Review: Lioele Beyond the Solution BB Cream

Hey Guys! I hope you enjoyed my last review. This time I'm back with a sample review of Lioele Beyond the Solution BB Cream. I got this sample from a Liole-sponsored goodiebag after having won a blogging contest a while back. It thought I should give it a try because after all, that's what samples are for, right? IMO, I think samples are great because they let you try out a product before your invest anything in it. They're great for when you're on the fence about a purchase, and most of the time, if you know the salesladies well enough and are a regular customer, you get samples just by asking!

This BB Cream has quite a reputation among Korean Cosmetic junkies for having good coverage and being yet another SPF-free BB Cream like FairyDrops Candy Bar BB Cream. It's supposedly a really good BB Cream. You'd expect it to be considering it's a bit on the pricey side.

The sample given to me looks like this and unfortunately, all the info on it is in Korean, so I have no idea what I'm getting myself into. *gulp*

A typical full-sized tube of Liole Beyond the Solution BB Cream looks like the picture below, although packaging may vary by source. I've searched around and seen this BB cream with plastic caps, with and without pumps. Whether or not this is due to factory/production differences or whether some are fakes and some aren't, I can't exactly be sure. To be safe, I always purchase from boutiques here in the Philippines. I'm so happy Korean Cosmetics are getting big here since the market is diversifying immensely because of it.

That being said, let's get onto to the product. Because I don't have packaging to go on as to what this BB Cream is like, I searched around for references. Surprisingly, the reviews on this product are quite varying, which begs the question as to its quality control across producers.

There are reviews saying that the product was both too pale and too dark, some even saying it was too orange. This is quite puzzling because from what I know, there is only one shade available for this BB Cream. Why are people's reviews so different? Hmmm, mysterious.


No SPF?
What I do know about it that resonates constantly within reviews is that it has a thick formula, full coverage and has no SPF. You'd think that with that description, it'd be quite similar to FairyDrops Candy Bar BB Cream but it couldn't be any more different. For a BB Cream without SPF, it's surprisingly pale and still manages to leave a white cast, which defeats the purpose of having no SPF entirely. The only benefit that having no SPF on a BB Cream has is that it prevents the white cast and makes it flash-photography friendly. But why the heck does it still leave a white cast even if it doesn't have SPF?

The Color and Cast
In all fairness, the whiteness and paleness can be attributed to the fact that I have fairly dark skin, but I fail to see how this can look too dark on anyone (because according to some reviews, it manages to turn 2-3 shades darker than their skin. wth?). You can tell from the picture above and below just how pale it is, so to think that there are people with skin paler than this is somewhat surprising. I'm not discounting the possibility, but it's just surprising is all. After 20 mins, it seems to blend into my skin just a little bit, but it's still a lot whiter than my normal skin color. There are reports that this oxidizes into a terrible orange, but thankfully I didn't get that in my experience. In fact, there wasn't any orange tinge at all despite my skin being quite acidic.

The Finish
Despite the discrepancies and inconsistencies of this product, I can in fact attest to its good coverage. The thick consistency is perfect for dark circles, redness and blemishes. It also covers up pores pretty well. While some would say this BB cream gives a matte finish, it depends entirely on how much product you use. If you use the product sparingly and apply a thin layer over your face, it is in fact, matte and still retains is coverage. I can infer, however, that varying reviews saying that this BB Cream is 'too dewy' and 'cakey' arise because they apply this BB Cream as they would a foundation, which is a definite no-no. In a nutshell, this product is not buildable. Applying the product on too thick results to a dewy, cakey and unsightly finish, so it's best to use a light hand.

Despite that, I hate how it's so glaringly obvious how much different the color of my face is from the color of my neck. Ugh. I manged to pull off wearing this BB Cream out by balancing the whiteness out with some matte bronzer, so that the whiteness came out like some sort of a highlight. Again, I find it weird how pale this was on me when some people with the same skin-tone as I am said it was too dark for them.

Moisturizing?
Another inconsistency arises on how moisturizing it is. Some people say it's too oily on their skin and some say it's too drying x_x I am thoroughly confused, because on my skin, all I felt was that it was a bit tight, but not drying. I didn't experience any flaking despite my combination skin, so I can't say it was drying. There was a bit of transfer on my tissue paper when I blew my nose, but it didn't go all grease-bomb on me, so I can't say it was oily either. Supposedly, it's made with an oil-free formula as well, so really all I can go on is my own experience. And in that context, it wasn't moisturizing, nor was it drying. It was just there. On my skin. Doing nothing.

The Smell
That aside, I would like to talk about another weird thing about this BB Cream. The smell. I have no idea if the sample given to me was off in any way, but mine smelt like skin ointment. You know the ones grandparents use on their liver spots to decrease pigmentation and moisturize their skin? It had this medicine-y type of smell to it, which isn't entirely a bad thing, considering it may imply the benefits of the BB Cream, but it's just not a smell I can get used to.

Longevity
Despite all the odd things about this BB Cream, it does last very long on my skin and required minimal blotting. Toward the end of the day it almost even blended right into my skin tone, but honestly, I don't want to have to wait a full 8 hours for a BB Cream to adapt to my skin color. That's just ridiculous.

The Conclusion
So what I can conclude from this is that the product quality of this BB Cream varies too much for it to be a reliable purchase. I don't want to risk purchasing a product and it being completely different from the sample or from what I've read online.

Summary (from my experience):

Pros:
Good Coverage
Long Lasting
Covers up pores and controls oil well (when applied in moderation)
Doesn't break me out

Cons:
***Product is apparently very inconsistent across batches and distribution so you might want to try it for yourself and not depend on other people's reviews.
Only one shade available
Heavy formula
Leaves a white cast despite not having SPF
Can cake when applied too heavily
Expensive
Has an odd medicine-y smell
Rubs off on clothes

All in all, I think this product is overhyped and not all that impressive. There are definitely better BB Creams (here and here) out there when it comes to consistency, benefits, coverage and color. I don't think that after this experience and reading experiences of others, I would purchase a full tube. It's way too pricey and not even that good. Another reason why getting samples is a good thing. You can avoid scary purchases like this!

I have two more samples (plus som face masks) to try out from Lioele - Dollish Veil Vita BB Cream and Secret Pore Rich Balm. Hopefully they aren't as much of a disappointment as this one is.

So what do you guys think? Have you tried this BB Cream out? How was it for you? I'm honestly very very curious.

A fellow blogger recently made a review on this as well. She had a fairly better experience with this so you guys might want to check it out: http://www.eyahnism.info/2013/01/bb-cream-of-month-lioele-beyond-solution.html

Ada, signing out.