BB doesn't always stand for boobies

Asian beauty products have long been amazeballs and putting "Western World" beauty products to shame!  One that is particularly attracting attention as of late is the BB Cream.

BB stands for Beauty Balm.  It is basically an Asian tinted moisturizer; proposing to replace your moisturizer, concealer, foundation, and sunscreen, with a single product.  There are tons of BB cream brands and types out there in Asian markets--and now, mass North American markets too (including drug stores)!  See Musings of a Muse for her kickass detailed post answering "what is a BB cream?"

Unfortunately, I am not rich enough and too stingy to buy a bunch of BB creams that are $30 each... so, I can only speak of my experiences with two BB creams:

DR. JARDT+ Waterfuse Beauty Balm SPF 25 PA++

This is a Korean brand.  It is a water based BB cream, which is a bit of an oxymoron in its name as a cream.  As mentioned in my previous post, I have oil-prone skin that is super sensitive... so, I definitely did not want a product that was too rich in creamy texture.  I also figured that any water based product would be less likely to clog my pores.

This product is very light in texture.  Some users might think it's too watery and not enough coverage.  I would agree that it is on the lighter side of coverage; however, for someone, like myself, who rarely uses foundation as anything more than just a spot concealer, it is perfect.

What I like about this product:

• Very easy to spread
• Very little product is required to cover the entire face
• Easily matches to the natural skin colour
• I cannot feel it on the skin, at all

What sucks about this product:

• It costs $32 USD!  Dr. Jardt+ isn't on Canadian Sephora shelves, so I had to order this online... which made it $33.60 CAD after conversion.  For 1.7 oz of product, that sucks major balls.  Thank goodness, I only need a pea sized amount of product for coverage over my entire face (that shit really spreads well).
• It has the sunscreen smell.  It's a light scent, so, I'm not hating it... I just don't love it.

CLINIQUE Age Defense BB Cream SPF 30

This is an actual cream based BB cream.  It is quite thick, and not as smooth to spread as the Dr. Jardt+ one above.  Its sunscreen smell is strong too.  Combining the smell and texture, it actually reminds me of an actual sunscreen.

I really don't like this BB cream, so I really don't have anything good to say about this product.  I think it might suit someone who regularly puts on foundation (as a foundation's function, and not spot concealer), has dry skin, and wants medium to full coverage.

I bought this in one of the duty free shops at Chicago's O'Hare airport last July.  I think it was $26.50 USD.  They didn't have two tints at the time, but looking at swatches, I think I have 01, which is described to be for very light to fair skin.  I think what adds to my dislike for the product is that I'm slightly darker than 01, but way lighter than 02.

***

I am not comfortable enough to post pictures of both BB creams on my face... but I basically dot very, very little product on my forehead, cheeks, nose, and chin.  See Jennifer's (From Head To Toe) recent BB cream application tutorial video.

To give you an idea of how they dry and eventually look on your face, I did quite a bit of drag and spread in my swatches below.  The top swatch is the Clinique one, and the bottom swatch is the Dr. Jardt+ one.  I did not spread the top of either swatches, to show what the product looks like straight from the tube.  The mid-sections of either swatches show spreading for the product.  The lower sections of either swatches show the dried product.  As you can see from the swatches below, Clinique dries much much much slower than the Dr. Jardt+ one, because of its thicker, cream based formula.

(Sorry for the bad lighting of my iPhone4 ghetto picture... it doesn't do justice to the Dr. Jardt+ one.  It seems to make it look more yellow and darker, such that, it doesn't seem to match my skin tone.)

(Top:  Clinique Age Defense BB Cream; Bottom:  Dr. Jardt+ Waterfuse Beauty Balm)

Overall, I think it's pretty obvious that I hate the Clinique one.  I'm not certain on whether or not I would repurchase the Dr. Jardt+ one, because of its price tag.
I've heard good reviews about Skin79, and I see that they have a water based one (Shiny Pearl Water Drop).  Maybe I'll try that one.

What are your experiences with BB creams?  I'm very new to Asian beauty products... Any recommendations on BB creams or any other Asian beauty products would be awesome!

M.