BB creams - Nivea BB Cream, YSL BB Cream, Biotherm BB Cream

3 min read

BB creams were the beauty buzzword of last year, but they show no sign of going away. In fact, rarely a week goes by when there isn’t a new one on my desk. I’ve lost count of how many BB creams I have now tried, but the latest three came from Nivea, YSL and Biotherm.

If you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last few years, and don’t know what a BB cream is here’s simple recap – a BB cream or Blemish Balm or Beauty Balm, originated in Asia and is basically a tinted moisturiser with benefits. They can help with blemishes, smooth the skin, cover dark circles, as well as moisturise the skin. They’re a one stop beauty base and they’re massively popular. I love them – they give me a sheer coverage, with concealing benefits, and they feel good on my dry skin.

YSL Nivea BIotherm BB cream

So, how do these three fare? First up is Nivea’s Daily Essentials BB (Blemish Blam) Cream (£5.99, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda) which bills itself as a 5in1 Beautifying Moisturiser. It claims to even, cover, illuminate, moisturise and protect the skin. It has an SPF10, and contains minerals and vitamins A, E and F, as well as Shea butter and a hint of colour. When I first squeezed this out I thought the Light shade was going to be too dark, but it blends in beautifully. It is quite heavily scented, which is pleasant, but might put some off. It goes on easily, feels smooth and is moisturising, and I felt it did conceal my under eye dark circles. I like it a lot and it’s £5.99 – a bargain price for a decent product. It comes in Light, and also Medium to Dark.

BB creams nivea ysl biotherm

YSL’s Top Secrets BB Cream Skintone Perfection SPF25 (£38, yslbeauty.co.uk) is at the other end of the price spectrum, so you would expect it to be good. This is not a cheap quick fix, and it doesn’t disappoint. I have been using the Clear shade, which really has no colour in it, and is perfect for those of you who really don’t want a lot of colour coverage at all, but would like the smoothing benefits foundations can offer. It also comes in Medium and Dark. It feels great – really fresh and light, and, again, it offers multi-action benefits – correction, uniformity, moisturising, radiance and protection. You can use the clear shade under foundation as an added primer, or alone for a more natural effect. I love it as a summer base – no need for concealer. I can skip a step in my moisturising routine with this as well – it offers excellent moisturising properties, and it has a great SPF 25 protection PA++ so is a perfect summer facial sunscreen. You would expect all of this for the price, and I do think it delivers, as you can miss out a few products just using this one alone.

Biotherm Aquasource BB Cream  Instant Beautifying Moisturizer SPF15 (£19.50, biotherm.co.uk) is, as you would expect, heavy on the moisturising qualities. And it does deliver in that respect. I also liked the shade – again, it looks darker when first out the tube, but blended in well – and this is the Fair to Medium shade. Again, I can’t really fault this cream. I do have to stress that if you like a good coverage, then a BB cream is probably not for you. They don’t offer that. They do even out skintone, and make your skin feel smooth, as well as those moisturising qualities. I like the level of coverage they give. This Biotherm cream contains pure thermal plankton and mineral pigments, and really did feel like it was doing my skin good when it was on.

If you haven’t yet tried a BB cream, give them a go.