I have recently KonMari’ed my home to great effect. I thoroughly enjoyed my “tidying festival” but following her advice to keep similar things in the same place, I discovered just how many tinted moisturisers I actually own. It wouldn’t be so bad if I hadn’t opened and part used them all.
I include BB Creams in this category because they are essentially tinted moisturisers with good PR. Having said that, I never use them without a moisturiser underneath. I wear them in place of foundation, mostly on weekends or when the weather is very hot (i.e. usually abroad).
I currently have 6 on the go and here’s a rundown of my thoughts about them.
Garnier Skin Perfector All-in-One Daily BB Cream SPF 15 – Medium
This was the first BB Cream I bought but it really makes my skin look far too shiny. Like all BB Creams, it is supposed to even skin tone and blur imperfections but doesn’t provide me with enough coverage. The one plus point is that is it feels very moisturising, unlike a lot of tinted moisturisers/BB Creams. I tend to use it when I’ve been out late the night before and my skin is feeling really dehydrated.
Estee Lauder DayWear Antioxidant Beauty Benefit Creme SPF 35 – Medium
Unlike a lot of BB Creams, this one is pretty much matte on me. It’s also verging on light make-up so I wear it to work on days I don’t have the energy or the time for proper make-up application. It does have quite a strong cucumber scent which doesn’t bother me too much but I could do without it. I love the SPF 35 and wore it in Vienna last summer when the temperature was edging up to 40 degrees C.
Me in beautiful but scorching hot Vienna
Olay Total Effects 7-in-1 Touch of Sunshine Moisturiser – Medium, SPF 12
I thought I’d cracked it when I found this moisturiser on the high street. It’s anti-ageing and contains sunless tanner so I would never need to worry about looking pallid again. However, my friend and beauty role-model, Birgit, advised me to embrace my natural skin tone and she was quite right. I won’t miss the awful strawberry/biscuit smell, that’s for sure.
Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser SPF 20, Illuminating – Natural Radiance
Laura Mercier is the brand which brought the tinted moisturiser to my attention in the first place and now offers a range of formulations and shades. This one gets the job done very nicely. It illuminates thanks to its “Dewy Complex” but isn’t too shiny. It provides some coverage, although it is buildable. I like it but it doesn’t wow me.
Decleor Hydra Floral BB Cream SPF 15 – Medium
I have actually had compliments on my skin while wearing this one so it’s currently my favourite. It illuminates beautifully but in a nice glowy way, not an odd, shiny way. My skin tends to look very dull so this is a huge positive for me. If I’m not wearing make-up people tend to ask if I’m feeling okay.
Vichy Idealia BB Cream – Medium, SPF 25
I hear good things about Vichy’s Idealia range. Their BB Cream veers more towards the moisturiser end of the BB spectrum as opposed to the make-up end. It’s nice and hydrating but I don’t see anywhere near the positive effect on my complexion as I do with the Decleor. I put it in the same category as the Garnier.
![20160312_111721[1]](https://abottledrose.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/20160312_1117211.jpg?w=500)
My current “collection” of tinted moisturisers and BB Creams.
Do you wear tinted moisturisers or BB Creams? Any to recommend?
Do you buy the same beauty product again before you’ve run out?
A Bottled Rose 
The only BB I have ever used is a bb pistol and I guess that does not count.
I always use foundation. Armani, Mercier, and at the moment, the Bobbi Brown stick. The one we bought together. It is excellent. I would repurchase all three again. I a tually have my third bottle of Armani on the go.
I have never been interested in th BB creams. I like a decent coverage and a very good primer. (Mercier). Do not like to shine or look dewy. I use powder and always have a packet of MAC blotting papers in my bag.
However, I will grab a BB sample next tim I am somewhere and just see ….. ❤️
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I hear such great things about the Armani and I know B is a fan. I guess if you’re happy wearing foundation you wouldn’t need to bother with BB Creams. I just don’t like wearing it on the weekends and find it slips off in hot weather. So happy the Bobbi Brown stick foundation was such a great buy for you.
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Ha! Glad to see I’m not the only one hoarding stuff. Although, to be honest, I’m working on that. Well, through that – I’m trying to use all my body creams before buying new ones.
As for Bb creams (or tinted moisturizers), I don’t really use them much, just the occasional sample I get. The problem is I can’t seem to get it into my regime. I use serum and cream on my face so one more cream seems like overkill but if I skip my normal cream and use BB instead, it feels like cheating and putting foundation without proper preparation.
How do you apply it? Am I going the wrong way about it?
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Never put anything on without prepping the skin first is the rule I have always followed. Moisturiser always. 😉
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Yep, totally agree CQ.
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Hey Ines,
I use a serum and moisturiser and then the BB Cream. I doesn’t feel like too much because I’m substituting it for my foundation. I really treat it like make-up rather than skincare. I wouldn’t skip your normal moisturiser even though that’s the way they’re marketed. I agree it doesn’t feel like your’re prepping the skin enough and is unlikely to give you the skincare benefits your normal moisturiser does. Maybe thinking of it as make-up well help?
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I always use foundation, like Val, and at the moment I’m quite taken with Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua. I like sheer to medium coverage at most, and this one is feather light and lets my natural skin and glow come through. I don’t mind some dewiness. It has a tendency to look just a tiny bit too shiny though after a few hours so I’m looking for a nice, light powder. I might try Chanel again for that. Also I’m very interested in their new Les Beiges Foundation, it received great reviews. Recently I was thinking of trying a tinted moisturiser for summer and I think I’ll give Nars new Velvet Matte Tinted Moisturiser a go. Have you tried it Tara?
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Hi Ana Maria,
I haven’t tried the new Nars TM but sounds perfect for the matte look. I think i need a bit of dewiness as my skin can look very flat. I think tinted moisturisers are great for summer when it’s hard to keep a foundation from sliding off unless you apply (and re-apply) powder.
I’m sure the Chanel powder would be a good bet for your
Vitalumiere Aqua and you get the exact colour match.
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Bobbi Brown compact powder is fantastic.
So is the loose Laura Mercier.
On my face at least. 😃
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Haha, I can relate to the hoarding similar products conundrum, and some things are harder to ditch than others. That said, I used to own the Garnier BB one you mention – I blogged about it in 2011 when the category was relatively new, so I was quite impressed at the lightness and easy of absorption, however, the greasy feeling you touch on and which I felt a bit at the time, bugged me more and more as time went by, and this one has now gone. Plus the colours aren’t very extensive.
I also bought a Bourjois CC cream I saw Lisa E had recommended, but from memory I think I had the same oily and colour issues there, though maybe the colour was a better match actually. Anyway, it has also gone.
The one I own and use – more in summer because of its superior SPF of 30 – is a Paula’s Choice product, the name of which escapes me because they are all so long!
And I do have a sample of a Nars tinted moisturiser that I was pretty impressed by – can’t remember what SPF that was.
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Yes, that Garnier one was a big hit on the high street when it first came out.
Oh I wonder what that Paula’s Choice product is. I have a terrible time with the names too. They are not only long but similar to one another. I have her moisturiser with the tint in it but that’s just to counteract the white cast caused by the mineral sunscreen. I don’t feel it gives any coverage.
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I have many sins, but hoarding tinted moisturisers is not one of them ö)
I used Laura Mercier religiously for years, but switched to Nars after a make up consultation at Space NK and doubt I will go back, because it suits my combination skin better and the colour is a very good match. (SPF 25, Vanessa, I think your sample came from me). BBs I liked were from Bourjois and REN.
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Sabine, that’s the second recommendation I’ve had for the NARS one. Should I ever get through all 7 (I found another one over the weekend) I shall give it a go.
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Hey Tara,
BB Creams etc are a bit too light on for my heavy duty beauty needs. You always look radiantly beautiful and slightly ethereal to me so whatever you are doing is working.
Portia xx
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Hey Portia!
You always say the nicest things.
I can see BB Creams/TMs wouldn’t cut it in your line of work. You should do a beauty tutorial one day.
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I’m pretty sure, “Mix in wheelbarrow, apply with shovel and trowel for the close work”, “To set beat your face with powder and puff” or “It’s never enough, keep applying till neon bright” wouldn’t cut it in a beauty review.
Portia xx
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Hahahaha! But a video tutorial would be fun! I love the way you make-up your beautiful eyes.
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Interesting post, Tara. I have just bought a BB cream from Revlon but don’t know yet if it is any good. I tend to prefer liquid foundation since it gives some coverage and at the same time is easy to apply evenly with a sponge or brush. I sort of think I will not be able to skip mosturiser, so trying a BB cream is mostly because I want to know what they can do. I have not had any luck with the Garnier product, tested several times since it first came out.
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Hi Ingeborg,
I also use liquid foundation during the week or if going out for the evening on weekends. I find it easier to blend too.
BB Creams can give you a nice glow and provide very light coverage but I think that’s about all they do. Hope the Revlon one works out well for you.
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I do own a BB, or is it CC, cream from Armani, I like it very much, but I think for the money I prefer my stable foundation which has build up coverage anyway. I did once have the perfect tinted moisturiser, it stayed put all day and made your skin look healthy and fresh. I loved it! Then they changed the formula/ colour 😦 it’s from organic brand Madara, in case you’re curious to try it, although, the new version is nothing like the first. I’m still kicking myself for not noticing when they reformulated, and buying up all the ones left if the old version 😀
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Don’t you just hate it when a successful product is altered out of all recognition? I really like the sound of an organic BB Cream too.
I need to explore the Armani BB Cream and foundations at some point. I keep hearing good things.
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Thanks to your informative post, I just ordered the Decleor BB cream because I was looking for something that was “glowy”. I’m currently using Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer but I bought the oil free by mistake, which is so wrong if you want to look glowy.
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Hi Stacie,
Thanks! I really hope you like the Decleor BB Cream as much as I do. I know matte seems to be the fashion right now but I need some glow or I look half-dead 🙂
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The only color on my face that I can wear is Laura Mercier’s tinted moisturizer – the original one, not the “radiance” one that you have, which I tried (and even use from time to time). I tried many other moisturizers, BB creams, etc., mostly from relatively expensive brands – Chanel, Dior, Shiseido, etc. – but nothing works the way Laura Mercier does: while LM’s tinted moisturizer looks like “my skin only better”, everything else looks like an artificial painting: it doesn’t blend in evenly but rather sits on my skin like a mask.
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The whole point of a tinted moisturiser – I would say – is for it to look like “your skin but better” so ending up with a mask-like appearance is the last thing you want. I can see why you’d stick to Laura Mercier then. Sometimes the original is the best.
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I think I’m too fair skin for most of the tinted creams to look natural. But I keep trying new things.
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I use IT cosmetics CC cream, or a Laura Mercier foundation. I love your photo of your BB cream in a line I always wonder what people use. As Portia said whatever you use it works as you have that beautiful ethereal face.
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Aah, thanks Anna Maria. It was foundation all the way in Venice 🙂
I don’t know IT cosmetics, I wonder if that’s an Aussie brand.
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My most favorite tinted sunscreen/moisturizer is Revision intellishade tinted moisturizer. It is usually sold at medi spas but you can find it cheaper online. It is simply the best. ❤
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Many thanks for the recommendation, gossamerandtulle!
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