Ah the craze of BB creams. To be honest, I was quite excited when the Korean (well, originally German) BB cream trend started making it's way to our shores of the west. The unfortunate thing, is that while there are a number of western BB creams available, most are more like tinted moisturisers, usually with a little extra something (really, a very little extra something), so they fail to hit the mark of what a "real" BB cream is meant to be like. MAC released their own BB cream under their Prep + Prime line, and I decided I might as well check it out, considering the combination of both BB creams (which I very much used to have a fondness for) and of course, the ever-lovable MAC, well, how could I not?
I went for the compact over the tube form, as I have professed my love for compact foundations previously, and, having had a BB cream in a compact form before, I did like the way that it sat on my skin more than the tube formulations. It doesn't have too much of a scent at all, and, while I appreciate the sponge being included, it's pretty much just an average sponge, with no barrier between the mirror and the sponge, and thus results in a smudgey mirror. The outside of the compact is quite cute, however. It's reflective of green and purple on the black base which looks like galaxy designs, which I thought was pretty nifty. According to the back of the secondary packaging, one would assume that the "BB" factor in this is mainly just the addition of sun protection, so perhaps less of a BB and more of a tinted sunscreen.
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| left to right, without flash: heavy swatch, blended swatch |
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| With Flash |
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| Sunlight |
It applies quite creamily on the skin, but it really isn't heavy and all and blends absolutely marvelously. On the downside, it is quite sheer, I would say it gives a light coverage, and, like most cream formulas, it isn't too buildable. I would probably layer this over a tinted moisturizer or maybe a light liquid foundation to help add a bit more to it, and, of course, for the benefit of the sun protection too. It doesn't last too long on the skin, even after I've powdered it, maybe about half a day before it completely disappears, so the lasting power is not too great at all. On the upside, the fact that it is a compact with included mirror and sponge will help with touchups during the day.
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| Frazzle me before |
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| After |
I got this in the shade "light plus" which is the more yellow-toned version of light. This does come off a tad bit too pale for my skin, but it does really blend very well. I think the medium shade would be too dark for me, however, perhaps bordering a tad bit orange, so if MAC came out with a "light medium" shade, as what I usually am when it comes to the named rather than numbered shades, then that would probably work well for me.
I feel like this would be a good product for summer as it is so light, and has the SPF 30 in it, but it would have to be for those who don't mind touching up through the day. It's also good that it's breathable, though, and I don't really see this product caking up much just because it really does blend easily. Not the best product I've tried from MAC, unfortunately. It's nothing bad or anything, just not one of my favourites, considering how much stuff I love from MAC. But it'll be nice to use this up and send it in for a Back-to-MAC!
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