Nanoce BB Cream

I feel like a light bulb just went up in my head, but now I finally understand why Asian women are crazy about BB cream.  A friend of mine who grew up in China actually told me about this magical thing called BB cream a couple years ago.  I guess a famous Korean actress made it popular because she had plastic surgery on her face and then was given this cream as a cover up which at the same time had healing benefits for her skin to recover from the surgery.  Then she raved about it and got every Asian woman really into it too.  Really it sounds too good to be true.

So at the time my friend told me about this magical cream, I was definitely interested in trying it out.  But I didn't know where to get one.  There are lots of hits online when I google "BB cream", but I wanted to try one out in person before buying.  So a couple months ago I happened to be in a Japanese makeup store, and they had the Nanoce BB cream, so I decided to take it home and give it a try!

At first I was a little skeptical and thought it might be a fad.  But now after about a month of using it, I LOVE it!  It's basically a liquid tinted cream that has a heavier consistency than liquid foundation (but doesn't feel heavy on at all).  The consistency is very similar to the Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation I used to use.  But the BB cream is not a foundation, it's more like a lotion.  You apply it like a lotion too, and it provides instant coverage, evens out your skin tone and gives kind of a silky look.  It's super convenient!  The coverage is on the light side but you can layer and build more.  I usually just use a pea size and it's sufficient for me to go to work.  I guess you can layer powder over it for more coverage as well which I have done to cover up certain areas when I get a pimple or something.  The BB cream actually makes the powder stay better on your face so it acts like a base layer.  My face does get a little shinier by the end of the day, but that always tends to happen to me no matter what I use.  So it doesn't bug me anymore as I can just use a tissue and lightly dab my face.

I just love how convenient BB cream is - when I have to run out real fast, I just put it on like my normal lotion and leave home with poreless skin!  I also like the fact that it's not makeup.  I don't know about the supposed "healing properties" because I haven't noticed anything different with my skin.  I think a couple month should be enough time to tell by now.  So just by having it on, I can't tell any difference between this BB cream and a normal light foundation.  But it makes me feel better that it's (supposedly) not clogging my pores. 

I did some research online and read that most Korean made BB cream have a white tint that lightens your skin, because having white skin is big in Asia.  But I do not want to look like a ghost, and Nanoce is actually one of a few that doesn't have whitening properties.  Maybe because it's Japanese.  Who knows.  It comes with 2 color tones - they just call them #1 and #2.  Both are pretty light, so if you had darker skin, neither would work.  At the risk of stating the obvious, #1 is lighter than #2.  I got #2 and I feel like it's a good color for me, but on the lighter side.  That's also why I don't put so much on.

I noticed that this is sold on Amazon for $30 which is not bad because at the Japanese store I went to, I paid about $26, which after tax was almost $30 anyway.  The store is far away from me being on the East side of LA county where all the good deals are, but I don't get to go there often because of the distance.  So when I was over in the same area last weekend, I actually stopped by again and picked up 2 more of these!  I don't want to run out!

I'm really glad to have tried BB cream finally, and now I don't leave home without it!  I gotta listen to my Chinese friend more.  She knows all the latest in the makeup/beauty world!