Perfectly Imperfect: Garnier BB Cream Review

The Garnier BB cream is a product I've been excited to try. The reviews online are split, either you love it or you hate. Not everyone is looking for same look, so I think you should first ask yourself, “How do I want your foundation to look?" My answer would be; I want a flawless looks that covers and brightens. I personally tend to go for a more full coverage foundation. I have occasional breakouts, redness, and discoloration. My face can be a hot mess, especially during the colder months since I’m lighter and have no tan. A tan helps to hide these imperfections, so I can wear a lighter coverage foundation. I don't always have to wear full coverage foundation; I have no problem leaving the house without make-up. For this reason, I love the Garnier BB Cream.

Now that I'm a working mama, the weekends are all about family. If we aren't taking a walk, at the playground, or running errands, we're at home chasing Baby B around the house acting like kids ourselves. I like to be comfortable and not have to spend much time getting ready. On the days that I go to work it takes me about 1 hour to get completely ready. I try not to take that long on the weekends I can instead be spending time with my little maniac (nor will be allow it). I like to apply my usual MAC prep and prime, Garnier BB cream, concealer, powder, mascara, and sometimes eyeliner. That's about half of what I wear during the week. It takes about 15 minutes to do, it looks natural and effortless

The pros: Gives your skin a bright and radiant glow

                Lightweight

                Inexpensive

                SPF 15

                 Can double as a primer.

The cons: The smell is too strong

                Can start to look oily and little dirty by the end of the day

                Needs at least 1 more color option

                

The coverage does what it says. It evens out your skin tone, brightens, hydrates, and I'm not too sure about the renewing. 3 out of 4 ain't bad! The product is light weight, so you feel like you’re only wearing moisturizer. While it still evens out your skin tones and gives a healthy glow. If you have some areas where you feel like you need a little more coverage, just apply a little concealer over top. It retails for around $12.00 at any drugstore. To me that’s a reasonable price, plus you can always find deals and coupons. The some higher end BB Creams can retail for more than $25.00. In my pros I said that you can wear the BB cream as a primer. I didn't know about this until a girl on The Nest said it (Thanks GoDawg). I tried it, and really liked it. It gave my skin a radiant glow, which my foundation doesn't normally do. So if you’re not a fan of the product, try it under your foundation, you might like it.

As for the cons, the smell is way too much! I'm not sure if all the Garnier skin care products have this, but I tried one of their moisturizer and it had the same exact smell. I would prefer anything going on my face not to have a fragrance. By the end of the day I started to notice that the products started to make my face look dirty. I don't know if it oxidized weirdly on my skin, but let me know if that happened to you. If you have oily skin, you are going to have to touch up with powder.  Since the product hydrates, it can over hydrate us ladies with oily skin. Now to the shades, or should I say lack thereof. The color matched fine with my complexion. I have an olive complexion, so anyone darker then me might have issues. I know the Asian BB creams come in even lighter shades, and they don't make darker shades, but I wish Garnier would have tried to accommodate everyone.

So to wrap up this extremely long review, I like the product for what it is, a drugstore BB Cream. It's priced well, works well, but isn't made for all skin tones. If you want to try this product, keep in mind that you aren't buying something to mask all your imperfections. It's meant to even and brightens, but it lightweight and has sheer coverage. I think women with aging skin will love this product because it won't set into any fine lines or wrinkles. It's hydrating is women with dry skin will love what it does. If you have discoloration, it will give you more even skin tone. 

It's perfect for the gym, the beach, moms on the go,  younger girls who are just starting to wear make-up, days when you don't want to do a whole lot, or women with aging skin.

I took pictures to show you how it looks from start to finish. I hope I don't scare you too bad with the lovely no make-up shots! I'm perfectly imperfect :)

The left side has the BB cream. The skin without any product. Can you see how red and blotchy my skin looks.

BB cream on the left/ bare skin on the right (eeek I look TERRIBLE)

Here I wearing BB Cream on the entire face. I also filled in my brows

Same as above

This is the final look. I added concealer to my under eyes, around my noses, and to my spots.  I have bronzer and blush on my cheeks, Light sweep of eyeshadow, Liquid liner, and mascara. I did a pink lip as well.

You can still see some imperfections, but it only takes me about 15 minutes and I'm done.  

It's up to you how much extra make-up you want to add. I suggest you add something so your face so doesn't look as flat. if you add color to your cheeks and mascara to your eyes, those features will pop.

*** I was given this product to review. This is 100% my honest opinion. If you want to review products like this, become a bzzagent like me. Here's the link if you'd like**