Friday 27 July 2012

First Impressions: Garnier BB Cream Oil-Free (Oily/Combination Skin)



Garnier recently came out with a new BB Cream in their Miracle Skin Perfector range that is oil-free and aimed at oily & combination skin types. I paid AUD$11 for this during Priceline's 20% off sale (as of today it's still on!). I've been wearing it for a few days and I thought I'd give you an initial impressions review.

I was not a fan of the original Garnier BB Cream. It is very emollient and I found it never really set on my combination skin. It also has practically no coverage. I am pleased to say the Oil-free version is a completely different beast.
Left: Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector (original), Right: Garnier BB Cream Oil-free

The packaging is quite an elegant slimline squeezy tube with a pointy tip. It doesn't scream cheap and I prefer it to the original one. Scent wise - it is fragrance free so doesn't smell much, which is a massive bonus as the original has that awful fake "fresh" scent.

The texture of the Garnier Oil-free BB is very runny, not thick and creamy like the original. It is exceptionally easy to spread and doesn't set too quickly so you have time to work it.
Left: Original, Right: Oil-free

Colour wise, I have both these creams in Light and I prefer the yellow tone of the Oil-free version. The colour is also slightly lighter than the original. If you are super pale then Light will be too dark for you, it is leaning on too dark for me but I can work with it.
Left: Original, Right: Oil-free

The finish is surprisingly beautiful. It's a nice soft matte, very skin like. It is light to almost medium coverage and is particularly good at hiding areas of redness. The oil control is good, but not fantastic. I am oily on my nose and I still need to apply a mattifying primer to this area before applying the cream. I love the finish of this. Count me very surprised. It lasts around 8-10 hours and makes my skin feel so silky. I would happily wear it as an everyday natural coverage make up if it weren't for a couple of drawbacks for me.

Garnier BB Cream Oil-free Ingredients

Firstly, the only sunscreen I see is ethylhexyl methocycinnamate. This does not give any UVA protection that I can see (let me know if I'm wrong... they don't actually list the "actives"). Maybe a tiny bit of titanium dioxide - but that doesn't cover all UVA rays and I'm not sure if there's enough for it to be active. UVA rays age you and cause skin cancer. A separate sunscreen is a must, which is frustrating for an all-in-one product. Secondly, there is a high concentration of alcohol, which I am not happy with putting on my skin everyday as it dries my skin out and sensitises it.

Ahhhhh this is such a shame because I really love the formulation. Because I love the formulation so much I will use it on the sneaky, maybe if I'm just popping out to the supermarket or something and don't need the SPF. Overall my review is mixed. I'm sorry I can't come up with a more conclusive opinion.

Have you tried it?



12 comments:

  1. This looks very inciting. I love how light and liquid-y it is! It looks wonderful! (:
    Too bad about the amount of alcohol. :/

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    1. Yes the texture is great! So different to the original.

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  2. I bought it in Light and was afraid it would be too pink for me since I'm very yellow toned, but it's not pink thankfully. :)

    The alcohol is there since it's for oily skin types I'm thinking. Sucks about the sunscreen but I'll only be using this in the winter and will switch to Maybelline's BB cream when it comes to Aussie shores. MNY Twitter person won't answer my Tweets about it though, so annoying! :/

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    Replies
    1. It's great when they make these limited shades things lean yellow. Pink is so unflattering! Let me know how you go with it :)

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  3. Great analysis of the ingredients. Does raise some issues.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Madi. I'm hoping when the warm weather hits we'll get more BB creams with better formulas coming out :)

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  4. wow it sounds great!!
    I absolutely detested the original one, it was so dewy and oily feeling and broke me out badly. The scent also gave me a headache.
    Since this one is fragrance free I might give it a go! Still kinda sceptical of Garnier though :P

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  5. I want this! It fixes everything that is wrong with the original... Sadly I haven't seen it in stores over here yet :(

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  6. I am 36 with combination skin that occasionally breaks out, so I was looking for something that moisturizes without adding a bunch of extra oil. My wife (who is SO beautiful and also has combination skin) recommended the Lady Soma Renew Serum that she uses. This really works! My skin is feeling and looking better. I am so satisfied that I have recommended it to family and friends, something I rarely do. My wife always gets mistaken for someone who is at least 10 years younger than she really is. I imagine that is due to her taking good care of her skin and good genetics, but I must say that I think the hyaluronic acid in the Lady Soma Renew Serum helps to keep her (and me) moisturized and to keep the fine lines at bay.

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  7. I love the Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector BB cream. It's the best BB cream ever!

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  8. I bought this maybe 2 months ago and LOVED IT!!! I'm 17, don't really get acne or struggle with excessive dry or oily skin, but I'll wear foundation occasionally just when I wear eye makeup to complete the look.
    About 3 weeks ago, my forehead began breaking out in tiny bumps (looked just like acne but was itchy when I wore the cream) and I had no clue what it was. I've never had big scary breakouts like this ever so it kinda freaked me out. I began washing my face a lot and it would calm down, then I put back on the BB cream and went out and it was all back again. So I finally came to the realization that it was the BB cream making all of this happen. What do you think it could be in this stuff that's causing my reaction?! I've NEVER struggled with products before until now and my skin isn't all too picky. And I'd love to stick to the light, natural looking BB cream look because it's easy to apply and stays on all day for me, but I don't want to continue with the reactions. Anything you can recommend to me? I've heard CC cream is great as well but I'm needing opinions.

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  9. I bought this maybe 2 months ago and LOVED IT!!! I'm 17, don't really get acne or struggle with excessive dry or oily skin, but I'll wear foundation occasionally just when I wear eye makeup to complete the look.
    About 3 weeks ago, my forehead began breaking out in tiny bumps (looked just like acne but was itchy when I wore the cream) and I had no clue what it was. I've never had big scary breakouts like this ever so it kinda freaked me out. I began washing my face a lot and it would calm down, then I put back on the BB cream and went out and it was all back again. So I finally came to the realization that it was the BB cream making all of this happen. What do you think it could be in this stuff that's causing my reaction?! I've NEVER struggled with products before until now and my skin isn't all too picky. And I'd love to stick to the light, natural looking BB cream look because it's easy to apply and stays on all day for me, but I don't want to continue with the reactions. Anything you can recommend to me? I've heard CC cream is great as well but I'm needing opinions.

    ReplyDelete

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