Can someone please pass the ketchup… or maybe chilli sauce. No, make that sambal. I need to eat my words re: not liking any BB creams.
Interestingly, right after I told you my reasons for not liking BB Creams, 3 new ones appeared on the market. I’ve told you that the Maybelline BB Cream is quite decent, for its price and today, I’m about to be made to eat my words again (!!) when I tell you that I might have found THE ONE. The BB cream I’d use over and over without complaint.
Ladies, say hello to the Vichy Aera Mineral BB Skin Breathing Blemish Balm Cream. We’ll just call it the Vichy Aera BB Cream.
So why am I in love with the Vichy Aera BB Cream when I’ve bashed so many others before? The secret lies in the texture.
For the first time since trying a BB Cream, I’ve not turned into an oil slick. I wear it from morning till evening and I don’t get any oilier than I usually do. In fact, when it does turn a tiny bit oily my skin looks like its glowing which suits me fine 😀 If I dust some loose powder over it, it lasts me the whole day, looking pretty awesome. I have liquid foundations don’t even behave this well.
Its super light on the skin. Once I apply it, it feels like I’ve got nothing on yet my skin looks a touch better. I’ve been wearing this one for a while and its not drying either.
Thirdly and very importantly, the shade is a perfect match for my skintone. For once, I don’t have to battle BB creams that look orange or grey. It is an absolute neutral skintone with maybe just a touch of pink. This pink tone actually helps to make your skin look a little brighter but if you have very warm skintones, this may not suit you. On my skintone its a perfect fit.
Here is the photo collage showing you my bare skin and with the Vichy BB Cream.
With bare skin, you can see the redness around the nose area. With just the Vichy BB Cream, the redness is covered and the pigmentation on my cheeks are quite well covered. When I dust over some loose powder, I have near perfect complexion barring the shadow of the freckles and there’s this glow to the skin – see it? 🙂
Its not hard to see why I abso-freaking-lutely LOVE this Vichy BB Cream! 😀
There are some setbacks of course. It only comes in one shade which will suit fair to medium skintones. Too tanned and you won’t be able to use it. Also as I’ve noted, it has a very slight pink tone so if you are very very warm toned, it won’t suit you either.
Pros: Very lightweight on the skin, Not oily, Medium coverage
Cons: Some may consider it pricey (I don’t), Only comes in 1 shade
Like all BB Creams, this product straddles skincare and makeup. It contains Vichy thermal spa water and Vitamin C and E and also SPF20 but I always use a separate sunscreen. This might be good for those who dislike using sunscreen. The tint is 100% mineral pigments and its paraben free. I’ll be honest. I don’t know what qualifies as a BB Cream anymore. For me, this is pretty much liquid foundation. Here’s the ingredient list.
At RM99 for 40ml, some might consider it pricey. I think its alright. There are lots of other much more expensive BB Creams in the market anyway. Also, this is cheaper than many high end foundations plus delivering similar results. Remember how I raved about Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation? Well, since we can’t get Bourjois here in Malaysia, get the Vichy Aera BB Cream instead. It gave me the luminous foundation glow promised by Teint Miracle without that dreaded oil slick. You can tell I still can’t get over that one can’t you? LOL! 😀
But if you can get both Bourjois and Vichy, I say get either one. Vichy is a little sheerer than Bourjois but they are both just as good for a liquid foundation 🙂
Now this one’s been out for a few months already. Have you tried it and if you have, what’s your verdict? Love it as much as I do? 😀
Paris B
Vichy Aera Mineral BB Skin Clearing Blemish Balm Cream retails at RM99 at all Vichy counters at leading pharmacies. If you can, wait for the discounts. A little saving is better than nothing.
Nutella says
Hi Paris,
I went out to get my Vichy BB cream last week and I love the texture when applying on my face. IT is light and glides on so smoothly. I use it on top of my sunscreen which has a higher SPF. The overall result looks natural on me.
Thank you for your great review and advice!
ParisB says
Ooh! So happy it works for you too! 😀
Zwei says
thank you very much for the review! i was planning to try a new foundation and was thinking really hard whether i should try another BB cream because the one before (from Face Shop) was okay-okay only.. since i have oily skin, i am pretty concern about liquid stuffs. and i dare not simply try any brands as i have sensitive skin. was thinking about Vichy BB cream. i think i will be getting it tmr! :)) thanks so much!
Panhia says
Where can I purchase the Vichy aera mineral bb cream? I can’t seem to find a website that sells that. Even the official website to Vichy does not list that bb cream.
Thank you,
Panhia
ParisB says
I believe they might be only sold in Asia for now. I don’t know of any website that sells it either.
Sonia says
Hello ParisB
May I know can i get this from Watson, Guardian or Sasa? We only have these shops here.
Thanks
Paris B says
Hi I’m not sure where you are, but Vichy has left Malaysia so you can’t get the brand locally anymore, in Singapore, I’ve seen Vichy at Guardian and Watsons.
Nancy says
Hi Paris. I came across your blog when searching for the Vichy Aera BB Cream which I’ve been using for 5 years and been ordering from Taiwan. I’m in the United States. I’ve found out last year or so this product has been discontinued and am very sad. This is so good! I have not found anything similar or like it as a replacement. Do you have any recommendations of products that is close to this? I’ve searched everywhere for inventory, as I’m down to my last bit, am very disappointed that they stopped making this. Thanks so much!
Paris B says
Hi Nancy, I’m afraid that it’s been so long, that I cannot quite remember the texture of this Vichy BB cream, sorry! But some BB Creams I like are by It Cosmetics, Bobbi Brown, or you can try Bourjois CC cream as well, which I think is wonderful stuff! Hope this helps you !
Nancy says
Thanks Paris for your reply. I guess I’ll have to give some other ones a try. The Vichy one is the only BB cream I’ve used that feels like there’s nothing on the skin. I’ll give your recommendations a try. Thanks again!
Paris B says
Ah then do give the Bourjois CC Cream a try. It’s lovely. Decent coverage and lightweight on skin. I have a review on it if you do a quick search 🙂