Drugstore BB Cream Series Part Five: 17 BB Blemish Balm

Hey everyone!

I'm finally getting around to posting part five of my Drugstore BB Cream Series. You can see the previous instalments by clicking here. Both my mum and I tested out the nine BB creams readily available in UK drugstores; if you'd like to know more about our skin types you can read part one here.

Today's BB Cream is the 17 BB Blemish Balm All in One Magic Makeup (£6.99). I got it in the shade Medium. 

Shade range: Two shades, Fair and Medium.

SPF: 15.

Packaging: 30ml. This BB Cream comes in a black tube with silver lettering. It looks quite young, with the mix of various fonts. The tip is a slim nozzle. The packaging looks more 'makeup' oriented than some of the more 'skincare' looking designs I've seen. The mix of fonts however, makes it look slightly cheaper. 

Claims: 'Full coverage and helps oil control' yet somehow also provides 'barely there beauty'. It claims to be smoothing and evening, with SPF for skin protection. 

Formula: The BB cream has a thick consistency, more like a foundation than a BB Cream. My mum and I agreed that it had a very strong plastic and artificial scent. It was quite dark and we both agreed it was a little pink based, which was a bit worrying at first as we both have yellow tones in our skin.
It wasn't hard to blend but it was quite thick and felt greasy on application. Both my mum and I applied this with our fingers.

Coverage and Longevity: I would say this was a medium coverage BB cream. It covered my blemishes and evened my skin, covered some of my redness but did have a pink tone to it. This might be good for some people for whom normal BB creams are too yellow or ashy. This was slightly tacky to the touch after application, on both my and my mum. 

The finish was dewy and glowy, verging on greasy. I had to use a translucent powder before I applied blush. It does set eventually, but still looks 'glowy'. I don't mind the finish being glowy, but my mum found that it didn't work for her. I think she feels she is probably not the target market for this BB Cream and it's effects are probably geared towards the younger customer.

I applied this at 11.30am. By 4pm, or four and a half hours later it was staying but and dried but I was looking shinier. There was fading around the nose and chin by 8pm (8 1/2 hours) and even more fading an hour later. Neither my mum or I experienced any irritation.

It didn't feel heavy but both my mum and I were more of aware of it than previous BB creams.

Here I am with makeup on too:

In summary:

Pros:

•  SPF 15
• Pink base would work for skin tones who find other creams too yellow or ashy.
• Medium-full coverage.
• No irritation.
• Glowy on skin.
• Low price point.

Cons:

• Limited shade range.
• Thick and felt greasy on application.
• Claims 'oil control' but looked shiny after 8 hours on me.
• Strong artificial smell.

Overall, this may not be the best BB cream on the drugstore market, but for the low price point it does it's job. For those with pinker skin tones or who want higher coverage this will probably work. However, I wouldn't use it if my skin was oily as it made my dry skin feel quite greasy and shiny as time wore on. I do like how it looks on, however. 

What do you think? Have you tried this yet?