Review: Simple Kind To Skin Perfecting BB Beauty Balm

I'm going to go all out here and say that BB creams are quite possibly one of the greatest beauty hypes of the last few years. I hate the weight of a heavy, full coverage foundation, but my skin isn't always that pixel perfect for me to bypass any base whatsoever. Tinted moisturisers tend to give too little coverage and are often also quite rich, but BB creams are the perfect middle ground.

It seems like everyone and their nan has brought out their version of a BB cream, which quite often doesn't have much in common with what the term was originally set out to mean (and don't even get me started on CCs and DDs and EEs and what-nots). But when Simple, which is probably my favourite affordable skincare brand, released a BB cream there was no way I wasn't going to give it a go.

There is only one shade to universally suit all skin tones and originally that had me a little worried. Then I opened the tube and thought there was absolutely no way that shade was going to suit my pale complexion - I thought the cream was a write-off before I'd even tried it. I started blending and my face went an unnatural orange colour. Then I blended some more - still orange. I blended some more and all of a sudden, like some sort of magic trick, the orange disappeared and I was left with skin that was slightly mattified but still had some of its natural luminosity peeking through. Evened out just enough to give that extra boost of confidence, but not so much that it would look unnatural.

Simple Kind To Skin Perfecting BB Beauty Balm; Left: unblended / Right: Blended in

As for the texture it's a lot less thick than all the other BBs I've tried before, which personally I think is a bonus. It might sound a bit vain, but I like to have a very light base on when I go to the gym or for a run, but it's imperative that it doesn't clog my pores when I get sweaty and this fits the bill absolutely perfectly. But also for days where I feel like my skin needs just a little pick-me-up instead of a lot of coverage, this does a great job. You can see me actually wearing this BB cream in this Face Of The Day post.

So in the end, what I thought would be a write-off turned out to be yet another great product. I still feel like adding two extra shades - one lighter and one darker - would be a good idea, just so that those of us with particularly light or very dark skin don't have to blend quite as much. But overall, this gets a big thumbs up from me!

Simple Kind To Skin Perfecting BB Beauty Balm retails at £8.99

Sample Summary #5

Oh yes, guess who's back in the game? After a stressful move coupled with the start of a new job blogging had to take a serious back seat. But now that I've sort of settled I've realised that it's left a big fat hole in my life, so I've managed to carve out some time to get stuck into it again and just sitting here typing away on my MacBook early in the morning is making me giddy with excitement.

Now, without further ado, let's get stuck into some samples I've been collecting lately again.

1) Dr Schrammek Perfect Beauty Fluid (for normal and dry skin)

Full size: £50 for 40ml

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past year or so, BB creams won't be anything new to you. While the massive hype started in the Far East, the cream was actually invented in Germany, as a post-surgery treatment to make women look and feel fabulous without irritating their skin. The name behind this genius invention is none other than Dr. Schrammek, whose daughter has now adapted the original (and fairly thick and pasty) formula to the demands of the modern woman in bringing out the "Perfect Beauty Fluid".

I was very excited to try out this "mother of all BB creams" and I got two sets of samples, one for dry to normal skin and one for oily and combination skin. I started out with this one as my skin was behaving fairly well, so didn't feel like I needed much coverage.

Most of the time when selecting beauty products for my face I go straight to the palest shade and upon swatching it did seem like "Ivory" would be a fairly good fit. Unfortunately it made my skin look grey, dull and to be frank, fairly ghastly, but I'd already thrown away the other shades, so I had to blush and bronze a little bit of life back into my complexion.

The cream applied quite thick as you'd expect from a BB cream, but dried into a heavenly smooth and velvety finish which lasted all day long (not 8 hour working day, but really ALL DAY). The formula is really impressive, but having to buy two shades to blend them together makes it a bit of a no-go for me.

2) L'Oreal Revitalift Total Repair BB Cream

Full size: £14.99 for 50ml

When I was in my teens I felt like 23 was ancient; that kind of age where you have to be grown up and have a job, a house and the first out of two and a half children. Now that I'm 23 I sometimes still feel like a kid. Despite that, I'm getting more and more interested in anti-ageing skincare, as I am a firm believer that prevention is better than cure.

Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to comment on anti-ageing properties of products such as this BB cream (yes, another one of those), not only because it's a tiny sachet which only provided enough cream for one application.

What I can tell you was that I was pleasantly surprised by L'Oreals "other" BB cream offering (let's not even get started on Nude Magique and how appalled I am by it). I was expecting a thick, greasy paste that would sit on my skin and make it sweat underneath. Instead, this BB cream was surprisingly light-weight, with just the right amount of coverage to even out my skin while preserving a natural look. Despite the fact that the shade was a smidgen too dark in the swatch, it blended out very easily on my face and literally melted into my skin. I'm very pleased with this and would consider repurchasing the full size.

3) Shiseido Benefiance WrinkleResist 24 Intensive Eye Contour Cream

Full size: £52 for 15ml

Some people feel that it is a completely unnecessary step in a skin care routine, but I am a firm believer in eye cream. The right one can make you instantly feel refreshed, awake and alert and hide a multitude of sins (we're only human after all).

With this one, I should have heard the alarm bells ring when I saw "intensive" on the packaging. Now, intensive is often a good thing, but in the case of this eye cream it brings it down ever so slightly.

In this case, "intensive" translates into "really rather greasy" on my skin. The cream already feels quite waxy in the pot, which can make it difficult to get the right amount out of the pot. For a night treatment it feels lovely and very nourishing, but in the mornings you have to give it a lot of time to sink in before applying make-up, or otherwise your eyeshadow or eye liner will slip. Once it's sunk in it's absolutely fine and has no impact on make-up whatsoever, but if you're time strapped in the mornings you may want to give this one a miss.

4) Alessandro Pedix Feet Heel Rescue Balm

Full size: €14,95 for 100ml

This one's a relic from my last German Glossybox which I received in July. I wasn't overly happy to see another Alessandro product, as my experience with the brand so far hadn't been overly positive. I also don't really believe in creams that claim to soften your feet - in the end, only a good and thorough scrubbing will do the job properly.

This cream has changed my mind a little, though. The smell is exactly what you'd expect from a foot cream: Herby, minty and lemony - I'm not entirely sure why this seems to have become a convention among foot creams, but I shall get back to the topic. The balm sinks in fairly well and - the thing that surprised me the most - it really does make your heels a little softer. Now, with my new job I'm constantly on my feet, so they get battered during the day, but this really helped to revive them a little bit. I'm still not necessarily going to run to an Alessandro counter first thing when I next go to Germany, but it's been a pleasant surprise nonetheless.

September Favourites

Apologies for missing last month's favourites post, but this month's products haven't really changed at all, so it's like a joint August and September favourites post. With me and my boyfriend moving into our first own flat money's tight at the moment and beauty purchases have to be kept to a minimum in favour of living essentials, so there's not a whole lot of new products.
Anyway, on to the actual fun part.

TIGI Catwalk hair spray
For a long time I stayed far, far away from hair spray. Artificial scents and crispy hair are the two main things that deterred me and whenever I saw an ad or heard somebody gush about a hairspray that didn't feature either of those nasty side effects I just shrugged it off in disbelief. So when I got this for Christmas last year it went unused for ages and ages - so long actually, that TIGI has rebranded the series and this one is no longer available. This is particularly gutting as I've just discovered my love for this formula. It doesn't take an awful lot but will keep hair in place and prevent frizz all day long. Then, at the end of the night it can just as easily be brushed out again. I'm a convert. Now I just need to hope that this can will last as long as possible!

Omorovicza Complexion Perfector SPF 20
I got this one to try at my old job back in Germany. I feel it is important to state that, as I would have never ever spent £80 on a BB cream myself. However, I have to say I'm beginning to think it might be worth its extortionate price tag. I've been using this cream pretty much daily instead of foundation and I just love the way it evens out my skin tone but still lets my natural complexion shine through. Even though it applies quite thick and patchy at first, once it's sunk in it wears like a dream and easily lasts all day long. Not to mention the frosted glass bottle looks extravagant and classy on my (non-existant) dresser. I'll be gutted once this runs out!

Kryolan Satin Powder in SP555
I've already reviewed this product here, so no need to waffle on and repeat myself. This was a product I received in a German Glossybox and one I'm definitely looking out to repurchase in a few more shades whenever I can. The shimmer in it is absolutely gorgeous and I swear that with primer it stays on the lids forever (or until you take it off with make-up remover).

Biotherm Biosource Eau Auto Moussante
Deja-vu, anyone? Yes, this one's already been in a monthly favourites post and it's also had its own review here, but I'm still adamant that it's one of the best cleansers I've ever used. Probably on par with Liz Earle's Cleanse and Polish, only that it lasts about 2-3 times as long. As you can see I'm running quite low on this one now and even though I've now bought a back-up cleanser it's not the same one, as  it's quite difficult to get hold of this one in the UK and I wanted to try something a little different. The woes of being a beauty blogger, eh?

Lush Karma Bubble Bar
This one's got its own picture, as by the time I'd grouped together my monthly favourites it had unfortunately long gone. The odd thing is, I'm not entirely sure what made me buy this bubble bar. I'm assuming it must have been the name or the pretty swirly colours. It contains patchouli, which is something I usually steer clear from and also seems to have quite the musky smell.
I was still on the fence when I crumbled this into my bath, but once I got into my heavenly tub of warm bubbles I instantly fell in love. I can almost certainly say that I have never felt so relaxed in my life (and I'd had a really horrible day before that!). Something about the scent just made me switch off from the world around me and drift off into a beautiful dream land. Absolutely gorgeous and I will have to repurchase one or two to keep handy for a nice bath at the end of a gruelling, horrible day.

Sample Summary #4

I have no Instagram Sunday post to share today unfortunately, as I haven't been up to much this past week apart from lots of naughty things nobody needs to know about! ;)
Life's a little hectic again anyway, as me and the boyfriend will be moving into our first own flat tomorrow, eeek! I can't wait to make it all nice and homely, though it will probably take some time until we have enough money to make it look the way we want it to look.
In the mean time I have my thoughts on a few samples I worked my way through again!

1) Maybelline Dream Fresh 8-in-1 Beauty Balm

Now, this made for an interesting experience when I opened up the sachet. The liquid inside was runny and - more importantly - luminous orange. Now, I get that some creams have a peachy apricot undertone to make your skin look healthier, but we're literally talking bright orange here. Not what I'd understand under "universal glow". Take a look yourselves:

Now, apart from the obvious orange-ness, the finish was really pleasant: light, but mattifying. Also, the in-built SPF of 30 is excellent. However, I spent a lot of time trying to blend it out, so it wouldn't look absolutely ridiculous on my face. Just when I thought I got it to an acceptable level and applied some powder and highlighter on top they ended up ridiculously patchy resulting in a fit of giggles when I looked in the mirror.
Sorry, this might be a good cream, but the shade is ridiculous. I might be pale, but nobody's naturally orange!

2) Lush Lemony Flutter

This little pot lasted forever and ever! Lemony flutter is an extremely moisturising all over balm, though I've been using it mainly for my cuticles. It's very rich without a doubt and smells very delicious. Citrusy, but without reminding me of kitchen cleaner. The main problem was that it was just so greasy that as soon as I started massaging it in it started running everywhere and making a huge mess.

A nice balm, but I don't think I'll repurchase.

3) Korres Wild Rose Instant Brightening Mask

I thoroughly enjoyed using this little sachet. The mask had a very light but pleasurable scent and an amazing light texture - a bit like spreading greek yogurt on your face. My skin began to tingle a few minutes after application, but it was by no means an unpleasant sensation. Afterwards, it did actually look brighter, nicely moisturised and refreshed. The effect didn't last particularly long, but the mask would work perfectly as a little skin pick-me-up before a big event or after a particularly stressful week.

4) Kiehl's Sachet Trio

I'm going to start with the Ultimate Strength Hand Salve. This stuff is amazing. I used it overnight, just before going to sleep, but it sinks in quickly enough to use throughout the day as well. I woke up with amazingly soft and nourished hands, even more so than when I do a little hand mask with vaseline or eight hour cream. For the winter, when my hands get extremely dry and my skin cracks, this is a must have!

The Ultra Facial Micro Serum was also a very pleasant product to use, just moisturising enough without overwhelming my skin. It didn't seem to perform any miracles, but I quite happily used up all of my sample

Lastly, the Ultra Facial Cream is also a very rich product which I feel would be more suited to dry skin types. It sunk in quickly enough and didn't leave any greasy residue on my combination skin, but I do suspect that it gave me a few breakouts, so I'll be steering clear in future.

Sample Summary #2

I've been inundated with sachets and perfume samples lately, so I've had to split the sachet reviews into two in order to prevent boring you to death. I also won't be doing any perfume reviews as
1) Perfume is something so incredibly personal you couldn't possibly choose one just from reading a review and
2) I'm really useless at describing scents.
So instead, off we go with the sachets!

Ich wurde in letzter Zeit mit Probesachets und Parfumproben überladen, also habe ich die Sachet-Reviews in zwei Teile geteilt, um euch nicht zu Tode zu langweilen. Die Parfums werde ich nicht benoten, da
1) Parfum etwas furchtbar persönliches ist und man könnte nie einen Duft anhand einer Review wählen und
2) Ich bin eine Katastrophe was das Beschreiben von Gerüchen angeht.
Stattdessen legen wir also mit den Tütchen los! 


1) Garnier Body Intensive 7 Days Refreshing Gel Cream With Grape (£4.99 / €4.49 for 400ml)

I didn't think I'd ever say this, as I rarely ever steer away from my beloved Body Shop Body Butters, but I actually quite liked this! The gel-cream really felt quite lightweight on my skin, sank in quickly, but left a nice hit of moisture. There's no way I could use this just once every 7 days, as my skin would resemble that of a dinosaur, but I think it might be a nice alternative to a thicker cream should there be another heat wave. It's great for summer, but I don't think it would be moisturising enough for the colder months. The grape scent is also extremely pleasant - very refreshing, but not overly sweet.

Als eingeschweißter Body Butter Fan hätte ich nie gedacht, dass ich so etwas mal sagen würde, aber diese Creme hat mir ganz gut gefallen! Die Geltextur fühlt sich auf der Haut sehr leicht an, zieht schnell ein, doch hinterlässt einen angenehmen Feuchtigkeitsschub. Ich könnte sie nie im Leben nur einmal die Woche benutzen, da meine Haut dann der eines Dinosauriers gleichen würde, aber sie wäre eine tolle Alternative zu einer reichhaltigeren Creme, wenn uns wieder eine Hitzewelle trifft. Super für den Sommer, doch in den kälteren Monaten wäre die Creme wahrscheinlich nicht feuchtigkeitsspendend genug. Der Traubenduft ist auch äußerst angenehm - sehr erfrischend, aber nicht zu süß.

2) Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector BB Cream in Light (£9.99 / €8.99 for 50ml)

This was one of the first "Western" BB Creams on the market and I've heard lots of good things about it - and now I know why! Even though the sample was in the shade "light" it would have been a tad too dark for me in winter, but now it matches my skin tone (about NC20 - yeah, that's tanned for me) perfectly! It blended like a dream and though the coverage wasn't particularly heavy it did a fantastic job of evening out my skin tone.

Dies war eine der ersten "westlichen" BB Creams auf dem Markt und ich hatte schon viel Gutes über sie gehört - und jetzt weiß ich auch warum! Obwohl die Probe in der Farbe "light" war, wäre sie im Winter etwas zu dunkel für mich gewesen, doch jetzt passt sie perfekt zu meinem Hautton (etwa NC20 - ja, für meine Verhältnisse ist das gebräunt)! Sie ließ sich wie ein Traum verblenden und obschon die Deckkraft nicht besonders stark war, glättete sie meinen Teint hervorragend.

Garnier BB cream in light, hand swatch

It lasted through a whole work day without causing any odd patches or oxidation. I can't say much about any skin benefits, as the sachet only provided enough for one application, but I think this one's a keeper and I will purchase the full size soon!

Sie hielt den ganzen Arbeitstag durch ohne komische Flecken zu hinterlassen oder zu oxidieren. Zum Thema hautpflegende Eigenschaften kann ich nicht viel sagen, da in dem Tütchen nur genug war für eine Anwendung, aber ich denke eine Anschaffung der vollen Größe steht mir bald bevor!


3) L'Oréal Elvive Nutri Gloss Crystal Sparkling Shampoo (£2.69 / €3.99 for 250ml)

First off: Yeah, this sparkles. And I did panic a little bit upon squeezing this out of the sachet and realising that it's full of little glitter particles, but I needn't have worried, as they didn't transfer onto my hair. The second thing I noticed was the smell: Incredibly sweet and girly, like stumbling into a pink fluffy candy shop full of glitter sweets - it was a bit off-putting for me actually, but I'm sure there are people out there who will like it. It lathered up very nicely and my hair was most definitely clean after using this, though I saw no improvement in texture or hair quality. Overall a nice, solid product, but I probably won't repurchase as the scent was just too sickly for me.

Zuallererst: Ja, dieses Shampoo glitzert. Und ich habe schon etwas Panik bekommen, als ich es aus dem Sachet quetschte und merkte, dass es voller Schimmerpartikel ist, aber ich hätte mich nicht sorgen müssen, denn im Haar waren sie hinterher nicht sichtbar. Das nächste, was mir auffiel, war der Geruch: Unglaublich süß und mädchenhaft, als wäre ich in einen pinken, flauschigen Süßwarenladen gefallen, voller Glitzerbonbons. Für mich war es etwas abschreckend, doch ich denke, dass es genug Leute gibt, denen so etwas gefällt. Es schäumte sehr gut und mein Haar war nach der Anwendung definitv sauber, doch ich sah keine Verbesserung in der Haartextur oder -qualität. Alles in allem ein nettes Produkt, doch ich werde es mir aufgrund des Geruchs eher nicht nachkaufen.


4) L'Oréal Nude Magique BB Cream in Light (£9.99 / €9.99 for 30ml)

  
Granted, I'd been warned about this one as I've read several reviews on it, so I knew what to expect. First of all you should know this: It's not a BB Cream. It's actually a repackaged and rebranded product from L'Oréal's Studio Secrets line, just because they wanted a piece of the BB craze.
It's a greyish cream with little grains inside that's supposed to adapt to your skin colour upon application - which it doesn't. It simply becomes darker and more orange the more you rub it into your skin.

Zugegeben, ich war zum Thema dieser Creme vorgewarnt, da ich schon mehrere Reviews im Vorfeld gelesen hatte. Als erstes, solltet ihr Folgendes wissen: Sie ist keine BB Cream. Stattdessen handelt es sich um ein umverpacktes Produkt aus der L'Oréal Studio Secrets Reihe, da die Firma unbedingt ein Stück vom BB Kuchen wollte.
Die Creme ist gräulich mit lauter kleinen Perlen und soll sich angeblich beim Auftragen an den Hautton anpassen - das tut sie aber nicht. Sie wird einfach nur immer dunkler und oranger je mehr man sie in die Haut einmassiert. 

L'Oréal Nude Magique BB Cream in light - unblended on left, blended on right

So, me being all clever from reading other people's reviews, decided not to rub it in, but to pat it onto my face to avoid the orange-ness. And it worked! I eyed it up in the mirror all day long, but it didn't get any darker throughout the day either. The covarage was kind of mediocre, but I was scared of slapping any more of this on in order to preserve the colour. I think you can make this work for you, but I'd still give it a miss, as there are other products that are much easier to work with.

Da ich aber von den Reviews anderer Leute ganz schlau war, beschloss ich, sie nicht einzureiben, sondern eher in die Haut einzuklopfen, um ein oranges Desaster zu vermeiden. Und es funktionierte! Den ganzen Tag über habe ich meine Haut misstrauisch im Spiegel beobachtet, doch sie wurde im laufe des Tages nicht dunkler. Die Deckkraft war eher mittelmäßig, doch ich hatte Angst, mehr aufzutragen, damit die von mir hergestellte Farbe nicht kaputtgeht. Ich denke, dass man mit diesem Produkt arbeiten kann, aber ich würde es trotzdem im Regal liegen lassen, da es viele andere Produkte gibt, die in der Anwendung einfacher sind.

5) Florena Straffende Tagespflege - Firming Day Cream (€9.49 for 50ml)

I'd never heard of this brand before I got the sample, but as it turns out, it's a German natural skincare brand and this particular product seems to be on offer at every drugstore going at the moment. It's difficult to form an opinion on skincare from just a little sachet, but I did notice that this cream is a bit too much on the heavy side for my liking. On their website the brand does say that they recommend it for women aged 40-50, so when I got a second sample of this I just passed it on to my mum for further inspection.

Ich hatte noch nie von dieser Firma gehört, ehe ich nicht das Pröbchen bekam, doch es stellt sich heraus, dass es eine deutsche Naturkosmetikfirma ist - ist mir irgendwie bislang nie aufgefallen. Momentan ist diese Creme wirklich in jedem Drogeriemarkt im Angebot. Es ist schon etwas schwierig, sich ein Bild von einer Hautpflege zu machen, wenn man nur so ein kleines Tütchen zur Verfügung hat, doch es stellte sich heraus, dass sie für mich einfach viel zu reichhaltig ist. Auf der Webseite erklärt die Firma, dass die Creme für Frauen im Alter von 40-50 geeignet ist, also habe ich ein zweites Pröbchen hiervon einfach meiner Mutter zum Ausprobieren gegeben.

No7 BB Cream Review

After so much hype over BB creams, first in Asia and now with several beauty brands jumping on the bandwagon over here as well, I knew I'd had to try one eventually. When Boots reintroduced their £5 No7 vouchers shortly before this came out I knew this was the one to try.

The No7 BB cream is unique in that it comes in three different formulations catering for various skin types. They are normal/oily, normal/dry and dry/very dry. I went for the normal/oily variety, hoping that it would be lighter in texture, as I really can't bear anything sticky and heavy on my skin at the moment.

Apart from the different skin formulations this product also comes in two different shades, namely fair and medium. I find that the shade descriptions are a bit misleading - the fair shade is way too dark for my skin when it comes out of the tube. Now I know that I have a ghostly pale complexion, but I still think that medium and dark would have been better descriptions.

The product comes in a 40ml tube which makes application very hygienic and minimises wastage. It's the perfect size to get a decent amount of cream, but it's still easy to transport and can just be popped into a handbag.

Despite the fact that this is a few shades too dark for me, I still bought it as it blended extremely well on my hand. At home it was no different: the cream glides onto my face like silk and blends like a dream. Coverage is quite light; stronger than a tinted moisturiser, but lighter than foundation, which sounds about right from what I've read about BB creams so far. Surprisingly, it feels quite heavy on the skin for the amount of coverage it gives, but I did get used to the feeling after a few applications.

No7 BB cream straight out of the tube

No7 BB cream lightly blended

No7 BB cream fully blended

Due to the level of coverage I do need to use concealer with this to cover up dark circles and blemishes. Depending on how my skin is doing I may or may not use powder - on very oily days I definitely need to dust some powder over the top, as my skin is still shiny after application, but when my skin has a good day I can skip this step. It may sound odd, but I found that this cream actually looks better once it's had a bit of time (about 30 minutes) to work on my skin than straight after application.

I bought this to wear on my "off days" when I'm just running errands or doing nothing at all, but still want to look decent. However, it works well enough to be worn to work or out shopping, though I'd still need something with more coverage for a night out. It lasts really well for most of the day and only needs some topping up with powder after about 8 hours of wear. 

It has an added SPF of 15, which is a nice bonus, though I wouldn't rely on it in the warmer seasons. As for any long lasting skin benefits this may bring I cannot really comment, as I've only been using this for about a week and I've been changing up my skincare regime so much my skin is getting a bit confused. All in all, I'm quite happy with my purchase. It's the perfect product to smack on when I want to look like I'm not wearing foundation, but just have naturally radiant skin.

No7 BB cream is available for 12.95 here or in-store.