When You’re Running out of Time, Dior Hydra Life BB Cream Could Save Your Life!

I think I might have told you about it before: I am horrible when it comes to punctuality. It seems that no matter how early I woke up, I manage to run out of time at some point. Sometimes it takes me too long to wake up with my coffee (but that’s because I’m catching up on blog-reading at the same time *coughs*), other times I decide to start reading a really good book. By the time I get out of my shower, whoops, Houston we have a problem!

This is when you wish there were something that would function as a lotion, sunscreen, AND foundation. Is it just a dream? No. Let me introduce you to Dior Hydra Life BB Cream!

Dior Hydra Life BB Cream comes in a soft seafoam green tube with a pump. The pump is very precise, and you will never end up with way too much on your fingers. I have tried to push it all the way down, but I don’t need that much at all, so I pump it out little by little as I go along. The BB cream has a bit of typical sunscreen smell, but it’s not too bad at all! It has SPF30 with PA+++. For me personally, especially if I’m just going around the city, it offers enough protection. One thing I do have to mention though, is that this contains oxybenzone. I have been using it almost every day for two weeks now, and my skin is perfectly fine with it. If you have reacted to this particular ingredient in the past however, you might want to be a bit more cautious.

The texture of Hydra Life BB cream is surprisingly un-gloopy. I would actually say the undertone is quite neutral, as it makes my face look just a pinch peachier than it usually does. However, as you will see in my full-face photos later, you don’t see any difference between my face and my neck, so basically I think I am the only one who can tell. I’m showing you the picture of the BB cream blended out on the back of my hand with my wrist, so you can see how well the color matches! It doesn’t have the scary gray cast like traditional BB creams either, which is a big bonus in my book! I am guessing that like all BB creams, it is supposed to color-adjust. However, you might want to try it out at the Dior counter to see if the shade would work for your skin tone. It wears well, though at the end of the day some of my more obvious imperfections would be resurfacing a little.

What I really like about this BB cream is the fact that it is hydrating enough for my skin. I don’t need my day cream if I’m wearing this, which saves some time. My T-zone does look a little glowy, but if I set it with my usual setting powder than it stays matte for hours. Despite the fact that the texture is a bit watery, it actually offers enough coverage for my taste/need. If I don’t have extra imperfections going on, I don’t even need a concealer afterwards. I just pat a little more of this under my eyes and even over my post-acne pigmentation spots. It dries fast, so you have to work fast. I have found that for really dry areas, it could look a little powdery (for example, I have been blowing my nose like crazy because it’s the allergy season again). For normal skin (namely skin that is not impossibly irritated by tissue) however, it doesn’t have the powdery feeling or look at all. Another great thing is I can just use my fingers. That means I won’t have to wash a brush afterwards either!

Now, if you’re ready for a bit of a shock, here is my TOTALLY bare face next to my face with ONLY Dior Hydra Life:

As you can see, my pigmentation spots look a lot lighter with this BB cream, and my skin tone is evened out and smoother-looking. My pores are also reduced. I’ll be just fine after dusting some setting powder on my T zone, filling in my eyebrows, and grabbing an easy-going lipstick! Ready to hit the road after the process has been largely streamlined.

I’m recycling some old photos here, but I’m wearing Dior Hydra Life BB Cream in the following:

Pretty good eh? If the last picture looks particularly good, that’s because I just got my new camera and tripod! I was experimenting with them today, and I thought I’d participate in Temptalia’s spring flower-inspired makeup look challenge, so I’m sharing one of my entry photos with you.

Bottom line: Dior Hydra Life BB cream is a genius multi-tasker. For me it is a lotion, sunscreen, and foundation 3-in-1. Especially during the warmer months, I can see myself replacing foundation with this BB cream which is a lot lighter and easy to wear!

Have you seen this one where you are? Would you like to try? What base product do you usually wear in summer?

Sunny, your beauty culture translator xx

PS: Dior Hydra Life BB Cream is available as of today in Belgium. The recommended retail price is 57.52 euros for 50ml.

Disclosure: The product mentioned in this review is sent by the PR for my consideration. All opinions are honest and my own. I am in no way compensated for this review. I have always been, and will always be committed ONLY to my readers.

Behind the scenes:

Muffin: “Some BB Cream for kitty?” Me: “Oh but honey, I don’t think it’s going to match your skin tone!”

Muffin was really happy sitting in the pile of things I was photographing that day.

Swatch & Review: Erborian Ginseng BB Cream — the Magic Solution to Skincare + Base Makeup?

Hey everybody!

I promised you yesterday that I will buckle down and write out this review, and here it is!

BB Cream is a product that holds all sorts of wonderful promises, and the Erborian Ginseng one is no exception. It promises to even out the skin tone and camouflage the imperfections as well as give a “baby skin” effect that feels perfect to the touch. The imperfections are supposed to be erased, and texture of the skin refined. It can be used with or without your day cream and functions as a perfect base of your makeup (I loosely translated the instructions on the box).

When I tried it out for the first time, I was a little shocked. The BB Cream has quite a thick texture, perhaps even thicker than most foundations. After I blended it in, it had a gray cast, and the shade is obviously lighter than my skin tone. I was not sure how to react, but luckily after 10 minutes or so the gray cast disappeared, and the shade blended in with my skin tone.

Here I am going to show you the lighter shade on the back of my hand. Note it was taken right after I applied it, and there was way too much for the back of my hand anyways, so you see the gray cast and shade mismatch I’m talking about:

Here is a picture of my face with the BB cream blended into the left side, but bare on the right side. It was taken 15-20 minutes after I applied it, so the difference in shade is minuscule (I would say it’s there, and the undertone is not as yellow as my own, but if you use the color of my neck as reference it’s not very far off):

Here is a closeup of the side with BB cream. I do think it reduces my pigmentation spots and dark circle (without covering them up completely, but then again that should be the concealer’s job):

I have also received a small packet of the BB Cream in Dore (golden), so I thought I’d swatch for you guys even though the shade is obviously darker than my own:

What I like about this BB cream is that it does even out my skin tone and cover imperfections to a certain extent. I have never been very picky about coverage in terms of base makeup, so this level of coverage is just fine by me. However, I can’t really use this without my regular lotion. It is not hydrating enough for my cheeks, but at the same time it doesn’t really control the sebum production in my T-zone, either. I have never had any problems with my foundation not staying in place, but I did test it out as a foundation primer. Unfortunately I am not the biggest fan of too many layers of base products, and I do think using a foundation over this BB cream makes it look a little too cakey/powdery for my liking.

All in all, the best way for me to use this BB cream is to use it after my lotion on its own. You really only need a VERY tiny bit each time. Just put small dots of this on your face and start blending it in, adding more if you feel the need to. I like the fact that it has an SPF 25. I have tried to take photos with flash in a poorly-lit room, and it didn’t give me the ghost face effect so good job!

Here is one last picture of me wearing this BB cream on my left cheek under the foundation. If you look VERY closely, you will notice the left side is slightly more powdery-looking, and the undertone is not as yellow as my own, but that’s only if you look VERY closely.

Bottom line: Depending on your skin type, you might or might not be able to use this as a lotion and foundation replacement at the same time. If your skin is oilier you might get away with it, but with my normal cheeks that lean dry when the seasons are changing, I do need to use a lotion underneath it. Again, depending on how much coverage you want, a foundation on top of this BB cream might be a little heavy-looking. However, I do like the fact that it has a good SPF without giving a white cast in flash photography!

What do you think? What BB creams you have tried? Are you a fan?

Sunny, your beauty culture translator xx

Disclosure: The product mentioned in this review is sent by the PR for my consideration. All opinions are honest and my own. I am in no way compensated for this review. I have always been, and will always be committed ONLY to my readers.

The full-size tube of Erborian BB cream contains 45ml and retails for 32 euros exclusively at ICI PARIS XL. Here’s the ingredient list if you’re interested in taking a look: