Review | Kiehl’s Actively Correcting & Beautifying BB Cream

BB creams.. you either love ’em or you hate ’em. Imo the BB cream is an absolutely fantastic product that everyone should own. I hardly leave the house without it. The biggest pitfall for this product to truly succeed at making it as a mainstream holy grail product however is that it’s really hard to find a BB cream that is right for you.

Many Western brands seem to have jumped on the bandwagon too hasty, resulting in a lot of BB creams that are simply NOT good or not good enough, which I find rather strange, since it was actually a German invention that was perfected by the South-Koreans later on. And don’t even get me started on its successors, the CC creams and DD creams. When a little birdie tells me EE creams are on their way, I just can’t help but feel a little disgusted by this new hype. Not sure if that’s the right word for it though..because in the end I know my curiosity will get the upper hand and I’ll be dying to try some. Self-knowledge is everything..

But anyway, in my ever continuing quest for good or even great BB creams I present you with a review of Kiehl’s newest baby; the Actively Correcting & Beautifying BB cream. But before we move on say hello to my lovely green-haired assistant for today, Hatsune Miku! (o^_^o)

Kiehl’s has never let me down before, which makes it easier to trust them into trying their take on the BB cream. There are 3 shades available (shown here from left to right and dark to light) Natural, Light and Fair. Natural and Light are much darker than the Fair version and they’re pretty similar at first sight too, which was a bit confusing at first. The only difference seems to be in their undertone. One’s more yellow while the other is more pink.

With my fair skin tone I was very happy to find a perfect match in ‘Fair’, which rarely happens. Still I don’t think 3 shades are enough to cover all skin tones, so these probably won’t work for everybody. You can always mix them with a bit of liquid foundation to match your skin tone better. At first sight, Fair looks a bit on the pink side, but once blended into my skin, the effect decreased and it matched my skin tone better.

The texture is pretty liquidy for a cream, but it definitely helps with the blending. You don’t need a whole lot of product too. The size of a big pea should usually do the trick. The coverage is quite sheer when I compare it with my favorite Erborian BB cream but it’ll definitely do on ‘regular’ skin days. It covers most minor blemishes and small spots, but for anything major you’ll still need to grab for a concealer to layer under this product (or add some foundation on top using a sponge).

The result is a healthy glowing and natural looking skin, nothing cakey or anything like that. Overall the finish looks matte, but he T-zone can look a bit shiny when you have a mixed or oily skin due to the huge amount of sunscreen filters that have been added to the ingredients list. You can always add a bit of transparent powder to set and matify it.

The SPF50/PA +++ is definitely a reason I’d recommend this product for spring/summer. Those sunrays can be really sneaky so it’s better to be prepared! I use this one mainly when it’s sunny outside and I want to wear a sunscreen with a little extra (and I don’t want to wear/ or need make-up). It wears off after a couple of hours but luckily this one fits in the purse nicely so reapplying isn’t that much of a hustle.

Another thing I noticed about this BB cream is the lack of fragrance, which is always a plus if you’re prone to allergies (fragrance is the n°1 cause). I’m not going to say I love the smell but it’s not unpleasant either. And last but not least, there’s the Vitamin C that claims to correct existing skin tone irregularities and prevent the formation of new ones. I can’t say I’ve noticed anything like that, but that’s because I’ve only used this for one month (and it hasn’t been that sunny either unfortunately) so I can’t really make a final call on that just yet. I guess we’ll just have to see about that in the long run..

Kiehl’s Actively Correcting & Beautifying BB Cream isn’t perfect, but it deserves a n°2 on my list! I’d say go to your nearest Kiehl’s store, ask for a sample and just give it a try and see if you like it.

The Kiehl’s BB Creams are now in stores and online for € 29 (30 ml).

What do you think? Would you be interested to try Kiehl’s BB cream?