Review! Garnier Skin Renew | Miracle Skin Perfector B.B. Cream

B.B. Creams have been a pretty hot beauty product in Asia for quite some time now, so when I found out Garnier was releasing their own readily available drugstore version, I was really excited to give it a try.

B.B. Creams (Also known as Blemish Balm or Beauty Balm) claim to combine many of the regular steps in your beauty routine, into one convenient product as well as being beneficial to the quality of your skin. Some of these steps can include moisturization, even skin tone, brighten, conceal, calm, soothe and protect against environmental damage.

The Garnier Skin Renew - Miracle Skin Perfector B.B. Cream comes in a 75ml squeeze tube, retails here for $15.99 CAD at Walmart and is available in 2 shades: Light/Medium and Medium/Dark. For that price, I thought to myself, this stuff better work wonders! Most of my favourite foundations are from the drugstore and aren't even that costly. My skin is light/medium and freckled (Mac NW20 in winter, NW25 in summer) so naturally I chose the lighter of the 2 shades.

This contains Vitamin E and Mineral Pigments and claims to renew, brighten, even, hydrate 24 hours and protect against damage. I searched the whole package and found no mention of SPF but the Garnier Facebook page advertisement says it has an SPF of 15, which isn't too bad.

I squeezed a pea-sized amount onto the back of my hand, smeared it and was pretty shocked at how deeply pigmented it looks. It seemed pretty dark and orangey considering it's the lightest shade available. I was pretty sure half the female population wouldn't even be able to use this product, because I'm not really pale and it looked dark even on me.

This is after blending..

The breakdown..

• Scent - Many reviewers have said this has a strong, slightly obnoxious floral scent, and I disagree. To me, this smells just like sunscreen and didn't seem overpowering at all.
• Texture - Thick and creamy. Thicker than liquid foundation and tinted moisturizer but not heavy whatsoever. It seems to be very moisturizing without being greasy and I probably wouldn't use any moisturizer underneath.
• Blendability - It blended out very smoothly and effortlessly, no streaks or heaviness. Feels very similar to a tinted moisturizer.
• Colour - This is what initially scared me, but it's not nearly as pigmented as it first looks. While it did give a hint of colour, it was more just a healthy glow and not a mask of orangey-ness. Anyone with very fair skin may have a hard time pulling this off, but I think even someone a little lighter than me would be alright.
• Coverage - This definitely doesn't cover blemishes, scars, freckles or redness. It leaves a dewy (but not oily) satin finish that I think blurs imperfections slightly, but has less coverage than most tinted moisturizers I've tried. I think if this was set with a powder, it would be comparable to a sheer tinted moisturizer.
• Lasting power - On it's own, about 4-6 hours before it started to seem like there wasn't really much there.

In conclusion, I think this would be a decent, light alternative to a tinted moisturizer in the summer, if you already have pretty good skin and just want a little bit of dewiness, moisture and smoothing. If you're oily, it may be a bit too slick and if you're pale, a bit too dark. I have tried it under foundation, replacing moisturizer and primer and it does provide a really smooth, brightened canvas for the foundation I used (Revlon ColorStay in Fresh Beige). That's probably how I would recommend it be used. It's just not enough for my skin, and would probably feel greasy combined with sunscreen if you wanted a higher SPF.

This stuff gets a 4/5 from me, I do like it and will continue to use it, but it just doesn't stand out and is pretty pricey for the results. I'm hoping the benefits will be more apparant with continued use! Hope that helps some of you! Let me know in the comments if you've tried this or any other B.B. Creams, and if so, what kind of results did you get?

xo Sarah

FTC: This was purchased with my own money and as always, all opinions are my own. :)