Review & Swatches! Garnier Skin Renew BB Cream in Light/Medium

Todays review is on the new BB cream from Garnier.  BB creams originated in Asia.  BB stands for Blemish Balm (or as we westerners call it-Beauty Balm).  People are going crazy over BB creams  because they're not just skin care or a tinted moisturizer; but they can help heal your skin, and help it look better over time.  BB Creams can be used under foundation, in place of foundation, as a primer, or worn alone.  So far I've shown you (my opinion and experience with ) the Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream (click here to read the review).

Here's what the Garnier (site) has to say about their BB cream  "A combination of Hyaluronic Acid, Lipidure Microspheres + Glycerin retains water in the skin, allowing it to maintain superior moisture levels and improve softness and suppleness of skin for 24hours.*Vitamin C provides antioxidant properties, boosts radiance and luminosity of skin.*Mineral Pigments delicately and immediately beautiful skin. The rich pigments instantly melt and spread flawlessly over skin."

(Click to enlarge) 

Garnier was (I believe) one of the first companies that made a bb cream for the drugstore.  Its been out for quite a while, but I was hesitant to pick it up.  As anyone whos super light or super dark can tell u.. "works for most skintones" usually means it doesnt.  I was worried about it being too yellow, or orange.

(you can see a bit of yellow, but its not too bad once applied to the face)

This BB cream actually aint half bad.  The color match wasn't perfect (though I wasn't expecting it to be), but it was good enough where my face looked refreshed and less dull (it didn't give me a mask or "my face is darker then my neck" look).  This cream has pretty strong citrus-y smell, which goes away after about 10 min or so of wearing it.

This definitely brightened and hydrated my face.  As for evening out my skintone, it did ok with that..not perfectly, but my skin definitely looked better.  For me, this isn't one that I'll use all the time.  My skin is combination (oily/normal), and this made my skin look super shiny if I didn't use powder over it.  I've seen on some UK beauty blogs that there's an "oily skin" version of this, and I wish I could get my hands on that, because I'm pretty sure that would have worked much better for me.

Overall: If you don't have a super oily tzone, I think this is worth a shot.  I did like the way my face looked while I was wearing it (if only it didn't turn into an oil slick).  It has vitamin c, which is great for the skin, and also has a bit of SPF which is nice.  For me, it works only if I put powder over it (which isn't ideal in the summer time), but for those with dry, normal skin..I think this is worth a shot!


*I cant compare bb creams here to those made in Asia (I havent tried any asian ones for starters).  The ones in Asia (from what I've read) are true bb creams, and are amazing.  My opinions here are just how it works overall, and if its a worthy investment or not-not whether or not its a true bb cream*


-$12.99 at CVS
-I bought this myself-all opinions are my own