Hello everyone! It is time for another Korean K-beauty cosmetic product review. The product I will review today is a BB cream: The Korean brand Etude House’s Precious Mineral Beautifying Block Matte BB Cream in the shade Tan.
Cost: $10-$15, depending on where you buy it.
This Etude House BB Cream contains SPF50+ PA+++ and it is a mineral-based BB cream.
The Etude House Precious Mineral Beautifying Block Matte BB Cream contains over 60 ingredients, including these good ingredients for your skin
- Glycerin
- Niacinamide
- Pearl Powder
- Pearl Extract
- Adenosine
- Portulaca Oleracea Extract
- Silica
- Mineral Water
- Mother of Pearl
Shade Range: This BB cream comes in only 5 light shades: Vanilla, Petal, Beige, Sand, and Tan. I have the darkest shade: Tan.
Scent: This BB cream does contain fragrance, but it is so mild that if I was not looking for a fragrant smell, I would not notice it. I only mostly smell clay, so if you are sensitive to perfume scents, I do not think this BB cream will bother you.
The Etude House Precious Mineral Beautifying Block Matte BB Cream Swatch
Brand Claims: Etude House claims that this BB cream moisturizes the skin, that it will last 24 hours on the skin, that it will improve the appearance of wrinkles while you wear it, that it will brighten the skin, and that it will look smooth and have adhesive coverage.
This BB cream stayed on my skin the entire time I wore it and I wore it for over eight hours. My skin did not feel dry while wearing this BB cream, so I do feel that it has a moisturizing formula. This BB cream does adhere well to the skin and it did make my skin look smoother.
When it comes to brightening, I did not feel that this BB cream brightened my skin. In fact, I actually felt that my skin looked brighter without this BB cream. This is most likely because of how white and washed out this BB cream made my skin look. The whiteness that this BB cream created on my skin also looked very mask-like. However, the Korean idea of brightening seems more about a lighter and whiter complexion, so based on this definition of skin brightening, someone with a white skin tone might feel that this BB cream does brighten their white complexion further.
Another issue that I had with this BB cream was that I found it hard to get even coverage. You can actually see the unevenness in the picture where I am wearing this BB cream; I can see my actual skin color peeking through more in some places and less in others.
The Etude House BB Cream on my skin
My Skin Type: I had normal skin since I was a child, but recently it has become oily.
Before Applying The Etude House Precious Mineral Beautifying Block Matte BB Cream
After Applying The Etude House Precious Mineral Beautifying Block Matte BB Cream
Heaviness: This BB cream feels light on the skin and it felt like I had no makeup on while I was wearing it.
Coverage: This BB cream gives medium coverage. However, it has more coverage than most BB creams. TIP: If you don’t want your imperfections to show through at all, you should use this BB cream along with foundation and concealer. I like to mix BB creams with foundation for a few reasons: To lighten a foundation that is too dark, to make foundation adhere better to my skin, and to give my foundation a more lightweight feel for long-wear.
Lines/Under Eye Area: The lines underneath my eyes were still noticeable while wearing this BB cream, but the light color of this BB cream seemed to mask them. However, this BB cream also seemed to accentuate the dryness of my under eye area a lot, which actually seemed to deepen the appearance of lines there. On the plus side, this BB cream did not settle into my smile lines.
White Cast: Yes, this BB cream does leave a white cast. This BB cream looks very white and lite in color on the skin, so it is better for Caucasian and Asian skin tones. Thus, I do not recommend this BB cream for people with tan or dark skin complexions.
Layering: Yes, this BB cream can be layered, but no matter how much you layer it, you will not get full coverage.
Dark Circles: I had to use quite a bit of this BB cream on my dark circles to reduce their appearance, but it did lessen their appearance more than most foundations would have.
Wear: While wearing this BB cream, it did get a bit oily after a while. Furthermore, since this BB cream looks so white on the skin, I don’t recommend setting it with powder unless you mix it with a foundation first because the powder mixed with the BB cream could make you look even whiter and the makeup even more mask-like.
Final Thoughts
This BB cream has a lot of coverage and I love that it is mineral-based and has good ingredients for the skin in it. However, this BB cream is just not my cup of tea 🍵. I would never wear this BB cream alone, but I do think this BB cream is a good one to have to lighten foundations that are too dark for your skin tone and to make your foundation adhere better to your skin for long-wear.
Would I buy this BB cream again? No, I would not. I do not feel that this BB cream is meant for tan or dark skin tones, and since there are many natural mineral BB creams out there for women of color, I would just buy one of those instead.
All in all, I believe this BB cream was designed for people who have white light-colored skin tones that they wish to make look even lighter and whiter, while also getting the benefits of minerals and other good ingredients for the skin. So, if this description does not describe you, then this BB cream won’t likely work for you.
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