What Is BB Cream, Explained With Eight to Try

What Is BB Cream, Explained With Eight to Try

If you have ever wondered what is BB cream, it is a tinted balm that does the work of moisturizer, light base and often sunscreen in one step. Here is a short history, eight BB creams to try, and the tints, primers and powders that help a light base last through the day.

If you have ever typed what is BB cream into a search bar, the answer starts with the letters. They stand for blemish balm, or beauty balm in parts of Europe. The usual origin story starts in Germany in the 1960s, where a dermatologist named Christine Schrammek made a balm to protect the skin of a patient after surgery. It reached Korea in 1985 and took off there, and by the mid 2000s Korean brands were selling it as a daily step that did the work of moisturizer, base and sunscreen in one tube. Dr.Jart+ is the name most people connect to that shift: it was founded in Seoul in the mid 2000s, and its first product was a BB cream inspired by the balms Korean dermatologists gave patients after procedures.

That is why I start with the Dr. Jart+ Premium BB All-Day Wear Korean Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 30. It is a creamy gel texture with glycerin, niacinamide and SPF 30, medium coverage, and the brand calls it a natural glow that lasts all day. Kosas BB Burst is a lighter gel cream with copper peptides and light buildable coverage, and tarte BB blur goes the other way with a matte finish and medium coverage. Anastasia Beverly Hills Beauty Balm Serum Boosted Skin Tint comes as a stick for sheer to light coverage. Erborian BB Crème au Ginseng comes in a shade range that includes 2 Doré, the one I picked. Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream is an 8-in-1 skin perfector with SPF 30, L'Oreal Paris Magic Skin Beautifier is another, and CoverGirl Smoothers is a tinted moisturizer with SPF 21.

A simple test: dot it on your jaw in daylight. If you can see where it stops, try another shade or use less.

Big numbers collage for What Is BB Cream: six products from Dr. Jart+, Kosas, Erborian, tarte, Maybelline New York and Anastasia Beverly Hills, each set beside a large numeral
What Is BB Cream

BB creams

Lighter than foundation, still a little glow

A skin tint is BB cream's lighter cousin. It is usually thinner and sheerer, and it leaves skin looking like skin. I treat it as the thing I reach for when a BB cream feels like too much.

The Reveal The Real 12HR skin tint is a serum-like liquid with light coverage and a radiant blurred finish, and it is fragrance free. MAKE UP FOR EVER Super Boost adds hyaluronic and polyglutamic acids for buildable sheer to medium coverage. Summer Fridays Sheer Skin Tint layers with tiger grass and squalane for a natural finish. Glossier Perfecting Skin Tint is the dewy one, with glycerin and diamond powder. Armani Golden Hour 24HR has vitamin C, niacinamide and little pearls for a lit-from-within look. For a stick, Charlotte Tilbury Unreal Skin Sheer Glow Tint is a hydrating, light coverage foundation stick, and MAC Studio Radiance Skin Tint Stick is a serum-tint hybrid with sheer buildable coverage. LYS Beauty Triple Fix is the most coverage here, a balm-textured stick with medium coverage and a natural finish.

Pairing tip: use a fingertip for the center of the face and a damp sponge for the edges, then stop. Sticks are best dabbed on and tapped in.

What I would skip: layering a dewy tint over a rich, slick moisturizer you just applied. Give your skincare a few minutes to sink in first, or the tint will slide.

Skin tints and tinted moisturizers

Primers and powders that hold it in place

A lighter base often needs a little help to last, and that is where primers and powders come in. The trick is to use as little as you can.

REFY Blur and Hydrate is an oil-control primer with hyaluronic acid that leaves a cloud-like finish without mattifying, so it suits oily skin that still wants some glow. Charlotte Tilbury Wonderglow is the glowy option, with light-reflecting microspheres that can go under foundation or be worn on its own. For powder, Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Longwear sets makeup for up to 16 hours and is best for oily to normal skin, while the Ultra-Blur version is talc free with hyaluronic acid and suits dry skin better. Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Blur is an ultrafine translucent powder with light coverage. MAKEUP BY MARIO SurrealSkin is a talc-free loose powder that sets up to 12 hours with a natural finish. ONE/SIZE Ultimate Blurring Setting Powder in Baby Pink is a matte, brightening option for fair to light skin, and HUDA BEAUTY Easy Bake in Pound Cake is the brightening, golden one for under eyes.

How to use them: press powder only where you shine, usually the T-zone, and leave the cheeks alone.

What I would skip: baking powder all over a BB cream. It mutes the glow you chose the BB cream for in the first place.

Primers and powders that help it last

Choosing the base that fits your day

Pick the base by the kind of day you have. On a rushed morning, a BB cream with SPF is one step and done, and the Dr. Jart+ or Maybelline tubes do that. On a warm day or a video call, a skin tint gives a fresher, barely-there finish. If you run oily, add a primer like REFY and powder just the T-zone. If you run dry, reach for a hydrating tint and keep powder to a minimum. Match the shade at the jaw in natural light, blend down the neck, and remember that the point of BB cream was always skin first, color second.