little white truths

I picked this up a while back on strawberrynet for a fraction of the retail price in Australia.

I bought it because it was so marked down and also because I'm a BB cream junkie and just can't help myself when I see one of these on special!


I did check the reviews prior to purchasing it, and while they weren't consistently good, enough people had something good to say about this product that I thought it was worth a go.

In any event, if I didn't like it I knew I could use it as a facial sunscreen beneath other bases due to the high SPF factor.

While I'm glad I've tried it, it's certainly not one I would buy again because much better products exist and this one's a bit temperamental. Who can be bothered with that.


Dr Brandt claims/product details:

• A revolutionary all-in-one BB cream that uses colour-match technology to auto-conform to your skin colour
• The first BB cream to incorporate tone-blending technology to provide flawless, skin perfecting coverage with just one shade
• Formulated with Dr Brandt's signature flexitone technology that blends seamlessly with most skintones
• A multi-functional, anti-ageing cream instantly perfects, brightens and hydrates  
• SPF 30 protection
• Blends seamlessly with most skin tones, providing an alternative to traditional foundation
• Helps correct flaws and uneven skintone to perfect overall complexion
• Helps brighten and provide a healthy glow
• Helps smooth and improve the look of lines and wrinkles
• Shelf-life after opening: six months
• RRP $58 AUD for 30ml, but do shop around

Above is what it looks like when you squeeze it out. That oily bit has run right down my arm and underneath it.

Below is what it looks like when you start to rub it in (note the red streaks):



There it is blended in a little:


 And there it is blended out:


There's my bare face for reference:


And again for good measure (you can see how oily it is here):


Verdict

I've been trialling this product on and off for a month now, and there's a reason it's taken me a while to write this review: my opinion of it changes almost every time I use it!

First off, this is not a product that adapts to all skintones, so the whole 'flexitone' thing is rubbish. If your skin is light/medium to medium/tan, you should be ok with this - but don't buy it if that's not you. You can see in the above photos that it hasn't adapted to the colour of my arm (which is paler than my face), and I've seen a lot of reviewers complain that this product is far too dark and too orange for them.

When you squeeze the product out, it looks a greyish beige. When you start to rub it in, red and black streaks appear (you can see those above), but it then turns to a more natural tan colour that thankfully matches my skin well enough.

Do note: there's a reason why it says on the tube that you're meant to shake it well before each application. I forgot to do that this morning, and what I squired out was mostly oil with bits of colour riddled through it, like curdled milk.

On the oil factor: this is an oily product so I wouldn't recommend it if you have oily skin. My skin is dry so I can always use a bit of grease, but certainly not as much as this product delivers. I need to powder my face after applying it, and I don't normally need to do that.

It smells like sunscreen and has a weird, mousse-like texture that I think contributes to the fact that it's harder to blend in than other BB creams. I said above that this product is a bit temperamental, and it's definitely that. I would prefer a product that I can just throw on, not one that I need to shake and then spend so much time blending (plus the need to powder after use). It's all too much, and I'm far too lazy for those extra steps.

The good thing about it (other than that it matches my colouring pretty well) is that it does provide a natural coverage so it's one I will keep and wear. I'm also happy about the SPF 30 it delivers, so it's a good product for summer for this reason alone.

A few other things to note are that: it doesn't last that well throughout the day (although it fares better with a powder); on some days it looks really oily on the face and on others it can look/feel drying; and it's not a consistent product in terms of how it looks, so I wouldn't rely on it if I were going out and wanted to look good because on some days it looks good on me and on others it really doesn't.