Skin79 Oriental Gold BB Cream Review and Swatches

BB creams (aka blemish balms, beauty balms) have been all the rage this year (and late last year, too). It exploded into the Asian market mostly from South Korea to the point where North American beauty companies are now scrambling to get a piece of the action on this new niche product. It's easy to see why there's such a huge demand for it. For the uninitiated (seriously, what rock have you been living under if you *still* haven't heard of BB cream?), BB cream is an all-in-one facial product that combines sunscreen, primer, foundation, moisturizer and other skincare benefits that range from skin whitening (very popular in Asia where the beauty ideal is porcelain white skin), blemish prevention (hence the name) to anti-aging properties. Basically, it cuts down on all the steps (and products!) you take to go through your skincare/makeup routine in the morning. Now, wouldn't you want that, too? I won't go in further detail about the other basics of the product as I feel it's already been discussed ad nauseam. If you feel the need to do more reading up, Janine over at Beauty Geeks has a great write up about it. Michelle over at Beauty Editor covers most of the bases as well as helps you decide if you need BB cream in your life. But both articles are focused on the BB creams that are just now available in North America from familiar brands like MAC, Smashbox and Marcelle. Being Asian with an insatiable curiosity, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about and experience BB cream straight from the Korean brand that's being hailed as the "queen of BB creams": Skin79.

Skin79 The Oriental Gold BB Cream

The Quick Take

Brand/Name: The Oriental Gold BB Cream
Price: $35.00 USD for 40g
Contains: Green tea, white tea and black tea extract for anti-aging properties, Peptide MX-II comples for moisture, Caviar extract for skin resiliency, Oriental tea newplex for skin protection and asparagus, flower bud of tussilago farfara L and kelp to calm skin. (For complete ingredient list, see photo below)
Seen at: Skin79 North American website
Note(s): I purchased my bottle in a promo where for $35 USD, I got the BB cream along with the Shimmering full-sized version. Shipping and handling was $5.00 when I placed my order late last year.

 The product from the front.

 The product from the back. (Enlarge to see directions for use and claims.)

 I'm thinking this is an authenticity sticker I found at the base of the product. (I've read of reports of fake products emerging. Be careful about those if you purchase off e(vil)Bay!)

The lip/cheek tint on the cover has a handy mirror on the lid. Notice how different the pump looks.

I chose a well-known brand that I've seen a lot of good reviews on to try out BB creams. I figured by doing so that the risk of failure would be considerably smaller. (I'm not one to waste money on products that I won't end up using if I can't return them so I went for the better known/well-loved brand.) Bonus points when I found out that Skin79 had set up a North American website that caters specifically to Canada and US! Not having to pay an arm and a leg for shipping is definitely something that made Skin79 an even more obvious choice. But trying to figure out exactly which BB cream to get was a tad overwhelming, what with a whole bunch of choices available to you. There seemed to be something for everyone based on your different skin issues. Luckily, they've provided a handy chart that indicates what skin issues a certain BB cream addresses. I ended up springing for the Oriental Gold one as it was the only variant that was made for dry/combination skin with SPF, skin nourishment and blemish coverage properties. It's actually one of the pricier ones, but when I purchased my bottle, Skin79 had a promo that gave me the full-size Oriental Gold BB cream and the Oriental Gold Shimmering BB cream as a set for the same price if I purchase only the former. Oriental Gold BB cream was also the only BB cream offered that included a cheek/lip tint on the cover. Very handy! Altogether, that practically made it a no-brainer!

 

 The battered box. 

(It came in an envelope-type package instead of a box hence the poor shape of the box but the product inside wasn't damaged in any way, thank goodness.)

 Ingredient list (it says it contains gold. Yes, GOLD.) Love how there's a QR code at the top! (It takes you to a Korean website tho..)

 Claims/directions for use on the box (same as that found at the back of the bottle).

 The Korean version on the other side.

Serial at the base, including the expiry date.

I was distressed when I first got the package and saw how badly battered the boxes inside were. I'm chalking it up to the shipping process and the fact that they weren't in a box. Nonetheless, it was a relief to find that neither of the products were damaged in any way. I appreciate how clear and easily understandable the English is on the box. Sure, there are still some slight grammatical errors, but it's negligible compared to other low-quality products I've seen in stores. If you regularly purchase imported items, you'll know what I mean. Most of the information you'll need to know is provided on the box or on the back of the bottle itself, including the expiry date. Whatever else you need to know can be found on the website. For someone who likes to nitpick at skincare products (hey, if I'm putting it on my face, I'd like to know exactly what goes in it!), having all that information available at my disposal tells me that this is a brand I can trust.

 The product comes out of the circle in the middle when you press on surface.

 Amount of product after a full pump.

 Product on skin, no flash, natural light.

 Product on skin, flash, natural light.

 Bare skin on left, blended out on right; no flash/natural light

 Bare skin on left, blended out on right; flash/natural light

The Skin79 website describes the Oriental Gold BB Cream as:

• High Quality Multi-Function Moisturizing BB Cream
• Anti-Aging ingredients such as Green Tea, Black Tea, and more. Luxurious Tea ingredients help to maintain healthy and resilient skin.
• One-Stop makeup completes with built in lovely colored creamy Lip & Cheek gloss.
• Beautify skin with multi-functions, whitening, wrinkle improvement and UV protection.

I've been using the cream now for a few months and while I don't notice any sort of wrinkle improvement (I don't have any obvious wrinkles) and whitening (I'm usually paler in the winter but I'd say that's more because of less sun and how I tend to stay indoors more), it is a great product to use on those days that you need to get things done fast (which is usually everyday, no?). I really like how I can skip primer and sunscreen although I still use moisturizer under the BB cream, mostly out of habit than anything. The coverage is light to medium, as you can see from the swatches above, so you'll definitely need the help of concealer if you have hyperpigmentation. I find, though, that by patting on more of the product on to areas that need extra concealing, it helps me skip concealer entirely.

Better yet is the application that doesn't require me to use anything but my fingers. Applying it consists of dotting the product all over my face and then just rubbing it in like you would with a moisturizer. It's that simple and easy. (For a more detailed tutorial, Jen over at From Head to Toe shows you how she does it here.)  It's no wonder that I've been reaching for it more than any other foundation I have. It evens out the skin tone nicely without looking cake-y at all. It's also a lightweight formula so it's almost like just wearing tinted moisturizer with more coverage. It dries to a powder-y feel but with a pretty dewy finish that makes you look refreshed. As for wear time, I have dry/combination skin so I still tend to get oily in the T-zone. If I apply it in the morning, I'll have to blot by late afternoon/early evening and mostly just around my nose. I've been using it since early fall and I've noticed that once winter set in, I've had less need for blotting.

Now, I know that Asian BB creams are notorious for leaving a grey cast on the skin, but I've found that it's only while it's wet. Once it sets, it actually changes to match your skin tone perfectly. As for sinking into pores or lines, it doesn't do that at all. I know in the photos above that it looks as if it emphasizes the lines but it's actually because of the dewy finish that reflects the light more, if that makes sense. I also have to mention for the more sensitive noses out there that this one isn't fragrance-free. It has a slight floral scent that goes away once it dries. Nothing overpowering or cloying, but definitely distinguishable.

 Left: Lip/Cheek Tint with flash, natural light; Right: no flash, natural light

 No flash/Natural light

Flash/Natural light

As for the lip/cheek tint, I've tried it as a lip tint once and it didn't really work for me so I've never used it as such since. I've found that it works best as a cheek tint and has pretty amazing staying power for something that might seem like an add-on. It actually leaves a faint pink stain that stays put all day long. I haven't used many cream blushes but the consistency of this is somewhat thinner than the creams I have used in the past. It looks scarily bright at first swipe but once blended, it gives you a natural looking flush. As with the BB cream, I like to dot it on to my cheeks then blend it in with a fluffy blush brush or my fingers if I'm in a pinch.

Hammie is impressed with Skin79 The Oriental Gold BB Cream. It does what you expect it to do and it easily cuts back on the time spent to get ready in the morning because it's such a multi-tasking product. He absolutely loves the added value of a lip/cheek tint and the handy mirror on the flip top. The packaging feels hefty and luxurious as you'd expect from the name. The pump dispenses enough product in one pump to cover your entire face and neck without any wastage. The light to medium coverage is just the right amount for his needs and the longevity isn't bad at all. The other benefits of anti-aging and skin nourishing extracts are also some definite nice to haves. His only beef is that for the life of him, he can't seem to find any gold in the product (I keep telling him it might be the culprit behind the dewy finish)! He scores Skin 79 The Oriental Gold BB Cream:

10 Hammie Points!

Have you jumped on the BB cream bandwagon? Are you more interested to try the Asian kind or the North American versions? What's your favorite beauty multi-tasker?