My Review of Clinique Age Defense BB Cream SPF 30

Much as I love Clinique and I must say I have been a loyal customer for a few good years, this BB Cream was a hell of a let down. I tried it after Estee Lauder’s Daywear BB Cream, Garnier Skin Perfector, Dermacol BB Cream and Stila’s BB cream, so I do have something to compare it to. While Garnier and Dermacol are considered mainstream drugstore brands, Estee Lauder costs twice more than Clinique (at least in Tesco Prague, Czech Republic). However, before we start discussing the bad aspects of the cream, let’s start off with the good characteristics.

Coverage: Clinique’s Age Defense BB Cream provides almost full coverage, very similar to Garnier, in fact the only difference between Garnier Skin Perfector BB (oil free version, for oily skin) and this one is that Clinique offer a more natural shade (I use 02 as I found 01 to be way to pinkish), doesn’t dry out very fast giving me time to blend it well and actually does hydrate. Garnier really offers the same coverage but feels dry on my skin, same feeling you would get if you apply makeup without a moisturizer underneath. My nose is full with dark spots and I have a few small scars on my cheeks from college times when I had acne, both Clinique and Garnier manage to camouflage it.

Texture: Nice and smooth texture, a little bit too thick for my taste, while Garnier is maybe too runny, Clinique feels like a whipped cream on my skin. If it was more like a gel, similar to their Moisture Surge gel, would be awesome, but it has even heavier consistency than Superdefence day cream.

Lasting: Well, it does last the entire day but it never really dries out like Garnier, so touching your face can smudge the coverage or stain the clothes that come in contact with the covered area. Moreover, after a few hours, but really just 1-3 hours, the cream sinks into each and every line on your face, that you never even knew that exists. I am only 30, and I have just a few tiny lines, you can’t really see them unless you come really close and inspect my face, however, with Clinique Age Defense BB Cream on my face, I looked significantly, and I am not kidding – significantly older. Having every lime dramatically emphasized made my skin look more mature and tired. I figured that in order to avoid it, you need to re-blend it every 1-2 hours and avoid smiling or laughing.. Now, that sounds a little limiting, doesn’t it? When you pay $48 for a small tube that promises to make you even more beautiful, you would expect a bit more. In my opinion Garnier also sinks into the lines, but: (a) not so much (b) it costs under $10, if you follow local drugstore’s discounts you can easily buy it for $6-7.

What I didn’t like about it?

While it does cover the dark spots, which is awesome, it doesn’t go on very smooth, to say the least. It lays on my skin in small patches that again sink into the skin and this is not a problem of uneven face texture because I didn’t have this problem with any other cream. The product did not blend well on my skin, leaving splotchy patches. I tried applying over a moisturizer, or blending over with Evian water, but the result is pretty much the same, so the worst part of it is that it doesn’t look smooth and looks incredibly heavy on your face. It ends up making me look order

Would I repurchase it again? No.

Would I recommend it to a friend? Not to a real friend, no.