What is BB Cream?

BB Cream is an abbreviation for a number of names, from beauty balm to blemish balm. In essence, it’s a lighter coverage liquid foundation that gives a more natural ‘air-brushed’ look to your beauty regime. It’s a hybrid between an organic day cream for the face, a primer and a foundation and you can speed up your morning beauty regime by only applying this one product instead of three if you need to.

Why choose a natural or organic BB Cream over a mainstream brand?

Natural and organic BB Creams match performance with mainstream brands and give you the added benefit of not potentially irritating your skin with preservatives and petrochemicals being absorbed in to your skin. La Mav produced the first certified organic BB cream in Australia. Inika's formula is focused on hydration and uses prickly pear for hydrating the skin and also supports the skins natural ability to store moisture, much like hyaluronic acid does.

How much coverage does BB Cream give you?

A BB Cream gives light to medium coverage, a natural looking airbrushed look with natural looking coverage that looks like you're not wearing a full foundation. Depending on how much you use, it can be applied either with the fingers or a foundation brush for a smoother look. Some people like to use a BB Cream in summer because they’re more lightweight. When choosing the Inika range, the BB Cream and the Liquid Foundations all come in the same shades, so it’s easy to swap between the two depending on your coverage needs.

Your BB Cream will even out skin tone. They are like tinted moisturisers providing a natural finish. If you need more coverage, apply a second layer or swap to a liquid foundation. If you have any blemishes or dark spots to cover, we recommend the use of a concealer under your BB cream as you are getting a lighter coverage than a full foundation.

How many different shades do BB Creams come in?

BB Cream, because of its sheer coverage, can be a little forgiving. Depending on the brand, most come in a minimum of two shades. Inika comes in the same full set of shades as their foundation and use the same mineral pigments to colour the cream, so you can get a much closer match to your own skin tones.

Does BB Cream contain SPF coverage?

We currently stock three different brands of BB Cream. The best bb cream for you may depend on whether it has SPF coverage. Natural sunscreen with SPF ratings are required to be registered with the TGA in Australia when their primary goal is sun protection. When the primary goal of the product is to be a tinted moisturiser, the protection from uv rays is secondary to the product and it's called a secondary sunscreen. Sometimes a BB Cream will have an official SPF rating, and sometimes it won't. Wotnot has broad spectrum spf protection with an official spf rating because they are in the sunscreen business. The SPF BB Cream from La Mav is a true secondary sunscreen and doesn't have a TGA approved rating.

Can I use BB Cream instead of my daily moisturiser?

If you need a quick morning routine and you want light coverage with a tinted moisturizer, can you skip the moisturiser and go straight for this? If you choose the right one, yes, hydrating your skin in the morning with the right BB cream is possible. This is where you should choose a BB Cream made by a skin care company. They'll use ingredients like hyaluronic acid and have formulated their makeup to have skin care benefits so it can multitask. Moisture, sheer coverage, radiant glow, broad spectrum spf are all in one lightweight product.

Some of the best BB Creams we stock come from skin care companies. They can't formulate for all skin types, but we do suggest doing a trial run in the morning with just your BB cream and then use your dedicated oily skin or dry skin moisturiser at night and on the weekends. Adjust your routine to suit your skin condition.

Is BB Cream and CC Cream the same thing?

CC Cream stands for colour correcting and they are different products. They are often a similar texture to a BB Cream but their main purpose is to correct redness and other colour issues with skin tone. If you have oily skin, look for something noncomedogenic so it doesn't clog your pores.