The Body Shop All-In-One BB Cream

The Body Shop All-In-One BB Cream* - £12

Thanks to my current skincare routine, my skin is looking very clear & even toned for once. As a result I don't feel the need to smother my face in foundation as much & have been enjoying using some lighter base products. After trying out the Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover BB Cream SPF 30 my interest in BB creams has been piqued once more. I really liked the formula & finish of that BB cream but the colour was a tad too orange for me. And so the hunt continued. Recently I've been loving watching Gabby's YouTube videos & noticed that she often uses this All-In-One BB Cream from The Body Shop in her tutorials. The idea of a colour-adapting product was rather intriguing as I hoped that it work a lot better on my pale skin. I got the shade 00 which sounded like a promising choice for fair skin tones. There are also four darker shades available which would cover a large range of skin colours.

Strictly speaking I think it would be wrong to call this a BB cream. The subtitle of 'colour-adapting tinted cream' is far more appropriate as it doesn't contain any SPF & it has no discernible skincare benefits. Straight from the tube the product appears as a thin white cream with tiny little peach beads dotted throughout. These beads are colour pigments that burst as you rub the cream in. It quickly transforms to a flesh tone colour offering light buildable coverage. It feels cooling, refreshing & hydrating on the skin. Applied with my hands it's great for adding a hint of a tint when I'm in a rush & want to look a bit less zombie-like in the morning. Applied with a brush you can really up the coverage and I was surprised by how well it covered up my freckles. It's great that the cream can be used either way depending on how much coverage you desire. The satin finish looks beautiful & lightly perfects my complexion. However after a few hours of wear it does start to look very dewy so I don't think it would work for anyone with oily skin. A good setting powder is an absolute must with this product. Despite the shine that develops throughout the day, it doesn't break down on my skin & the staying power is excellent for a tinted cream. It doesn't cause me to breakout at all either.

Unfortunately as with most base products this cream is too dark for my ghostly pallor. I had high hopes that 00 would work for me but it just looks way too orange. In fact it's even darker on me than the Ginvera BB cream. I would've expected shade 02 or even 01 to look like this so the lack of a good match for us truly pale ladies makes me a bit sad. As this is a colour-adapting product I feel like the colour gets darker throughout the day as well. I can just about get away with it if I apply it with my hands but I prefer the coverage that comes with brush application. Even if I blend it really far down my neck you can still see a definite orange line. I really hoped that the All-In-One BB Cream could join my roster of everyday bases as it does look so lovely on the skin. Sadly the colour is totally wrong for me. If only there was a minus shade available! For now I think it's time to give up trying to find a pale enough BB cream in a UK store. Asia just does them a whole lot better.

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