With spring months and weather (hopefully!) fast approaching, it's a good time to have a product shakeup. As you're shedding your bulky winter coat, shed your thick foundation. New from NYC New York Color, the Smooth Skin BB Crème Instant Matte ($3.99) - available in light matte and medium matte - and Smooth Skin BB Perfecting Powder ($3.99) - available in naturally beige and warm beige - is light and airy, but still provides just enough coverage. It's the perfect addition to your makeup bag for the warmer weather. Recently I had the chance to review some samples courtesy of the brand, and here's what I thought...
First things first, the packaging for the two BB creams is really nice. It doesn't look or feel inexpensive, and really houses the product well.
On NY Color's website, they boast that the product is a "5 in 1," meaning that it is actually 5 products in one, which is not unusual for a BB cream. It reportedly "minimizes the appearance of pores and lines, beautifies and smooths skin, minimizes the appearance of skin imperfections, brightens skin tone for a perfect flawless finish, and it's dermatologist tested." I was a little skeptical of the BB cream being able to cover all of my redness and imperfections. I think of a BB cream being super light and essentially one step beyond a tinted moisturizer. Boy, was I surprised.
While the product was nice and light, it covered up dark circles and red marks pretty well. I used a moisturizer to prep my skin and then used the BB cream as an all-over foundation. For the areas under my eyes and a few other spots, I put a little extra cream on to act as a concealer. I was so satisfied. Except for the really stubborn spots that not even my normal makeup routine can hide, the BB cream covered it all. Because the powder was a little darker than my skin tone, I used it as a bronzer along my cheekbones.
All in all, I was really happy with the BB cream. Because my skin is normally pretty shiny, I went with the matte option. Because of the great coverage and overall transformation to my skin, these products may be my new everyday foundations.
Disclosure: I received the products reviewed in this post courtesy of the brand; the decision to write this review and all opinions expressed are 100% my own.