Review: FairyDrops Candy Bar BB Cream

Hey guys! I'm back with one of my most exciting purchases yet. If you've followed me since August, you'd know that I've totally been wanting FairyDrops Candy Bar BB Cream after Ekiblog's wonderful review on it. I've always wanted it, but never really could get down to buying it  because I'm not fond of shopping online for a just a single buy. So after hearing that this BB cream was finally available in the Philippines at Beauty Bar, I made a beeline to my nearest boutique and bought it, no questions asked.

I was a bit reluctant to continue this post even though it was scheduled because of a slight fit I got into with another beauty blogger about a review. I'm usually a lurker on other beauty blogs aside from my friends' blogs and the one time I decided to comment, things got sorta out of hand. Youthful mistakes, they are numerous and unwise, but you learn in the end.

That being said, I still feel like I needed to review this because it's just one of those products I'm absolutely in love with right now. I mean really ---

Doesn't it just look splendid? I totally broke my wallet for this, especially on a student budget. My own money from my own sweaty palms (thank goodness I was able to sell some of my fangirl stuff haha)

This has been receiving a lot of raves in the blog-o-sphere because of the fact that it doesn't have SPF. But wait, isn't that a bad thing? It depends.

The Concept
Let's take into consideration the fact that this BB cream was designed for wear in Television or for indoor wear. In recordings and photoshoots, if you've ever been in any, you'll notice that the lights are so blinding and bright, you can even feel the heat of them. You sweat, your makeup is ruined, and another corollary of bright lights is they tend to make anything with SPF shine and give off an unsightly white cast.

Why is this so? *Science mode ON*

SPF in sunblock and in cosmetics works in two ways - by either being a a chemical block  a physical block (I know this because this was my research proposal in high school haha). Chemical blocks work by absorbing the UV that the sun emits while physical blocks are exactly what they imply - they PHYSICALLY block the sun from your skin and make the light bounce off it. Technically speaking, any opaque material, even mud, is a physical block. One of the more common physical blocks, used in most sunblock and cosmetics is titanium dioxide. Basically it's what makes most SPF-possessing makeup make your skin look exceptionally radiant, and in the case of photoshoots, an unsightly ghostly white. You can see now why most BB creams have a white cast and why SPF can be a bad thing sometimes. That being said, the fact that this BB cream doesn't have SPF does prevent unwanted bouncing off of light from your face but at the same time, it does take away its sun protection faculty. But nobody's forcing you to wear this out in the sun. Use it for what it's made for - photoshoots, indoor functions and nightclubs when camera flash is your worst enemy LOL.

The Packaging
The packaging is almost too sugary sweet for my own good. Pink and white - you can't go wrong right? Unfortunately however, this doesn't really make for fail-safe storage because guess what the easiest color to get dirty is -- yehp, it's white. The matte packaging of the tube is aesthetically pleasing, I can give you that, but one touch with BB-cream filled fingers and you'll have fingerprints all over it.
That aside, the sponge applicator is something we've seen in a few BB creams and foundations out there, but I think I saw this one as the first (please do correct me if I'm wrong). The sponge is fed by a plastic nozzle underneath which supplies a steady controllable stream of product.

One tip of use is to squeeze just a bit, let the product distribute itself into the sponge and its surface and then apply as needed. It works well enough IMO, and there's no problem with excessive product. BUT, if you're not so into that, it also gives you the option to apply it yourself without the sponge in a regulated manner, which is also pretty cool. I can actually use a foundation brush with this one!

One big let-down of the conceptualization of the packaging however is that the packaging is designed for this to be stored upside down. This is a little problematic because product flows down from the tip of the nozzle with just a little bit of gravity. So if you don't want your sponge permanently soaked in product, you're going to want to store this right-side-up somehow.

Another thing is that there's a lot of product wasted that gets soaked into the sponge, but never makes it to your face. Add to that the fact that you have very little product to begin with and you have a problem.

The Claims

click to enlarge

Treatment essence for moisturizing, oil control, firming, smoothing and acne. Microparticles for concealing and coverage. Soft focus powder for light diffusion and "HD" finish. Waterproof and oil-free.

Sounds good to me! Haha. I went ahead and took pictures of the instructions and ingredients for you guys if you have any reservations about the product. They put all the important stuff in English, so I feel no need to translate, but if you guys have any questions, feel free to ask! I'll translate whatever I can :)

Also, you can't see because the Beauty Bar sticker is covering it, but each tube actually contains 35 grams of product. Which honestly isn't a lot compared to a lot of cheaper BB creams out there, but a little goes a long way with this one, so it's still pretty worth it.

The Use

Though this product only comes in two colors: Ochre and Light Ochre I think the blendability more than compensates for the lack of variety. The color adaptation is also rather impressive, as you can tell by the above picture. I got the shade in Ochre because I have rather tan skin and it suited me perfectly. That being said, I doubt this would work for ladies on the darker side of the spectrum. The fact that this is made in Japan, a country where their market audience is naturally fair, limits their production and the chances of this BB cream being globalized are slim, so on that facet, this BB cream is lacking

Where quality and consistency are concerned, however, you get awesome coverage, toneage and a semi-matte finish. It's also scentless, so people who may be sensitive to that don't have to worry.

Here's my face with just Etude House's Goodbye Pore Ever Pore Primer Stick and FairyDrops Candy Bar BB Cream. NO WHITE CAST YO! (just really ugly eyebags, but that's not the BB cream's fault haha) That being said, it's not as lightweight as my favorite, theFACEshop's Aqua Tinted BB Cream. In fact it feels almost like a foundation when applied, but once it settles it tightens the skin and makes it feel firmer, leaving only a faint trace of feeling that it's there.

Did I mention that this foundation doesn't budge for ANYTHING? I wore this a good 14 hours with minor powder touch ups and it still looked AH-MAY-ZING. It's water-resistant and oil free, so you can expect it to keep the shine off your face (unless you have really oily skin).

The Hygiene

Some people had their reservations about buying this product because of the misconception that the sponge wasn't detachable and was thus difficult to clean. The company already had that thought out apparently because if you read the back of the packaging with instructions on how to remove the sponge from its base for cleaning. As you can see from the demonstrative picture, it's actually quite easy to remove if you follow the instructions. Twist off the cap which contains the sponge. Remove auxiliary plastic base and pull sponge up gently. Now you have a completely plastic-free sponge that's easy to clean and dry to prevent accumulation of product and growth of bacteria. I recommend washing the sponge with soap and water (shampoo works wonders!). Because it's waterproof, it might be stubborn and stay, but shampoo worked on mine just fine. Gently squeeze-dry it to preserve the shape, and then blow-dry it if you can't wait for it to air-dry.

After routine cleaning and usage, I think it's a pretty sanitary product. No breakouts, no problems. It's perfectly awesome, but just like any applicator / brush needs its proper maintenance.

The verdict
I'll admit, this may sound biased because I've been looking forward to this BB Cream for SO LONG after following the Japanese blog-o-sphere and lurking around gyaru and Japanese fashion blogs, but this is honestly a really good product.
I wouldn't wear it out everyday, especially in school because I need SPF, plus, I'd save this for a special occasion because I did pay a lot for this (1550 php to be exact). But let's say you were on a flexible budget, this would definitely be something to invest in for social events, nightclubs, photoshoots etc. because it beats any liquid foundation I've used so far in terms of endurance, plus the coverage is good and you get the BB cream benefits.
You can find this locally at a Beauty Bar near you or at the FairyDrops website. I've also seen this being sold on ebay and other blogshops, so don't be afraid to look around :)
I'll definitely repurchase this if I run out, unless Fairy Drops comes up with a newer version. By then I'd have saved up for a new tube anyway haha.

Hope this review helped! I have a review a few more reviews coming up soon, so watch out for them~

Ada, signing out.