Base Compare

Well, first things first. I have too many makeup bases. I didn't used to, in fact i'm not quite sure what happened.. I used to use one up then go buy another but now I hear something or see something talking about a shiny new foundation or a cult fav and somehow here it is... Well in  attempt to stop this I thought I would take the time to compare some of these for you and also try to control my own base-addiction so I won't be buying anymore until I finish at least 6 of these. I'll note how much has already been used in the post below too.

Foundations

So my collection of Foundations includes; Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum (bought start of this year), Bourjois Flower Perfection Foundation, Illamasqua Skin Base, L'Oreal Eau De Teint, NYX Matte but not Flat Foundation, Korres Vitamin Foundation, and Rimmel Stay Mate Foundation.

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum - This have been my everyday foundation since the start of the year when I found it on special, it's a great match for me once it's buffed out even though on the swatch below it looks quite dark. I would repurchase this but probably wait till there was a sale again as it was good but not the amazing foundation that people had raved about.

Texture: Liquid 

Finish : Dewy

Opacity: Sheer, buildable

Wear: 6- 8 Hrs

Rebuy: Only on sale

Why I haven't finished it:  It's nearing on empty, maybe a month use left

Bourjois Flower Perfection Foundation - I got a sample of this once and it was so god damn amazing I went and bought the full product full price and then tried it at home and was...deeply disappointed, it was not the smooth flawless coverage from the sample. it was thick, heavy and cake-y and I hated it but never threw it away because I still hoped one day I would find that one thing that could make it work. I would take it out every few months and try again and no luck, until last week! I finally found the one way this can be applied and look amazing - a damp beauty blender! With it you can get a very covered look but it won't feel heavy or look like you have a face full of foundation on. Success!

Texture: Liquid 

Finish: Matte

Opacity: Very Heavy

Wear: 8- 12 Hrs

Rebuy: No, too difficult to work with

Why I haven't finished it: Stopped using it due to difficulty of use.

Illamasqua Skin Base - shade SB02 - I love this foundation, it's amazingly pigmented for very little product. It's very pale and a little hard to use  if i get a but of sunlight but that's not usually a concern. But the biggest problem is the packaging which is so hard that it's very difficult to actually get any product out as it's more cream then liquid. 

Texture: Cream 

Finish: Satin

Opacity: Medium

Wear: 5- 8 Hrs 

Rebuy: Yes, if the packaging was changed

Why I haven't finished it: I save it for special occasions and the packaging is hard to use on a daily basis

L'Oreal Eau De Teint - shade 120 Pure Ivory - I've been keeping an eye on the advertised space in Priceline for weeks and lucky me it showed up just the Priceline 40% off sale came around so I snatched it up. Been using it everyday since then and I'm very much in love, it's so light and feels like there is nothing on my face. It's so effortlessly easy to blend and feels lovley, soft , and smooth to the touch.

Texture: Super Liquid

Finish: Satin

Opacity: Sheer, buildable

Wear: 6-8 Hrs , wears away well

Rebuy: yes

Why I haven't finished it: I just bought it

NYX Matte but not Flat Foundation - 04 Creamy Neutral , I picked this up last November when NYX first arrived at my local Target. I wanted to like this as the color match for me was quite spectacular however it did something no other foundation or bb or cc or any other kind of base ever has - it found dry patches on my normal/oily skin. Madness!

Texture: Cream/Mousse

Finish: Matte

Opacity: Medium

Wear: 4- 6 Hrs 

Rebuy: No

Why I haven't finished it: It's the first and onyl foundation to ever cling to supposed dry bits on my screen so it doesn't look good. Might try the beauty blender on this.

Korres Vitamin Foundation - I got this is a special package along with a few Korres lip balms which are also awesome and for most of last year this was my go-to-foundation and was the one I picked to take with me to Melbourne. It's very good and long lasting foundation that is great at controlling shine and it's too bad that it's been discontinued as I do feel that it made my skin look better.

Texture: Cream 

Finish: Dewy

Opacity: Medium

Wear: 6- 8 Hrs 

Rebuy: Yes, but discontinued

Why I haven't finished it: I got new foundation (Illamasqua) that I was eager to try and this fell to the back of the drawer.

Rimmel Stay Mate Foundation - I picked this one up at the Priceline 40% off last November and it was probably a mistake since it's quite similar to the NYX Stay matte but not flat, it feels heavy and although the coverage is great I don't really feel comfortable in it. This one however does not stick to apparent dry patches like the NYX.

Texture: Mousse

Finish: Matte

Opacity: Medium/Heavy

Wear: 4 - 8 Hrs 

Rebuy: No

Why I haven't finished it: It turned out to be si thick and heavy it didn't feel comfortable on the skin, another one for the beauty blender.

BB & CC Creams 

This collection of Foundations includes; Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream, Ponds Flawless Whitening BB Cream, Nivea BB Cream, Garnier Oil Free BB Cream, Revlon Photoready BB Cream and the Watsons Collagen BB Cream.

Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream - I saw on this some blogs and various youtube channels and it seemed to get a lot of love, I got shade 33 which is a smidgen too dark and I have worn this twice since purchase because I fell in love with the L'Oreal Eau De Taint.

Texture: Liquid

Finish: Dewy

Opacity: Medium

Wear:  4-6 Hrs

Rebuy: probably not, it's nice but I still like my Ponds BB cream better.

Why I haven't finished it: Just bought it

Ponds Flawless Whitening BB Cream- This is my favorite bb cream as it's a great match, it's a little thicker and ashy like an asian bb cream but is so much more easily available. I've gone through 2 of these and will almost certainly repurchase it again and again.

Texture: Liquid/Cream 

Finish: Satin

Opacity: Medium, buildable

Wear: 8- 12 Hrs 

Rebuy: Yes, have before

Why I haven't finished it: This one has been in rotation between the Bourjois health mix and is almost finished, maybe a week or two left.

Nivea BB Cream - A gift from mum when she went to Poland hence the crazy unreadable text, and i love the smell of it as it has that comforting Nivea smell but oh gosh the color is so wrong, it might as well be bright orange!  I tried it on a stay at home day to see how it lasted and it did okay, the texture reminds me of the Dove tinted moisturizer I used to use as a teenager.

Texture: Cream 

Finish: Matte

Opacity: Medium

Wear: 4-6 Hrs

Rebuy: No

Why I haven't finished it: It's the wrong color, probably going to give this away.

Garnier Oil Free BB Cream - This was my first ever brand of bb creams, I used the regular before the oil control version came out and then switched over, it's cheap and works quite well. There is really nothing wrong with this bb cream but for my skin the Ponds bb cream is much better for basically the same price.

Texture: Liquid 

Finish: Dewy

Opacity: Sheer, buildable

Wear: 6- 8 Hrs 

Rebuy: No, have found better matches since but I have re bought it in the past and gone through at least 3.

Why I haven't finished it: Found better color matches and better lasting products.

Revlon Photoready BB Cream - This was largely a purchase made at the spur of the moment due to excitement at seeing a new BB cream (when i bought this there was maybe 3-4 or the maker, not like 30 that there are now) and I probably didn't need it but id recently finished another bb cream and obviously felt that there a gap of some sort. It's not horrible but it;s very sheer and doesn't control oil at all, so this would be amazing on someone with dry or normal skin and a good complexion. While my complexion is much improved since I was a teen my forehead can get a bit oily especially on hot summer days.

Texture: Cream 

Finish: Dewy

Opacity: Sheer

Wear: 4- 6 Hrs 

Rebuy: No

Why I haven't finished it: It's so sheer and hardly build-able and terrible at oil control so it fell to the back of the drawer.

Watsons Collagen BB Cream - Another present from mum, this one from Singapore and it;s amazing. Probably better then my Ponds bb cream but it is almost impossible for me to get, it's a better texture and coverage but does harden a little in cold weather and needs some heating in your hands but is perfect in summer. If it was easily available I would get this BB cream and no others.

Texture: Cream 

Finish: Satin

Opacity: Medium

Wear: 8- 12 Hrs 

Rebuy: Yes

Why I haven't finished it: I'm so close to finishing it, if i do it will be gone and I will never find it again. That makes me sad. Has maybe a month or so left in it.

BB Cream Comparison

Today we are comparing 4 BB creams, 3 o which are available in Australia plus an Asian style BB cream, the contenders are:

Revlon Photoready BB Cream $24.99

Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector with oil control $13.99

Watsons Collagen BB Cream $18.99

Pond's Flawless white BB+ $13.99

Each of the four have fairly similar "spouts" for getting the product out, with the Ponds and Garnier having a more elongated tube which in terms of the Ponds makes it easy to control product but it little more then a drip top in term of the Garnier as it's consistency is far more liquid. The Watsons is thick and creamy simmiliar to the Ponds where as the Revlon lies somewhere in between. All have squeezable cases so you should be able to get the last of the product out.

In the above photo you can quite easily see the diffrence between the texture and color of each, with the Garnier being the thinnest and the most yellow toned, followed by the Revlon, Ponds and finally the Watsons which simmiliar to other Asian bb's has a ashy cast to it which does not show up on the face.

The Watson is the thickest and takes a little muscle to blend where s the others all blend very easily though the ponds needs a bit of extra product.

For me the Ponds is the closest match in terms of color as it has pink cool undertones, as does the Watsons while both the other two have yellow undertones. The more liquid creams blend easier with the Watsons being the most difficult, although the Garnier can be a bit hard to control how much product you get from the case.

You can see the Ponds and Watsons basically appearer and blend perfectly into my skin while the other two leave a yellow toned cast which can be covered with powder or some more blending.

(see black paper test at labmuffin's blog)

Putting some of the bb on black card shows you a good gage on how pigmented each of the  bb creams in, it's a little surprising as i was sure the Revlon would be the thinest of all but it seems that the Garnier is the sheerest of them all. The Ponds and Watsons are quite similar although the Ponds is a tad more pigmented.The Garnier gets almost entirely absorbed.

Overall i think the  Ponds is the winner, in terms of other benefits however the Revlon probably wins due to it's SPF 30, while Ponds only has 15, it does however also have a slight brightening effect. The Garnier wins are controlling oil while the Watsons seems to have no such benefits, although it's called Collagen BB I'm not sure exactly what it's supposed to do about the collagen? 

When it comes to packaging i like the consistency thicker and for it to not spill out. When it came to scent i did not fund any to particularly strong, the Watsons smelled vaguely creamy and the Ponds a little sweet but it wouldn't effect my decision to buy. 

What is your go to BB?

Review: Watsons BB Collagen Cream

Today, something a little different. This is Watson's Collagen BB Cream which Mum picked up for me when she was over in Singapore earlier this year and it;s taken me a while to figure out my opinion on this product. But with the advent of warmer days an opinion has solidified and is ready for your consumption. 

I don't know a huge amount about the back story of this product so here is what i do know; It seems to retail for around $20 AUD and you can find it pretty easy on ebay but i have not been able to find local retailers for it. 

and.... here is an English description i found for it:

"Watson both natural collagen multi-effect BB cream skin care, isolation, Cover the three functions. Small deep-sea fish collagen molecules containing activity, instant supplement for skin collagen, helps to increase skin elasticity and compaction. Tie in with the natural plant oil such as jojoba oil moisturizing ingredients, not Pan-oily makeup skin after long time. Effective protection of the skin at the same time render bright stereo nude natural makeup effects. \”Natural color\” for colour white to colour moderate crowd. After the skin clean and basic nursing, smear BB cream, on cheeks, forehead, nose, Chin back on both sides, down the skin texture from inside to outside lay open to the entire face and neck (recommends don\’t ring once), and then gently flapping, making BB cream and skin more fitting.

Measuring effectiveness: cream-like texture while absorbed slowly, to stain level of Cover is not very satisfactory, but on the pores of the shelter is still pretty good, waterproof and oil is also very good, and better improve skin color and skin, so that the skin becomes even rich luster, natural, skin becomes smooth and delicate. Instant water capacity was also praised."  source

It goes on a bit tough which is why i am only now doing the review for it, it has now that ts warmed up a little become much much easier to use. It's medium/light coverage with a dewy finish as you can see above. I have quite fallen in love with it, it has a faint smell that i find quite pleasant; a sort of sweet mix of sun screen and baby powder. 

It's quite a different creature to the Garnier BB creams i usually use and this i like a little better now that's its warmer as it sits quite lightly and i don't really notice it. A little setting powder and it stays on all though my school day. Even without setting powder it has pretty good staying powder and keep that nice luminous look to it.

If this was a little easier to purchase i would totally do so, however i think i ill try some other ones to see if there is a perfect bb cream out there. If not this is a good one, if you can get it.