Maybelline DreamFresh BB Cream

So, after my terrible experience with Garnier’s B.B. cream, I decided I would give Maybelline a try to see if they could do any better. Its about half the price and half the size of Garnier’s product, so it couldn't hurt to try.
The first thing I noticed about Maybelline’s line is the fact that they have more color choices. There are five tones that range between "light" and "deep" as opposed to Garnier’s two color selections which are light/medium and medium/deep. Based on my experience with Garnier’s BB cream I thought I would need the darkest tone in Maybelline’s line (which is "deep") to get the closest color match. When I went to buy it, "deep"was sold out and the next closest was "medium/deep". Based on the color on the packaging (which you can never really trust) it looked like it would be a pretty good match.

I tried it first on my inner wrist and it blended in flawlessly. When I tried it on my face, it was a bit of a different story. It looked a little white on my skin like the Garnier product did. Not half as bad, but I still noticed the whiteness. I really wanted it to work so I decided to leave it on for a couple hours to see if maybe it would do a magic trick and settle in. ABRA-CADABRA! The next time I checked the mirror you couldn't tell there was anything on my face.
With that being said, I think this product is essentially a tinted moisturizer. In my opinion, it doesn't brighten, smooth, or enhance like it says it should. It does seem like it hydrates the skin fairly well, and it does lightly blur imperfections and lightly evens the skin tone. I would say if you have a lightweight, light coverage foundation such as Maybelline's FitMe liquid foundation, either of these BB creams are a waste of money.
Since I didn't want the product to go to waste and I don't hate it enough to return it, I decided to mix it with my FitMe foundation. I just dab a little of both on my face and blend. I find that it thickens the consistency of the foundation just a tad, and makes it easier to apply like a lotion as opposed to using brushes and/or sponges to make sure you are blending appropriately.
Other than for that purpose, don't waste your money.

Contour and Highlight: Using makeup to make your face look thinner

Very helpful example of highlighting and contouring. I haven't quite mastered it yet :(

Lea Michele Smokey Eye Makeup Tutorial

Great smokey eye tutorial!

***ALERT*** Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector B. B. Cream

I mentioned this product in my last post, "Garnier Skin Renew Clinical Dark Spot Overnight Peel"which you may want to read first if you haven't already. I didn't see this product when I bought the overnight peel so when I came across it at Walmart the other day I figured I would go ahead and add it to the collection to see if using the complete Skin Renew line would yield better results as opposed to using the overnight peel on its own. Long story short, I bought it, I tried it that night, I hated it, I returned it the next day. Garnier has two shades which are "light/medium" and "medium/dark. My skin tone is similar to that of actress Kerry Washington, so obviously I chose the medium/dark.
The product itself comes as a grayish-chocolate milky kind of color (sorry for the poor description, LOL). It looked nothing like the color of anyone's skin, really, but I figured it would work its magic and blend in. Nope. It made me look pale, dusty and ghostly. I thought it would just take a little rubbing to blend it in but NO. I looked like a geisha. Not only did it make me look like I had been frolicking through clouds of ash, it also had a "gritty" finish. There was nothing smooth or flattering about the finish. It looked like the product had sand bits in it that sit on top of the skin.
And speaking of sitting on top of the skin, there was nothing moisturizing about it. It felt almost like I was wearing a thin layer of baby powder on my face (and kinda looked that way too).
Anyway....I say terrible product, don't waste your money, and I have nothing nice to say about it.
Grade: F-, Garnier.
If you've already spent your money, let me know how it went for you.