Today I have decided to do things a bit differently, for your sanity as well as mine. I was organizing my “collection” the other day and discovered that I have an entire drawer full of BB and CC creams so thought it would be best to take a bunch and do a kind of side by side comparison. I have tried all of these, through a week long process, using one each day.

The first one I pulled out of my drawer was 3Lab Perfect BB cream, which offers SPF 40. My sample was shade #02.

Though the picture does not do it justice, this product comes in a pump-style dispenser rather than the squeeze tube that it appears to be. It did hold up through my normal work hours, but it was heavier than I would prefer. There are just some days when I want to look and feel like I am not wearing anything, but with the 3Lab Perfect BB, it feels like I have a layer of foundation on. It offers light to medium coverage and is good for a more natural look. The SPF 40 is a nice feature when most are BB creams offer only 20. Overall, I liked it, but was not really what I would look for in a BB cream, when I don't want to feel like I am wearing anything.

Next up was Revlon's Photoready BB cream with an SPF of 30.

I have to admit, I was a little surprised at this one. For the most part, I like everything that Revlon offers, but this just did not work for me. When I applied it, it felt like I was wearing a liquid based foundation, or sunscreen that had foundation mixed in with it. My skin felt weighted down and made my face feel and look more oily than it normally is. Halfway through the day I had to take it off. It did give the level of concealment that I was expecting, but if you are like me and have oily skin to begin with, I would not recommend this one.

The next one I grabbed out was the Visible lift CC cream by L'oreal.

On the tube itself, it advertises that this cream is a broad spectrum sunscreen and is multi-action which corrects color and tone. Through my trial, I found that it does just that, giving the level of correction that I would expect from a CC cream. One nice thing about this cream, is when it comes out, it is white, but when I put it on, it blended in perfectly with my skin tone, making for a nice match. This CC cream does have a scent to it, much like a lotion or a sunscreen, but nothing overpowering. When I first put it on, it left my skin looking shinny, but this went away after a few minutes. I was able to wear this all day and after a bit, I had forgotten that I had put anything on.

I gave the Lumene Vitamin C+ illuminating anti-aging BB cream, with an SPF of 20 a go, and was not overly impressed with it, but you may have better results. Naturally, I have very oily skin, and adding an illuminating agent only heightens this appearance. Again it felt heavy on my skin, and the oily feel did not go away like some of the others did when I let it absorb in for a while. The Lumene BB cream does have a light scent , but is not really noticeable unless you are looking for it. While the product did reduce some of the marks I have on my face, I was not comfortable wearing it throughout my shift as it made my skin feel more greasy than it normally is, and it gave a sheen that I would rather not have.

The next day, I pulled out L'oreal's Magic Skin Beautifier BB cream which was said to prime, perfect, hydrate and correct.

This is another product that comes out white, but blended in smoothly with my skin. It gave me the right amount of coverage and did not feel at all heavy or oily. In addition, it left my skin feeling soft and clean. I was able to wear this one all day without having to reapply it. This BB cream did exactly what it says it is going to, without the additional compromise of extra weight or a greasy feeling.

Another one I really liked was Urban Decay's Naked Skin Beauty Balm.

This balm is oil free, which I for one really like, and has a minty, almost medicated scent to it. It gave great coverage and even reduced the appearance of my larger pores, with all day dependability. Urban Decay advertises this as an optical blurring balm, which for me is right. If any of you are familiar with photoshop's blurring tool, you might get an idea what this product can do for your skin. The best way I can sum it up is that it takes the bad areas and blends them in with the good, giving an overall appearance of smooth, even skin.

In review, I would like to say that these feelings/thoughts are my own and in no way reflect any affiliation with the companies and products mentioned. What worked for me may not work as well for you, and though I may not have liked what one product did or did not do, you yourself may not have the same results. That being said, here are my overall impressions:

The 3Lab Perfect BB Cream worked, but I did not like that it left my skin feeling heavy and oily, as did Revlon's Photoready BB cream and Lumene's Illuminating Anti-aging BB cream. I was very pleased with the three others, L'oreal's Visible lift CC cream, their Magic Skin Beautifier BB and Uban Decay's Naked skin Beauty Balm. If I was forced to say which of them deserved my vote, it would be the Urban Decay.