@Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector Oil-Free B.B. Cream #bzzagent

This review was made possible by BzzAgent and Garnier.

 

Thanks to BzzAgent and Garnier I received a full size sample of Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector Oil-Free B.B. Cream in the Light to Medium shade.  When first opening the tube I was a little surprised about the color and texture.  The product was so runny I was incredulous about whether or not it would actually cover anything.  Also, at first the color looked so light I thought for sure I would look like a ghost.  Upon first putting it on my face though I was amazed at how quickly and evenly the B.B. Cream (stands for Beauty Balm) covered and minimized the appearance of scars, acne, enlarged pores and other discolorations.  It took a few minutes for the cream to darken up enough to match  my skin tone.

The Garnier B.B. Cream is infused with the mineral perlite.  Perlite is something I am familiar with as a gardener.  It is a mineral that helps to improve the texture of potting soil and even garden soil when used properly.  It absorbs little water and allows little pockets of air to reside around the roots of your plants so they don’t drown when there are heavy rains or they are over watered.  I was intrigued to find out how perlite would be applied to my skin.  Though I am in my early 30s and my skin’s texture is changing I still have a fairly oily T-zone. My forehead surely does end up with an oily sheen by mid afternoon as does my chin.  From years and years of fighting acne I’m left with enlarged pores next to fine lines forming around my eyes and on my forehead, arrrgh!  I finally broke down and purchased a combination foundation/antiaging cream makeup to see if that would work ok on my face.  It felt great and went on smooth, but because my face does tend to be greasy by the end of the day it had all run into the cracks and crevices like it was sliding off my face and I looked terrible.  All the blush slid down on my cheeks and pooled in a mass under my cheekbones making me look sick.  One benefit of the BB Cream that I did not anticipate was that my makeup stayed in place and didn’t slide off!

One warning – KEEP IT AWAY FROM YOUR EYES.  As much as you may be tempted to use this on your eyelids to create a slide free, oil-free base for your eye shadow – DO NOT.  I learned the hard way that after a long day of wear it does run a little especially if you’ve been sweaty and if you get it in your eyes you are going to feel like you might just go blind.  It burns terribly.  Then you’ll have to wash your eyes and face in the process to get it out of your eyes and that won’t be so attractive when your done.  Believe me – the ladies in the restroom at the grocery store were wondering what the heck was going on with me that I was so frantically washing my face in a public restroom while I was 4 hours away from home.  Never again.  My guess is the combination of the sunscreen with the perlite that absorbs moisture is a bad combination for the eyes though it’s great for your skin.

You’re about to get up close and personal with my face :).  My face in the after looks a little more pale, but this was immediately after applying the cream after a little while it did darken a bit to complement my skin better.  In the summer months I may have to dry the darker tone since I do tan fairly easily. On the left is my before and the right is after:

 

An additional benefit of this cream is that it can be used as a sunblock.  It is recommended to apply it 15 minutes before sun exposure and every 2 hours to maintain it’s effects.  They recommend to use a waterproof sunscreen if you are swimming or sweating, in other words this alone will run with prolonged exposure to water or sweat.

Overall, I’m pleased with the results of the Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector B.B. Cream.  It provided a pleasant and even base for my makeup that didn’t run or slide off my face and did a fine job of reducing shine.  Just a note, for me it did not eliminate shine, but it certainly did reduce it and prevent my makeup from caking and running.  Make sure you exfoliate your face well because any dry skin will be made to stand out when the cream sets on your face, found that out the hard way too.

 

Disclosure:  I received a sample of this product for the purposes of this review via BzzAgent & Garnier.  My opinions are my own and based on my personal experience with the product.  No compensation was received for this publication.