Dr. Jart Premium Beauty Balm BB Cream Review & Swatches
Korea is the birth place to the BB Cream but within the last year or two the trend has branched out to various Asian countries with brands featuring their own version of the BB Cream.
I’ve been using BB Creams for about three or four years now. They are my foundation of choice as they do wonders for dullness and dry skin in my opinion.
Up until now BB Creams have not been available within the US and brands such as Estee Lauder and MAC who all have released a BB Cream in some shape or form in Asia have not extended the same friendlessness to the western market. It’s understandable they haven’t released the product here since many of these BB Creams offer whitening and brightening options something that isn’t necessarily embraced by American women.
A true BB Cream offers an anti-aging formula, pigmentation that conceals and acts as a foundation, brightening or whitening benefits, and a high SPF, and has some sort of healing benefits for scarring. Supposedly the formula was created by dermatologists and prescribed to heal laser skin surgery patients as it contained soothing ingredients and had skin regeneration properties.
In my experience it hasn’t healed any problems areas and I honestly can’t say if it’s preventing or slowing the aging process but I do have my doubts about this. I will say I love the coverage, I love how lightweight it is yet pigmented, and I love how it instantly eases dullness and makes my skin look refreshed, awake, and gorgeous.
The exciting news is of course the fact that Dr. Jart has released two BB Creams to the US market that are available at Sephora. This is the first time that BB Creams have made their way to the western market officially and I have a feeling you’ll see alot more of them as the months go by.
I purchased Dr. Jart BB Beauty Balm which is one of two new BB Creams available at Sephora. I was very eager to compare it to the many Korea BB Creams I’ve tried and particularly to the Dr. Jart BB Creams from Korea that I have.
Let’s take a look!
This is a moisturizer, sunscreen, and treatment serum that includes advanced brightening properties with natural looking coverage that minimizes the appearance of imperfections and evens the skin tone. Antioxidant bio-peptides and adenosine protect skin from harsh environmental factors while restoring firmness and elasticity.
First off a few details about my skin…
My skin is medium fair with warm undertones. It’s typically dry with a little bit of oiliness in the Summer months around my forehead and nose area. I have small pores on my nose however the rest of my face lives a happy pore-free existence. I do not know my MAC shade but I believe it’s in the range of NC25 or NC30 but don’t quote me there.
I’m an I20 or I40 in Shiseido foundations and find mixing the two shades creates the perfect color for my face. The skin on my arms, legs, rest of my body is considerably warmer than the one on my face.
Normally BB Creams in Asia are available in two shade selections or in some cases a single shade. Missha, a Korean brand, happens to be the exception which makes a wider range of colors in their BB Creams.
In the case of the new Dr. Jart BB Cream at Sephora it’s available in a single, one size fits all skin shade. BB Creams are supposed to adjust to your skin tone accordingly and in many cases I’ve noticed it does sometimes work that way. Typically I can get away with the first shade available however in some cases I have to go with the second shade. It really depends as Asian BB Creams all have various formulas and degrees of color.
Now I will say that if you’re olive, mocha, a dashing shade of dark, etc…this won’t work for you. The color runs cool and has a pinky, beige undertone. If you attempt to use it you’ll get a chalky, ghostly cast on your face, actually most skin tones will see this effect. This isn’t abnormal by any means as BB Creams have been known to have that effect however this doesn’t adjust to fit tones so it does leave a pasty finish behind. Is that bad? Not necessarily because once your makeup is in place your skin will look smoother, fresher, and more awake particularly if you suffer from dullness, yellow undertones, or a sallow complexion.
The formula is a bit runny compared to BB Creams from Asia. Traditionally BB Creams are thick, creamy, and quite pigmented however Dr. Jart’s BB Beauty Balm runs thinner and feels more like a tinted moisturizer to me. It absorbs easily and isn’t as pigmented as many BB Creams I already own so if you have problem areas that you want to conceal this won’t do the trick. I think the cream is best suited to those with suffer minor problems such as dullness, sallowness, or minor redness or darkness. If you have major acne scarring, acne, or other issues that you want to concealer this probably won’t conceal such issues.
One of the key benefits to BB Creams and this particularly one as well is the fact they do not oxidize on my skin or fade away quickly. They pretty much stick around for super long wear. I get about 8 hours in with some of my favorite creams and in this case I got about six hours in before I noticed some fading.
It feels like they created this to perfect already good skin that needs a little bit of a helping hand to get to that smooth, flawless, airbrushed finish rather than to address harsher skin imperfections.
The high SPF of 45 (most BB Creams have a range of 45-55) is always a bonus when it comes to BB Creams as it protects your skin but prevents sunburn if you’re super fair.
For my photos below I used BB Cream only without concealer. However, I highly suggest using a concealer if you have dark circles, finer lines, etc…because as you can see in my before and my after shoots my eyes are looking ALL kinds of tired. Some girls I have talked to herald BB Cream as an ideal foundation product that covers everything. But honestly this particularly BB Cream isn’t pigmented enough to conceal such problems in my opinion.
As you can see the change is very subtle since the coverage isn’t as pigmented as BB Creams available in Asia.
Dr. Jart BB Beauty Balm wasn’t my personal favorite BB Cream from the brand, I prefer the silver label available in Korea however it’s a good start to introducing BB Creams to the Western Market but I do feel like it could also misrepresent a BB Cream as well because this leans towards merely being a tinted moisturizer and that’s simply not what BB Creams are about.
Selecting a BB Cream that fits your skin issues and tone is quite an adventure and takes a little patience and sorting through various products as no two are the same in formula or shade. In the case of this BB it’s probably best suited to most skin types (oily, combo, dry) that require minimal, lighter foundation coverage and a skin tone that’s cooler and fairer. I’d say if you range in the light to medium range of colors you should be fine however olive or darker tones might want to avoid this as it probably won’t adjust as well and create a ghostly cast to skin.
I think it’s well worth a pick up if you fit into the right tone to use it because I think you’ll really enjoy it however if you’ve used BB Creams from Korea you may be slightly disappointed at the formula. I felt the formula was more of a tinted moisturizer in this case rather than a full on BB Cream experience which normally have a richer, creamier texture with way more pigment. However, as an introduction to what a BB Cream actually is and does, well, Dr. Jart BB Beauty Balm is a good way to start the adventure.
But be warned…
BB Creams tend to become addicting as you start trying to search our that perfect formula and shade for your skin tone. I currently have 30 or 40 that I rotate with. Yes, I’m a little weird and crazy like that.
I think I covered all aspects of both a BB Cream and the Dr. Jart BB Beauty Balm in this review but if you have any questions (other than ones that ask me about whether this will suit your skin tone as I really can’t tell you if it will or won’t work for you having never seen your photo or face in person) about BB Creams feel free to ask and I’ll answer to the best of my knowledge.
Good luck!
Available now at sephora.com!