Put your best face forward

I love makeup. I’ve never been one of those people who has to “put my face on” every time I leave the house. I go to the gym makeup-free. My husband sees me in all my makeup-less glory.

But, I love makeup. MAC, Stila, Lorac, Covergirl, Maybelline, TART – they all found their way into my makeup bag, basket and drawer. Yes, I have all three. A girl never knows which trend she is going to rock on any given day. She must be prepared to be dewy and fresh-faced or bronzed and smokey-eyed.

Any good look starts with great skin. My skincare regime used to be simple. Wash my face with some water before bed and dab on some tinted moisturizer by day. Ah, the ease of being young. Now that I am in my late twenties (gasp!), things have gotten significantly more complicated. I see the traces of wrinkles forming and no matter how much sleep I get I still look like I’ve pulled an all-nighter. Like any good quarter life crisis-er, I’ve been trying any and every product I can that claims to fight age, wrinkles, or insert-any-minor-imperfection here. I

I am still on the search for my fountain of youth product. However, my late-twenties skin has also left me in need in the makeup department, which is significantly more fun for my makeup-loving self than this wrinkle business. I’ve noticed I need a bit more coverage than offered by tinted moisturizer, but I absolutely hate, hate, hate foundation. I’ve tried so many variations, but they always feel heavy, look fake and make me look like a Vegas showgirl. After doing some exploration and some excess purchasing, I finally found my savior – Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector B.B. Cream!

You might have heard of the B.B. trend – the B’s stand for Beauty Balm or Blemish Balm, depending on the product. It’s a product concept that made its way over from several Asian countries (namely Korea).

Garnier’s B.B. Cream combines “advanced skincare” along with “immediate skin perfecting coverage.”

What the heck does that really mean?

The cream promises to cover, quench, protect (SPF 15 – a must!) and perfect dullness, redness and splotchiness.

OH – and it is only $12.

Too good to be true? Maybe. All I can attest to so far is that this product provides just the right amount of coverage to function as a light foundation, without feeling like a foundation. I’d liken it to a step up from a tinted moisturizer and a step down from foundation. For all of us ladies who are fall in the Goldilocks category of face makeup, this cream is just right! Since I’ve been using the product (about a month), I have noticed an overall improvement in the brightness of my skin, but in all fairness this could be due to any of the other aforementioned products I’ve been trying.

After reading the product reviews, I’ve noticed some women use this before applying a foundation, which might be worth a try if you are a foundation kind of gal. If you’re not, use this with a bit of bronzer and/or blush and you will be ready to take on the day.

Some tips:

• A little goes a long way! I usually only need about 2 pea-sized dollops, one for my forehead and nose, another for my cheeks.
• It comes in two colors – light/medium and medium/deep. The light/medium works for fair to tan complexions, just layer the product. The medium/deep works on darker skin tones, but I came across several complaints that the medium/deep does not work for African American skin tones.
• If you have oily skin, this product might not be for you. My skin is pretty normal, not oily, not dry, a bit on the sensitive side. I haven’t had any issues, but some reviewers mentioned it made their skin more oily.
• The product is scented. I find it pleasurable and it disappears after just a few minutes. However, if you do not like scented products, steer clear!
• It is sold out in many local CVS stores. Friends have told me they’ve had trouble finding it, so you might want to purchase online if you know which complexion category you fall into. Check out drugstore.com.