little white truths

Ingredients:

Titanium Dioxide 5.0% Zinc Oxide 5.0% Inactive Ingredients: Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Propylene Glycol, Octyldodecyl Neopentanoate, PEG/PPG-18/18 Dimethicone, Dimethicone, Cyclohexasiloxane, Magnesium Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Chloride, Zinc Chloride, Lysine, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract, Camellia Oleifera Leaf Extract, Phytantriol, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Retinyl Palmitate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Tocopherol, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Aluminum Hydroxide, Stearic Acid, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Boron Nitride, Glycerin, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Palmitic Acid, Dextrin Palmitate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Butylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Mica, Iron Oxides.


Above I've swatched it in natural light and below in direct sunlight (you can see it looks a little paler in sunlight and a little more orange in natural light).

In each shot, I've dabbed it on the left, blended it a bit in the middle and blended it out on the right. You can see it's a rather greasy and very sheer. I've no idea why it's claimed to be a mattifying/oil-free product because the grease factor is quite clear!


There's my bare face for reference:


There I am with one layer of product:


There I am with two layers of product (the grease factor is obvious here and the shade is a little bone-coloured for me, but it's not a terrible match):


What I've done below is mixed it with a small amount of Stila's Bronzing Beauty Balm, just to darken the colour a bit and make me look healthier:


Verdict

I don't hate this product but I certainly don't love it either, which is why I've chucked it on my Project Pan list and am also using it as a test product for my 'how long does it take to finish?' series of posts. In other words, I want to get rid of it so I can move on to products I prefer - plus it's a better colour match in the cooler months when my skin's paler so I'd rather use it now.

What's strange about this one is that, according to the product claims, it's supposed to mattify but it's actually quite greasy - and while greasy products generally offer more hydration and plumping action, this one is so shiny that it accentuates pores and it mustn't be very hydrating because it does nothing to reduce the appearance of fine lines, while better products all but remove them.

What this tells me is that the moisture doesn't absorb very well, but instead sits on top of the skin. That also explains the greasiness (and it's meant to be oil free!) and the fact that the product doesn't stand up well to a second coat: you can see this in the above photograph because you can really tell I've got something on, which isn't what I want from a BB cream or tinted moisturiser. I want to look natural, and this doesn't deliver that.

Due to the level of shine/grease, you have to add a lot of powder unless you want to look like you're covered in oil, and even then it's either not enough to remove the shine, or you add so much that you look like you've been chalked. There seems to be no happy medium - at least, not that I can find.

Also, the product is very sheer and while I like sheer products (because you can control the level of coverage more easily), I also like them to be buildable and - as mentioned - this one isn't, so it also loses points on that front too.

I'm really surprised this received such a high rating on Paula's Choice (see here), because I usually trust their ratings but I reckon they've got this one wrong. If you have a look at what other bloggers and reviewers have to say about this product, you'll see I'm not the only one who doesn't rate it.

Just thinking about it, I reckon this is probably the worst BB cream I've ever tried - and that's saying a lot because I've tried so many (and much cheaper ones to boot).

I'm really glad I only paid around $20AUD for this. I'd be rather grumpy if I'd paid full price!

Low marks from me. Not happy Jane ; )