Kiehl’s Actively Correcting & Beautifying BB Cream

By Beautifulbuns

The very first time I heard the words BB Cream in 2008-2009, the first thought that came to mind was “BB? What bloody ballocks is that?” – yes my mind works in strange ways. Thankfully, I’ve since grown to associate BB creams with much more than just British hineys.

Now it’s been said that the Koreans were to first to create BB creams – since their people go for plastic surgeries as often as it I go to the toilet, they needed to have something to help protect the wounds while they were healing. Thus, the BB cream was born – a tinted skincare moisturising product that helped to conceal the marks while protecting it.

If you’ve been reading my blog, you’ll find that most of my BB creams are from Korea. I’ve always had the perception that BB creams were best left to the Koreans – it’s like how you would leave queueing for freebies or STOMPing to Singaporeans. We just do it better.

Which is why I was pleasantly surprised by the Kiehl’s Actively Correcting & Beautifying BB Cream – it’s actually pretty good for a non-Korean brand.

Available in 3 shades – Fair, Light and Natural

Kiehl’s Actively Correcting & Beautifying BB Cream in Fair shade – $68

Spreading out smoothly and evenly – you can already tell that this will be a good product due to its consistency

And voila! You can barely see that it’s there right? The left side of my hand doesn’t have BB cream whilst the right side has. Click to enlarge the photo for clearer detail.

And since it’s Monday – here’s something to make you feel better about yourself – a photo of my bare skin post-Korea, in all its dryness and shittiness. The middle and right photos are after blending out the BB and letting it set.

I say…

This is a pretty good BB cream for a non-Korean brand. -grudging nod- I find that most non-Korean brands tend to  have products that give a matte finish, which may not sit too well on our skins since our climate is so humid.

  • The texture is smooth and moist enough to spread and blend over the skin without pulling it.
  • It’s also not so moist that it leaves streaks or takes donkey years to set.
  • It’s unscented, which is fine by me. No one’s smelling my face anyway.
  • It also doesn’t require a lot of effort to blend in – many BB creams when applied, are starkly fairer than your skin tone, and require some effort to blend in. This one fits right in.
  • It’s quite lightweight and doesn’t feel like I’ve applied a cake on my face.
  • However, due to its lightweight nature, it also doesn’t provide heavy duty coverage. It covers about 65% of my dark eye circles – I had to tap on some loose powder to cover more.
  • On the other hand, it does provide medium level coverage – check out my photos above. You can see that the red splotchiness was covered and my skin looks less dry and more plumped up.
  • In fact, it gives a really natural finish that’s the right balance of matte and dewy. -thumbs up-
  • The one downside – because of its lightweight nature, it doesn’t last long either – my face started oiling up after just 3 hours of wear. It was pretty much gone after 6 hours.

Overall, I do like this BB cream; it’s got a good finishing, medium natural coverage and good texture. I just wished that it lasted longer (cue: and that’s what she said)  muahahahaha.