MAC Prep + Prime BB Balm

After a festive week long hiatus I am back on the blogosphere with a product I am incredibly excited about, MAC's Prep + Prime BB Balm. I was out in Plymouth yesterday trying (not too hard I might add!) to spend some of my Christmas money and made that inevitable dive into the MAC concession in House of Fraser. I was only planning on purchasing two more pans for my Pro 15 palette and, as with any new collection, I browsed the Apres Chic stand. To be honest nothing completely caught my eye, until I noticed a little stand next to Apres Chic and saw that MAC now has a BB cream. Whoopah!

I'm a big fan of BB creams, I've tried many, loved some (Dr Jart, Maybelline) and hated a few more (Garnier, L'Oreal, MUA and Sleek). To me a BB cream is the hybrid foundation and moisturiser combination that replaces a heavy duty routine in the summer months, and on cold days when you're not up to applying a fully covered face. A BB cream is supposed to be a wonder product, a miraculous all singing, all dancing face layer that should even out skin tone, hydrate skin, cover up minor imperfections, smooth out lines and brighten dull skin (to name but a few of the product's promised properties).

MAC market their BB balm on their website as a 'lightly tinted in a nearly sheer beige tone to work on an array of complexions, it creamily retexturizes the skin and then goes on to excel at being a face primer with high everyday UVA/UVB SPF 35 defense'. This sounds incredibly promising, it doesn't claim to work wonders which instills a lot of hope in this product for me. Instead MAC neatly summarise the product as a primer/foundation/moisturiser rolled into one - so how did it fare?

I am an avid fan of MAC's Prep + Prime Skin, it dispenses like a foam and leaves a luxurious smooth film on my face, creating the perfect base layer. MAC's BB Balm feels much like this only it dispenses from a squeezable tube as a gel like cream, once blended onto the skin it gives it a super smooth texture and creates a perfectly primed surface with a natural tint, like a primer, but with an added bit of oomph. The colour matches lovely with my skin tone and a little bit of product really does go a long way. There are, however, currently only 3 shades of BB balm available from MAC, Extra Light, Light, and Light Plus which I believe to be a bit of a limitation for this product. I was matched to Light Plus, the darkest of the shades, which I was surprised to see considering how pale I usually am!

I loved this on my skin, it completely evened out my skin tone, and masked any redness on my face. It even covered up some blemishes I've had lately on my chin and hid the evidence of a few festive late nights from the past week. I have tested MAC's BB Balm as a standalone base layer for a minimal, natural make-up look, as well as underneath regular foundation and it's been perfect both times. I honestly cannot rave about this BB Balm enough, it's definitely moved up to the top of my favourite BB creams list!

MAC's BB Balm is available in store and online now for £22/40ml.

Are you a fan of the BB Cream trend?
What do you think of MAC's latest product?
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