Product Review: Myra VitaGlow BB Cream

BB Creams everywhere! It seems like almost all of the skin care and cosmetic brands are already coming up with their own BB creams. Myra, a well-known skin care and health brand, also released one called the VitaGlow BB Cream. I was able to try out their BB cream when I got a gift from the company which even came with a customized brush set.

Product Rave-iew: Cara Airfit BB Cream

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. The product was sent for me to try and give my personal perspective. Reviewing the product is my own decision. What's written here are all my own thoughts and opinions.

Some of my fellow beauty bloggers and friends love using BB Creams because it's perfect to use for everyday looks since they are lighter than foundations and have other benefits such as Sun protection and moisturizing properties. I'm not really crazy about BB Creams. I mean, I use them, yes and I've tried a few but I'm not really a BB Cream girl. Maybe it's because I haven't found the perfect BB Cream yet? Oh wait, I think I already did! ;-)

My favorite BB Creams are Ever Bilena Whitening BB Cream and Maybelline BB Cream because they both have smooth and decent coverage. The Etude House Precious Mineral BB Cream is good, too but it's too dewy for me, considering I have oily-combination skin.

A couple of months ago, MyrSkin sent me the Encara BB Cream and a sample of Cara Airfit BB Cream. Both really impressed me because of that, I started to develop love for BB Creams. Let me share with you the Cara Airfit BB Cream first and I'll talk about Encara BB Cream in another post. ;-)

Source: www.facebook.com/MyrSkin

Product Name: Cara Airfit BB Cream

Price: Php 1,250.00

Available at: MyrSkin

I'm not really sure yet if it really eliminates dark spots, fine lines and other unwanted marks of aging because I don't use it everyday. In fact, I have only used it twice but it's just an amazing BB cream that's why I'm writing a review about it this soon.

Ms. Myra of MyrSkin sent me three sample sizes of the Cara Airfit BB Cream. The sachets are really small and I actually thought that one sachet is equivalent to one use only but the product goes a long way and I think one sachet can be used 3-4 times. Well, depending on the size of your face. Haha! I have a big, round face and I think I can use one sachet thrice. :)

The great thing about BB Creams is that they are multifunctional. They serve as foundation, concealer, makeup base, sunscreen, moisturizer, and some even have anti-aging properties and antioxidants. The first thing that I look for in a BB cream is a good coverage. Moisturizing benefit is just a close second. Third is Sun protection and I love that Cara Airfit BB Cream has SPF 37. :)

Cara Airfit BB Cream has a thick consistency but it's very lightweight. It glides on very smoothly on the skin and very blendable and buildable. It has light to medium coverage. If I'm going to compare it to Encara BB Cream, Cara Airfit BB Cream has thicker texture and more coverage. It smells amazing, too! I love how it smells! :) The only thing that I dislike about it is that it is available in only one shade and it's a little lighter than my skin color.

Of course, I road tested this BB cream and took photos periodically on that day for before-and-after photos.

PICTURE NO. 1: Bare face

PICTURE NO. 2: Applied the Cara Airfit BB Cream all over my face. Took a photo with and without flash. As you can see, it is lighter than my original skin tone. However, it covered well my blemishes, dark circles and the redness of my skin. Flawless and smooth finish, too!

PICTURE NO. 3: Since Cara Airfit BB Cream is a little lighter than my skin color, I used a darker shade of powder to match my original skin tone. Now, it looks way better! Perfect! ;)

PICTURE NO. 4: With complete makeup on. Took photos again with and without flash. My face looks so flawless and healthy! I did not apply any highlighter and blush.

PICTURE NO.5: Took a photo after two hours. I got shiny around my t-zone but coverage still looks awesome!

PICTURE NO. 6: This was how it looked like after a total of 5-6 hours. My face looked oily but still looks decent. Coverage wasn't fading that much and I did not retouch at all!

PICTURE NO. 7: Please excuse my very unpleasant face! Haha! This was taken after a total of 10.5 hours and after doing the laundry and all. My face was super oily and shiny! However, I'm still impressed because come on, 10 hours and coverage was still pretty decent? Very imposing! If you see unblended marks on the sides of my nose, those were eyeglasses marks.

PICTURE NO. 8: To see how it would look like if I retouched, I blotted the oil from my face. I did not use any powder, just oil blotting paper and I was surprised to see that the coverage still looks good! Although it had worn off already under my lower lash lines because of my eyeglasses. The redness around my nose was starting to show already as well as my pimple scars but very slightly! Very impressive, indeed!

After seeing all those photos, need I say more? Haha! I love Cara Airfit BB Cream (period)

Let me list down the pros and cons.

PROS

- Amazing coverage

- Impressive staying power

- Moisturizing

- Scent is so fresh

- Smooth and flawless finish

- Has SPF 37

- Semi-matte finish

- Perfect for people with oily-combination skin

CONS

- Available in only one shade

- ?

I honestly can't think of any other negative things about it. Hmm, maybe it's availability? MyrSkin's products are available in Purbeauty outlets in Serendra and Harbor Point. I'm just not sure if they're already available in Trinoma but Ms. Myra told me that they'll be available there soon as well in Alabang Town Center. If you're from the province, it sucks because those places are too far from you but it's a good thing that you can order online! Just visit MyrSkin on Facebook. :)

I absolutely recommend Cara Airfit BB Cream! It is, by far, the best BB Cream that I've used. To all you BB Cream lovers out there, you should give this a try. ;)

Stay awesome and accomplish your mission. :)

-ivsc-

Product Review: San San BB Cream

When I first saw the San San BB Cream in the nearest HBC Store from me, I quickly grabbed it and checked it out because it's the first ever BB cream from the said brand so I was kind of intrigued by it. I didn't buy it that day though because when I swatched it, the shade is darker than my skin color and I didn't really need it that time. Then people started to learn about the product and I began to receive requests for a review about the San San BB  Cream so I decided to try it out. Considering it's very affordable price, it's not really a big deal for me to try it out even though the shade doesn't match my skin color since I can use a lighter shade of powder to set it and I can just give it to my older sister because she loves wearing foundations darker than her skin so that she would look tan. :)

The San San BB Cream reminds me of the San San Soleil Matte Foundation because the packaging of the former is designed after the latter. They both come in a squeeze-tube with a pump but of course, they have different consistencies. The San San Soleil Matte Foundation is thicker and has a really matte finish while the San San BB Cream has thinner and creamier consistency and has a really dewy finish!

Product Name: San San Hortaleza, M.D. BB Cream

Price: P149.75

Bought from: HBC Store, Tandang Sora

The packaging is very convenient to use because it has a pump. However, the pump may not function properly at times and I don't even know why. The first time that I tried this, I had to pump it a few times before it can even dispense the BB cream but after that incident, I haven't had any problems so far with the packaging. It's also nice that it is contained in a squeezable tube because if ever the pump will not function properly, you can just remove the pump and squeeze the BB cream directly from the tube. It's what I do with my San San Soleil Matte Foundation. There's no problem with the pump though but since the bottle contains little amount of the foundation already, the pump can't suck anymore the product so I just dispense the product directly from the tube. :)

BENEFITS

The San San BB Cream contains squalene, hyaluronic acid which supports your facial structure and tissue to bring back skin's elasticity, Vitamins A, C, E, and it also has SPF 43. It claims to lighten dark spots, nourish your skin, protect your skin from sun damage and it also has antioxidants. So, this BB cream is really promising because of its benefits.

SHADE, TEXTURE AND COVERAGE

What I love about the BB cream is that the texture is light but creamy so it glides on smoothly. It gives a very flawless and smooth coverage and yes, it can really lighten dark spots on my face. It can even conceal my dark under eye circles and the redness around my nose. However, it has a very dewy finish! Some people might like that but for someone like me who has oily-combination skin, it's a disadvantage. Of course it will help if you set it with powder to keep it matte but unfortunately, even after setting it with powder, my skin got shiny and oily after about 3 hours of wearing the BB cream on my face.

Another thing that bothers me a lot is that it only comes in one shade which is darker than my skin color! Bummer! However, it's still okay because I'd prefer a foundation or BB cream that is a little darker than my skin color rather than a foundation that is lighter than my skin color. I thought that since it's dark, I can just set it with a lighter shade of powder so that it will match my natural skin color. However, after a few hours it's like it will wear off my powder and the real color of the BB cream will show up again. So other than having an oily and shiny skin, I also get a tanned-looking face after a few hours of wearing the BB cream. Look at the photo below. See how shiny my face is and I got a little darker compared to the first photo.

Let me show you the first time that I road tested this product. It was very hot and humid that day. 

Picture No. 1: BARE FACE

Picture No. 2: Applied San San BB Cream and set it with a lighter shade of powder to match my skin color. The dark spots on my face were concealed as well as my dark eye circles and the redness around my nose and on my cheeks. It has a smooth and flawless coverage!

Picture No. 3:With full makeup on.

Picture No. 4: After 3 hours. As you can see, my face became really oily and shiny especially on my t-zone area and I looked a little darker, too.

I am really frustrated about this product because I'm in love with its coverage but it really makes my skin super shiny and oily after a few hours. Also, it is darker than my skin color! If this has a matte finish or even semi-matte finish, I think it would be one of my favorites regardless if it's darker than me or not! I can deal with it. But sadly, it really has a dewy finish. :-(

I just want to point out that even though it makes my skin oily, the coverage is still nice! It still looks smooth and flawless even if I look shiny. When you blot it with an oil blotting paper, it will look fresh and matte again. But honestly, I'm not someone who keeps on retouching all day. It's like, when I wear makeup and then once I go out, I forget about checking my face if I look super oily or what. So, yeah, the dewiness of this BB cream is a big problem for me.

Here's the video review of the San San BB Cream that  have uploaded just yesterday. Watch it to see how I apply the BB cream on my face and how it actually looks like when freshly applied.

Here's a before and after shot from my review and demo video of the San San BB Cream:

See? Same effect. My skin looked really shiny after a total of 5 hours. :-(

The coverage though is still flawless and nice but you can see that my active pimple is already peeking through.

You know what, even though it has a dewy finish, I still like it! It's not something that I would throw out just because it makes me look super oily. I like it because of its smooth and flawless coverage, it's very impressive! It does cover up imperfections on the face well. Two thumbs up for that! Also, I did not get any breakouts or rashes from using it. I just wish that it will be available in other shades and I hope that San San can come up with a new BB cream formula suited for people with oily skin like me.

Repurchase? No. But if ever it will be available in a shade that will match my skin color, yeah probably I will.

I can't recommend this to everyone since as you have seen, it made my face oily in just a few hours and also because it's only available in one shade. If you are morena and have normal or dry skin, I think this will work okay on you. :)

Stay awesome and accomplish your mission! :)

-ivsc-

Review: Ever Bilena Advance BB Cream Whitening

I used to ignore local cosmetic brands because I have this mentality that cosmetics made locally are not really worth my money. Although they are affordable, I still think it's not worth buying them. However, when I started exploring and trying different makeup brands, eventually I realized that not all local cosmetics are that bad. In fact, some of the local products are really good! There's the Ever Bilena Matte Lipsticks, Fanny Serrano Two Way Powders, Eye shadows from different local brands such as Fashion 21, Ever Bilena, Careline, and many more! As time goes by, I started to discover more and more good-quality local products! Some are a little expensive but most of those products are pretty affordable.

Other than discovering good-quality local products, I also noticed that BB Creams are getting more and more popular. The market for BB creams is getting hotter and hotter! Whenever I visit malls and drugstores, I always see BB creams from different cosmetic brands! Fanny Serrano and Ever Bilena are just two of the local cosmetic brands who recently released their very own BB creams. The first that I bought was the one from Ever Bilena... well, because it's cheaper! :)

To tell you honestly, I wasn't really that excited when I found out that Ever Bilena finally have BB creams. Well, for one thing, the packaging or the design of the said product is not really attractive for me. I thought it looks a little cheap. However, we should all keep in mind the saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover". I'm guilty! I judged the product based on how it looks like but when I finally tried it out, I buried the hatchet between me and the appearance of the EB BB Cream! I'm not saying that it's the best BB cream out there because I haven't tried other BB creams, especially the ones from the high-end brands. All I'm saying is that I love this BB cream because it works perfectly on me and I like how it looks on me.

Product Name:  Ever Bilena Advance BB Cream Whitening

Shade: Oriental

Price: P 195.00

*bought from Mercury Drug (Sangandaan)*

I was actually skeptic at first to buy it because like what I've said, I thought the product appearance looks cheap. But when I watched one of Say Artillero's videos where she used this BB cream and mentioned she surprisingly likes it, I decided why not try it. I noticed din kasi in her video that when she applied it on her face, it looks good. So, I finally bought it and tried it out and like Say, I surprisingly like it, too!!!

The Ever Bilena BB Cream is available in two variants. The whitening and the anti-wrinkle one. I was actually planning to buy the anti-wrinkle one but it turns out that the shade doesn't match my skin color and the undertone is a little too ashy or beige for me. Unfortunately, there's only 1 shade available for each variants --- Natural for the anti-wrinkle and Oriental for the whitening one. So, I picked up the whitening BB cream and I was immediately sold by its shade and its texture.

The shade Oriental has a yellow undertone which is perfect for Asian skin. However, it's a little too yellow BUT it's not a big deal since when you buff it on your skin, it will blend perfectly. I personally like how it looks on me. It's just like my second skin. It has a creamy texture but it's not too thick. It dries demi-matte which I absolutely like because I'm not really into foundations and BB creams with dewy finish. If you have a normal to dry skin, I think it's okay even without setting it with powder. In my case, since I have oily-combination skin and I don't like having dewy skin, I still set it with powder.

Here's my Review+Demo for the Ever Bilena Advance BB Cream Whitening:

The Ever Bilena BB Cream comes in a squeeze tube packaging which is great because you can control the amount of product that you're going to use.

It contains 50ml of the product which I think will last for about 4-5 months. You don't really need a lot of the product when you use it because a little goes a long way. If you have watched the video above, you'll see that a tiny amount of the product is enough to cover my entire face.

The coverage is light to medium. It's buildable --- another thing that I like about it. However, it cannot fully conceal pimples, blemishes and other dark spots on my face. It can conceal though the redness of my skin and my dark under eye circles so, it's still okay. If you have a naturally flawless skin, this will look awesome on you! (Unless the shade doesn't match you skin color.) This BB cream doesn't have SPF but Ever Bilena claims that this product will protect your skin from the harmful rays of the Sun.

Here's what Ever Bilena has to say about their Advance BB Cream:

A whitening, foundation and moisturizing cream all rolled into one! EB Advance BB Cream Whitening provides a flawless coverage while concealing blemishes and dark spots and protecting it from the harmful rays of the sun. With the help of its potent moisturizers such as Shea Butter and Vitamin E, it richly moisturizes your skin to make it soft and smooth.

Yes, this BB Cream is almost like a foundation already because of its texture and the flawless coverage that it gives. However, like what I've said, it cannot fully conceal my blemishes and dark spots. I agree that it is moisturizing because it leaves my skin smooth and supple. It doesn't cake and it doesn't feel heavy on the skin. It has a good coverage but it feels light.

Here are photos of before and after:

BARE FACE

APPLIED THE EB ADVANCE BB CREAM ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF MY FACE

Like what I've said, it's a little yellow but don't worry because it will eventually blend well on your skin as you keep on buffing it against your skin. Look at the photo below. It blended well on my skin.

MY FACE WITH EB ADVANCE BB CREAM 

As you can see, I have a lot of blemishes and I even have an active pimple in the photo. I really chose this time to take photos for my review to show how it works and how well it could conceal my pimples and blemishes. Based on the photo above, my blemishes are still peeking through especially my pimple. But as you can see, it concealed the redness of my skin and it lightened my dark under eye circles.

WITH EB ADVANCE BB CREAM SET WITH POWDER

After setting it with powder, my face looks flawless except for the pimple bump!

WITH COMPLETE MAKEUP ON

Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos after about two-five hours. I was at school and I totally forgot about it. My bad, sorry! So when I got home, I took photos before removing my makeup. The photos below were taken after a total of 9 hours.

Mind you, this is how my face looks like without retouching at all! I didn't even use an oil blotting paper. It's obvious in the photo that my face is already a little oily as well as my lower lash lines but I think that's because I'm wearing eyeglasses. The redness around my nose is showing already but my makeup did not fade out completely. I still look presentable! Hahah! Again, this photo was taken after 9 hours from application of the EB Advance BB Cream.

After 2 hours from application, my face still looks great! After 2-3 hours, I usually get oily on my t-zone area already but my makeup still looks awesome. That's why I love this product so much! It's affordable, the coverage is enough to conceal the redness of my skin, dark under eye circles and minor imperfections plus the staying power is pretty good as you can see in the photos above. After observing and seeing its quality and how it works on me, this has become my everyday and go-to foundation. The coverage is comparable to the Maybelline BB Cream and the 4U2 Forever Liquid Foundation but if I have to choose, I will definitely choose the Ever Bilena Advance BB Cream Whitening just because it is the perfect shade for my skin color.

I've mentioned that this BB cream is perfect for Asian skin but that's only if you have fair-medium skin color. If you have deeper skin color and you are kayumanggi, then this BB cream is too light for you.

I also want to add that I didn't buy this because it's a whitening product. I don't really care if it will lighten my skin color because my skin care products are already mostly whitening products. Like what I've said in my video, if the Ever Bilena Advance BB Cream Anti-Wrinkle is available in the shade Oriental, I will choose that over the Ever Bilena Advance BB Cream Whitening because I'm now planning to start using anti-aging products because I'm starting to see fine lines on my face and I am only 23 for pete's sake! :-(

I guess the downside about this product, other than it cannot fully conceal my blemishes and pimples, is that it contains Paraben which, they say, can cause breast cancer. :-/ However, Cosmetic Ingredient Review examined Parabens in 1984 and 2005 and they concluded in both times that parabens at low levels are not really a concern. The answer though to the questions about Parabens are not yet final but they say that Methyl- and Ethyl-Paraben is safe as regulated (according to the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Consumer Products).

SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS:

I recommend this product to the ladies out there who wants an affordable foundation that is light on the skin but provides a good coverage and can be used as an everyday foundation --- I'm talking about students and working girls. BUT that's if you're willing to use products with Parabens in it. Listen, I know they say it's bad for the health but like what I've mentioned above, low levels of parabens found in personal care products are not really a concern. I checked the products that I use on a daily basis and I found out that the Ever Bilena Advance BB Cream whitening is the only product that contains Paraben from my everyday makeup stash. Whew!

If you are willing to try out this product, I suggest using your fingers for application. I've tried applying it with a foundation brush, a stippling brush, a flat top brush, and  my fingers. So far, the best for me is applying it with my fingers because it gives the most even, smooth, and natural finish. :)

Let me guys know what you want me to review next and if you have any questions, just leave it as a comment below. Talk soon!

Stay awesome and accomplish your mission! :)

-ivsc-