BB creams have been around for years, but it seems like they’re having a moment.
The Sephora by my house even has a special section for ’em, an area dedicated to BB creams, among them the new Urban Decay Naked Skin Beauty Balm, the latest batch of 10-in-1 Beauty Balms from Stila and some older creams from Too Faced and Smashbox.
I perused shelf after shelf crowded with tubes standing at attention, each one promising some combo of sheer coverage and skin care, like anti-aging benefits, priming, moisturizing — you name it.
Tarte’s new BB Tinted Treatment 12 Hour Primer SPF 30 and its white packaging caught my eye (is that “BB” font Helvetica Neue Ultra Light?).
Most of the tubes were smeared with makeup, and dirty, and not in a dirrrrrty Christina Aguilera kind of way. Without thinking, I tried to wipe them clean with my fingers (it was one of those, “holy crap, I’m REALLY my mother’s daughter” moments), but no luck. Apparently, it was going to take a cleanser more powerful than my thumbs.
Just as a heads up, if you decide to bring one of these home, you might not be able to keep the tubes pristine for long.
The product comes in four oil-free shades with broad-spectrum SPF 30 (protects against UVA and UVB rays) — Fair, Light, Medium and Tan — each of which are $34 and can be worn as a primer beneath your regular makeup or all by themselves for light or medium coverage.
Tarte claims all of them will last 12 hours and offer a bunch of skin benefits. First, they’re supposed to be moisturizing, supposed to have anti-aging properties, supposed to diffuse the look of fine lines, and bolster skin’s elasticity.
Of the four, Tan probably comes closest to matching my NC42 skin.
