Thanking My Lucky Stars For Marcelle BB Cream-To-Powder

You know, I love me some Marcelle BB Cream... My only issue was that it wasn't really suitable for my combination skin. There is no oil control (not that it claims to have any) and I found that I lost some coverage throughout the day, even when I set it with powder. So I decided to just use it on my more low-key days when I still wanted to look polished, but wasn't too concerned about it fading away eventually.

But now, Marcelle has come out with the new BB Cream-to-Powder ($22.95 CAD) and it's everything that I wanted the traditional BB Cream to be!

First, the packaging... This BB Cream-to-Powder comes in a sleek, white compact; it contains a sponge and a sizeable built-in mirror. This compact feels quite sturdy and I really like that the sponge is stored on top of the product, instead of below.

This product comes in two shades, light to medium and medium to dark. Obviously, I purchased light to medium, which is the same shade I have in the original BB Cream. It contains "self-adjusting pigments," which means it's pretty much a perfect match for my skin.

For those of you who are kind of living under a rock ( :p ) and don't know what a BB Cream is, it stands for Blemish Balm and was originally formulated for people who have undergone any medical treatment that would cause skin sensitivity. BB Creams would provide them with enough coverage to even out their skin without causing an irritation, as these products are basically makeup and skincare rolled into one.

Marcelle claims that this BB Cream-to-Powder has "8-in-1" benefits: it evens out skin tone, hydrates, protects, regenerates, controls shine (!!!), soothes, corrects, and brightens. It also has a "photo luminescent diamond core complex" which means... Actually, I don't know what that means. But it sounds awesome, no? :p

To top it off, this product is hypo-allergenic, perfume free, paraben free, oil free, and non-comodogenic. Marcelle, you need to stop being so flippin' awesome! (I lied, don't ever stop)

(L-R: swatched & blended out)

(pre-blush face with some concealing underneath the eyes)

I love how easily this product smoothes onto my skin -- it glides on and blends so effortlessly. It feels really silky and sets to a satin finish. It evens out my skin beautifully while still looking very natural, as if my skin just happens to look that good. I would say this BB Cream-to-Powder has light, but buildable coverage; it layers on nicely, though it does require a bit more blending on my drier areas (around my nose). But the best part is that it stays with me through a full work day. There's definitely some shine coming through as the day goes on, but nowhere near as much as when I wear the original BB Cream. It probably does fade a bit as well, but I honestly haven't noticed. At least not during my workday when I'm more likely to catch my reflection in the mirror. 

As I mentioned before, this Cream-to-Powder compact is exactly what I wished the original BB Cream was; i.e. everything the original product already was, but with added oil control action. Ahh, I love! <3

Are you a fan of BB Creams?

Dear Marcelle BB Cream, You Should Let Me Love You...

Let me be the one to, give you everything you want and need... Oh man, throwback to my teenage years!

Anyhoo, on to the task at hand... Let's talk about BB Creams, shall we? I must say, I really like the idea of it. Skincare benefits and coverage? Sign me up, yo!

When I went to the Philippines a few months ago, I purchased four BB Creams, but only one really made the cut. Thankfully, it was the one I bought a full size bottle of :p. Then when I came back, the beauty world's collective hearts were aflutter because North American brands have jumped on the BB Cream bandwagon and were releasing their own. To date, I believe Garnier, Vichy, Esteé Lauder, Clinique, Smashbox, Too Faced, and Boscia all have come out with their own BB Creams.

Which leaves a beauty blogger to beg the question: "which shall I choose?"

Now this is one of the reasons I love beauty blogging so much. You end up getting to know, and even making friends with other bloggers; and when your friends say they loved Marcelle's BB Cream, you better believe I'll be picking up a tube for myself :p.

A blurb from Marcelle:

The 8 in 1 multi-benefits BB Cream that does it all for you, instantly!


Your ultimate skin care enhancer for all ages and skin types, this multi-purpose skin care cream is more than a tinted moisturizer or simple make-up base. It perfects the skin to reveal a more even epidermis and well-hydrated, flawless complexion, all in one. Use it alone as a tinted moisturizer, over your moisturizer to unify your complexion and reduce the appearance of blemishes, or apply as a make-up base under foundation for total coverage and improved stay-on power. BB Cream is offered in two shades and is suitable for a wide variety of complexions thanks to its self-adjusting pigments that transform and adapt to skin tone.


Hypo-allergenic and perfume free. Suitable for all ages and skin types. 

I purchased the shade Light-Medium, and it's a pretty good match for my skin. The first thing I noticed was that it gives pretty good coverage. The main reason I'm not fond of tinted moisturizers is because there isn't enough coverage for someone like me who doesn't have evenly pigmented skin. Obviously, a BB Cream isn't going to make my skin look perfect, but it does make my skin look much better!

Here's my (rather frightening) face, pre-concealing. As you can see, there's still areas around my mouth, along my chin and definitely under my eyes that need a lot of help, but the rest of my skin looks luminous and healthy. 

If you have combination or oily skin, note that you will need to blot and possibly re-touch throughout your day. I also tried layering this underneath a foundation (MAC Pro Longwear), which Marcelle suggests, and I did find that it made my foundation look a little bit better. However, because it's not that suitable for oilier skin, I found that I had to blot after a mere 4 hours. That said, I was standing onstage under hot lights, so that was probably the culprit.

So if you're on the market for something that will give your skin a boost and make it look naturally lovely without necessarily adding a lot of coverage, then pick this baby up! I find that Marcelle's BB Cream works just as well as the best BB Cream I've tried from the Asian market, so I'm very happy that this product is a mere 2 blocks away whenever I need to get a new tube. 

I love that it makes my skin look pretty darn good without looking like I'm wearing any foundation. It looks so natural on that it really does seem like you have amazing skin. And for someone who doesn't have amazing skin, $23 is a small price to pay for a tube of Marcelle BB Cream!

Last thing...

I don't know who this model is, but Maybelline has been using her photo for their Tumblr posts during NYFW. 

All I can say is: BROOOWS! Aren't they gorgeous? Not sure I could pull that off, but I've been feeling a strong urge to let my my eyebrows grow a little bit thicker...

Happy weekend, lovelies!

Let me know if you've tried this BB Cream & how you're liking it so far. =)

My Introduction To BB Creams - The Face Shop's Power Perfection Bb Cream

While in the Philippines, I decided that I wasn't going to spend any money on beauty products. Don't ask me why, it doesn't even make any sense to me now :p. But, on the third week, I thought: "why not check out the beauty products they have here?" So I stepped into The Face Shop (a Korean skincare and cosmetics company) and it was decided that it was my new favourite store.

I've heard of BB Creams before, but until recently, there were no North American brands that offered them in their roster. So of course, I jumped at the chance to try these coveted products. To reduce this to its simplest definition, it is basically a hybrid of skincare and makeup. Think of a tinted moisturizer but with loads of extra skincare benefits.

Power Perfection is The Face Shop's "top of the line" BB Cream, the best they have to offer. So of course, I had to have it :p. Now, I think it's important to state that my skin doesn't suffer from too many problems. I get hormonal breakouts, I get some dry spots on occasion and my skin tone isn't even (darker pigmentation around the chin and around the jaw area). That said, I wouldn't be able to tell you if Power Perfection has any miraculous, anti-aging properties because my skin is simply not there yet...

However, I have to say that I absolutely love this product! It definitely takes the the concept of a tinted moisturizer even further. It certainly feels like a moisturizer, it glides onto the skin smoothly and effortlessly; but has better pigmentation and coverage than any other tinted moisturizer I've tried (which, admittedly, is not that much).

As you can see, I still need concealing (I definitely need it around the mouth/chin and under the eyes); but considering it's not a foundation, I'm still quite pleased with the coverage. I find that it certainly performs better than Laura Mercier's tinted moisturizer. Granted, I only tried it out once, but that's enough to figure out whether or not it's enough coverage for you, I think.

Unfortunately, this isn't exactly the right shade for my skin. BB Creams typically come in two shades and I chose the darker of the two, which is Natural Beige. However, the undertone is too pink for my warm/yellow toned skin (in the Philippines, it's all about having "pinkish-white skin"). Thankfully, because the coverage isn't too thick, I can still make it work for me; I just make sure to blend a bit of it on my neck.

I guess you can call this a "my skin, but better" type of product :p. No, it doesn't make my skin look flawless; I don't think that look is appropriate for every day, anyway. But it does make my skin look fresh, slightly dewy and healthier. I do notice some shine and oiliness on my face after a few hours, but honestly, now that we're heading into Winter, I'm more forgiving of some shine on my face. Especially since I find that whatever coverage it gives still sticks around until the end of my work day. That said, if you have oily skin, I don't think this product is for you.

...Assuming you would even be able to get it, coz um... It's not available in Canada. I'm sorry! >.<

But! They have stores in the US, Australia and various other countries in Asia so take a look at their Store Locator; you may be in luck and have a store near you. Check it out, yo! Coz this product is absolutely lurvely!

Have you tried a BB Cream before?