeks or even months. Since no one wants that, it’s important to transition and train your skin. Our solution has always been lightening our everyday coverage. Lightweight foundations may not be as heavy as your go-to formulas, but they still pack pore-clogging ingredients. BB creams are usually a better option. Though many are made with silicone, most are oil-free and they’re more lightweight than the lightest foundation on the market.
Can you use BB cream every day?
BB creams can be worn daily just like your fave foundation. Just make sure you pick the right one. Since all skin types aren’t the same, neither are BBs. They’re not just for the oily-skinned looking to lighten coverage and reduce pore clogging, there are also some formulated to soothe sensitive skin, hydrate dry skin, smooth textured skin and rejuvenate mature skin. The best part about them all is that they’re formulated to prime, moisturize, protect and perfect skin, thus canceling out the many products applied to your face daily.
Can you use BB cream and concealer?
BB cream coverage ranges from light to full with many being moderate. The more you layer it, the more coverage you’ll receive, but since you’ll be treating your skin in the process, the fear of wearing too much shouldn’t exist. We don’t recommend layering it under foundation or adding concealer on top as it’ll beat the purpose of limiting the amount of gunk that goes into your pores, but if going solo isn’t your thing, brushing a finishing powder on top should give you the coverage you need.
What are the best BB creams?
Key ingredients to look for in the best BB creams are antioxidants, such as vitamins C, A and E to help reduce wrinkles and even skin tone, hyaluronic acid for hydration and SPF to protect skin from the sun’s rays. There are even brands that add little extras, like light diffusers, a bouquet of floral extracts and even brand-developed technologies.
What are the best BB creams for oily skin?
The best BB cream for oily skin should feature ingredients designed to soak up as much oil as possible, leaving even acne-prone skin a smooth canvas. La Roche-Posay even developed its own technology called Airlicium that absorbs 150 times its weight in oil to make sure the oiliest complexions stay perfectly matte.
What are the best BB creams for dry skin?
When it comes to supplying moisture, the best BB cream for dry skin should boast ingredients that promote and retain hydration. Take Bobbi Brown’s BB cream; it contains water-attracting molecules to not only increase moisture levels but actually keep them high throughout the day.
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Coola Rōsilliance Organic BB+ Cream SPF 30
Here are the best BB creams for a whole host of skin issues.
- Bobbi Brown
- Burberry
- Smashbox
- La Roche-Posay
- Dior
- Kiehl’s
- Missha
- COOLA
- Erborian
- Clinique
- Dr.Jartt
- Estée Lauder
- Maybelline
- MAC
- Tarte
To see which works best for your skin concern, here are the products with the best BB cream reviews that’ll give you ageless, blemish-free, dewy skin this season.
[ CC Cream vs. BB Cream: Which Miracle Product Should You Be Using? ]
Best/Worst BB cream update (new)
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Best: Bobbi Brown
BB Cream SPF 35, $46 at Sephora
Why we love it: This best BB cream for dry skin boasts water-attracting molecules to boost hydration. While the uptick in moisture is pretty awesome, this multitasker has even more beauty benefits. Its light-reflective pearls brighten things up, caffeine teams up with botanical extracts to tackle discoloration and redness plus pore-refining peptides help minimize the appearance of fine lines and fight wrinkles. Bobbi Brown also made sure to include SPF 35 sun protection as well as an extended range of shades.
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Best: Burberry
Fresh Glow B.B. Cream Luminous Skin Perfecting Beauty Balm SPF 20, $44 at Bloomingdale’s
Why we love it: A best BB cream with a springy scent, Burberry’s entry is just as refined as its clothes. Complete with a signature scent comprised of an English blend of rosehip, tea and lavender, the complex is guaranteed to perk up complexions thanks to light diffusers that produce a dewy glow. It not only immediately enhances skin's radiance and tone, the BB cream also has you covered with broad spectrum SPF 20.
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Best: Smashbox
Camera Ready BB Cream SPF 35, $42 at Smashbox
Why we love it: With one of the most inclusive shade ranges in the BB business, Smashbox’s camera-ready cream is a five-in-one miracle worker. This best BB cream for oily skin banishes shine for a smooth canvas for whatever comes next (or you can simply rock it solo). In addition to cutting down prep time, it reduces the look of fine lines and wrinkles in as little as four weeks plus it protects skin from future damage with SPF 35.
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Best: La Roche-Posay
Effaclar BB Blur, $29.99 at La Roche-Posay
Why we love it: If your complexion is acne-prone, this is the product for you. Relying on Airlicium that absorbs 150 times its weight in oil, this best BB cream for oily skin will create a prime matte backdrop as it camouflages redness and pimples (and it won’t trigger new breakouts). It also contains vitamin A to encourage cellular regeneration while the rich formula blurs large pores and reflects light for a selfie-ready visage.
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Best: Dior
Hydra Life BB Creme, $60 at Dior
Why we love it: While we’re not exactly loving the price, Dior’s BB offering was developed with a little help from its makeup artists and has a covetable featherweight texture. And it’s the perfect BB cream for spring since its serum relies on a trilogy of flower extracts from the Dior gardens. Jisten kicks moisture levels up, mallow stimulates the renewal of epidermal cells and centella brings back skin's bounce by activating collagen synthesis.
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Best: Kiehl's
BB Cream - Actively Correcting and Beautifying With SPF 50 PA+++, $38 at Kiehl's
Why we love it: Sunscreen is a key component of the best BB creams, but Kiehl's takes the cake when it comes to protection with a whopping broad spectrum SPF 50 formula. The dual-action cream conceals imperfections and actually corrects skin tone irregularities. Its high level of vitamin C helps on that front. Plus, the cream leaves out pesky parabens, fragrances, silicones and mineral oils, making it safe for even the most sensitive complexions.
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Best: Missha
M Perfect Cover BB Cream SPF 42 PA+++, $22 at Target
Why we love it: K-beauty favorite Missha boasts a best-selling BB cream, which was developed using the regenerative properties from salves used for laser treatment patients. The cosmetics-meets-skin-care formula provides medium to full coverage with benefits like UV protection and dark spot correction.
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Best: COOLA
Rōsilliance Organic BB+ Cream SPF 30, $52 at Sephora
Why we love it: Looking for barely-there makeup coverage that evens skin tone? Look no further than this mostly-organic formula, which boasts a proprietary bouquet of rose stem cells to achieve soft, moisturized and youthful-looking skin while protecting it with SPF 30.
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Best: Erborian
BB Crème au Ginseng, $39 at Sephora
Why we love it: It may only come in three shades, but this newcomer makes the dullest of complexions glow from within with just a small application. Made with ginseng, this silky cream hydrates like no other and plumps skin for a luminescent finish.
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Best: Clinique
Acne Solutions BB Cream Broad Spectrum SPF 40, $39 at Clinique
Why we love it: This noncomedogenic blemish balm is truly a savior for the pimple prone. The salicylic acid helps combat zits as well as conceal them.
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Best: Dr.Jart+
Black Label Detox BB Beauty Balm, $36 at Sephora
Why we love it: This hard-working best BB cream brightens your complexion with arbutin, tightens with collagen, moisturizes with chamomile and shields your visage from the sun with titanium dioxide.
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Worst: L'Oréal Paris
Magic BB Cream, $7.99 at Target
Reviewers weren't too pleased with how cakey this balm was and several mentioned how orange the light shade looked once applied.
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Best: Estée Lauder
DayWear Anti-Oxidant Beauty Benefit BB Creme SPF 35, $43 at Estée Lauder
Why we love it: This best BB cream provides oil-free hydration while controlling skin’s excess sebum to effectively minimize shine and breakouts.
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Best: Maybelline
Dream Pure BB Cream, $7.39 at Target
Why we love it: The 2 percent salicylic acid makes it easy to layer on without the fear of seeing a new breakout once you wash it off. The matte finish ensures you can go the entire day without a sweaty face.
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Best: MAC
Prep + Prime BB Beauty Balm SPF 35, $31 at MAC Cosmetics
Why we love it: Aside from being available in 12 shades, this best BB cream will leave even the driest skin moisturized for a full day.
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Best: Tarte
Amazonian Clay BB Tinted Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 20, $36 at Sephora
Why we love it: This best BB cream is oil-free, making it suitable for all skin types without clogging pores, it's formulated with chamomile to soothe sensitive skin and it diffuses the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles leaving an even, natural finish.