BB Creams: Quick comparison

I have accumulated 7 BB creams now (and have a few more in sample sachets waiting to be used) and I tried all out so I wanna give a short review on each of them.


For those who are unaware of BB creams I'll give a short introduction to the world of BB creams (BB stands for Blemish Balm or Beblesh Balm depending on the company producing it).

BB cream is the newest hit originated in Korea but already very popular in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China and Japan. It's a cream that combines the benefits of healing ingredients (as it was developed for post-laser-surgery-skin), skin care and light-medium skin coverage in 1 product. Furthermore most BB creams contain a sunscreen (both UVA and UVB) and have other properties like whitening or anti-aging. It's supposed to be your all-in-one skincare, makeup and sunscreen.
It's a quite convenient product similar to Tinted Moisturizer but with more benefits.

What I really like is that in the morning I just have to wash my face and then apply the BB cream and my skin is really wonderfully evened out. I might apply my full makeup later on top of it or I might just wear BB cream but my skin always looks good.
I am someone with very sensitive skin and constantly get red bumps on my cheeks. I find that with daily use of BB cream those bumps almost disappeared making my skin look clearer.
My main problem with all tinted products (no matter if makeup, powder or concealer) is finding a good color match. Most BB creams come in 1 shade only so it's a bit of luck to find a perfect match. Out of the 7 BB creams I purchased 4 are very good matches, 1 is fine and 2 are just too dark. Supposedly BB cream can adjust to any skin tone but I didn't find this to be true.


1: Skin Food Mushroom Multi Care BB Cream SPF20 PA+:
This comes in 2 colors. Naturally I got the lighter one and it matches ok but is a tad bit pink and a little dark. It can blend into my skin tone but it's not the most perfect color out there. This has a light scent I am not too fond of. It's a rather thick cream probably suited best for winter. This has additional whitening and anti-aging ingredients. Medium coverage.
Squeeze tube contains 50g.


2: MISSHA M Shiny BB Cream SPF27 PA++:
I already did a thorough review for this item. Has a soft pleasant scent and contains ingredients like pearl powder, amethyst powder and others to give a slight sheen to the skin. Gives medium coverage and a light dewy finish. The cream is a bit thick so I don't like to wear this on very hot sweaty days.
The color match of this is really good, it's quite pale.
Squeeze tube contains 50ml


3: MISSHA M Watery BB Cream SPF27 PA++:
Has a light consistency but is unfortunately way too dark for me. It gives a pretty matte light coverage and makes skin quite soft. I am quite sure it irritated my skin though as I found some red bumps after washing this off that weren't there before. Gives a really refreshing cool feeling upon application. I think this is better suited for normal-oily or combination skin-types.
Squeeze tube contains 50ml.


4: MISSHA M Perfect Cover BB Cream SPF42 PA+++:
This has by far the highest SPF and PA. This comes in 2 colors: #21 and 23. I purchased the lighter 21 and am very pleased with the color match. The coverage of this product is quite good and the cream feels slightly thick but not overly heavy or sticky. Has a light pleasant scent. The finish is rather dewy and natural.
Has whitening and anti-aging ingredients.
Comes in a squeeze tube with a hygienic pump dispenser. Contains 50ml.


5: Etude House Magic BB cream (version for dry skin):
I don't see a SPF listed on the box. This smells a bit herbal but I didn't get too far with this cream as it's just too dark. The funny thing is that it doesn't look really dark when I squeeze it out of the tube but when I spread it it gets a nasty orangey color). It's a thick but not too heavy cream with decent coverage abilities.
Unfortunately the tube is printed in Korean only so I can't say which ingredients this has.
Squeeze tube with pump dispenser that contains only 35g.


6: Skin79 Super+ BB Gold Label (VIP Gold collection) SPF25 PA++: This is my favorite BB cream of the lot. It offers an almost perfect color match and feels lighter than the other BB creams. It has a very faint scent and gives me a good sheer-medium coverage. The color match is almost perfect for my porcelain complexion. This contains some fancy ingredients like caviar extract, gold, adenosine, arbutin (both whitening and anti-aging ingreds) osmopur (ivy, rice bran, mined sunflower) phyto complex etc.
I have to say the bottle this comes in is the best! It's a big bulky posh looking pump dispenser containing 40g. There is also a pink version available with some different ingredients but it's definitely the next BB cream I would get.


7: Hanskin Super Magic BB Cream SPF30 PA++:
This also is a good color match and seems to be the only cream that's not scented. This is probably the most expensive cream out of the lot and is a good color match for me.
What I don't like about this BB cream is the slightly sticky feeling it leaves. The majority of BB creams seems to be slightly thick but this one really sits on my skin. The coverage is good and the result is pretty but I just don't like the feeling that much.
I got 3 sample squeeze tubes with 9ml each. I think the full size contains 40g.


All the BB creams I tried are in the US$18-25 range online (and less in Korea) and I would highly recommend the Skin79 or Perfect Cover BB creams.