See, I'm not usually a fan of mall makeovers. They make me squirm, want to blurt out obscenities, and run as fast as I can away from dirty brushes and unsanitary test products. But this gal made me feel happy to spend in exchange for a little TLC from a stranger.
In any case, I walked away from the counter with their Revolution Matte lipstick in Bad Blood and the Urban Decay Naked Beauty Balm in Naked Medium ($34).
*screeeeeeeetch* Hold up. Isn't that the one product everyone hated and rates lowly and thinks is the laughing joke of all BB Creams? I had these nagging thoughts in the back of my head. Was I just pressured into buying? Do I truly love this? Yet, my smooth/poreless/lineless/perfected but not made up skin in the mirror spoke to me.
I remember this product coming out in 2013. Everyone and their mom got a press sample and even then they all bitched and moaned that it wasn't a true BB Cream. There just wasn't enough coverage for it to even be considered a shoddy tinted moisturizer. I had chuckled back then and gone back to my Asian BB Creams that had plenty of coverage and oil control, even if they were all beige and grey as death.
(PS: It Cosmetics CC Cream in Light is the HG of all BB/CC/ZZ/whatever creams for me. It's olive-yellow, medium coverage, SPF 50, and as moisturizing as it should get for the summer.)
Now, I just wanted something to simplify my morning routine: a base prep that could be worn alone or with a full coverage foundation on top. This stuff has SPF 20 (decent, not phenomenal) and definitely lives up to the claims of skin smoothing and blurring. The orange tint of Naked Medium disappears on my NC30-35 face, but I could see it being a little warm for when I'm NC25 or lighter.
It feels like the Maybelline Baby Skin primer which did nothing to prime my skin but blurred it and held down flakes and dry spots like a champ. This primer also doesn't feel like a thick silicone like the Smashbox Pore Minimizer primer and can be applied to the entire face without giving a slight pasty white cast. It's much more liquid than the Benefit Porefessional as well and should be used in sections. In fact, it feels like the Laura Mercier original primer which has always helped prolong wear time with colored base products.
I use half a dime size for each side of my face and work in sections to make sure that the product glides evenly onto my skin.
Sure, unless you have minimal (or no) redness you won't see "perfect" skin right away but the effect! The effect! My skin has never felt or looked smoother. It really helps to push down flakey skin and glides over dry spots. I was also surprised that underneath any foundation it helped prolong the wear of any foundation or blush for 9 hours. Many primers may help with textural problems or wear time but never both at once with such ease.
My skin looks pretty darn good after a solid 10 hours at the office as well. It prevents liquid foundation from sliding around and pooling on the skin, settling into lines and pores, and helps the base product GRAB onto my skin. As an added bonus, my skin feels extra velvety and doesn't over-produce oil in the t-zone area. Such win.
It also works well as a primer for powder foundations. Powders seem to love clinging onto this base...but not in a bad way! Instead of getting clumped up into little sections, the Beauty Balm seems to help it glide and stick. As an added bonus I can also skip my usual moisturizer in the warmer months and slap this on after rinsing in the morning. There's promises of skin improvement ("DNA Repair") just for the BB hullabaloo but I don't have high expectations.
Urban Decay would get tons of sales if they re-labeled this as a primer rather than keeping it an artifact of their rushed venture into the market of BBs. It's effective and decently priced. Or, they could go the other way and expand the (practically translucent but suspiciously orange) shade range into Fair/Light/Medium/Tan/Dark and make buttloads of monies. They've already expanded into an Illuminating and Bronzing version, and I bet you the Bronzing version is great at evening out your skin tone for the summer.
I've been using it consistently as a primer/moisturizer/SPF every morning before I walk the dog. Here's a FOTD with it and a powder foundation (MAC Studio Fix powder in NC35.) The primer helps the powder "grab" and adhere onto the skin without patchiness.
Here is the primer with the MUFE Ultra HD stick foundation on top.
Finally, the primer also works well with very full coverage foundations like the Marc Jacobs Remarcable Foundation.
It's a lovely product that only took me 2 years to understand. Yet another lesson to go against the grain and test makeup for yourself since it varies so much from person to person.
xo Be
