Review: 17 BB Cream in Light

Ok, so I decided to jump on the BB bandwagon and about a week ago I bought 17's BB cream. I'm not much of a foundation girl so I thought this would be a good midway option between foundation and, well, nothing (the latter definitely not a choice for me)! I was interested in buying the MUA Cosmetics BB cream, but it wasn't in my local Superdrug. I went into Boots and had a look at No7's offering too, but I thought their "fair" shade was too dark for me.

There was actually a lot I liked about 17's BB cream before I had even tried it out. Their "light" shade was a good match for my extremely pale skin (there are two shades available; light and medium) for a start. The price tag of just £6.99 is also very attractive. The blurb on the box really sells it though;

"17 BB Blemish Balm is your 'no make-up make-up' - a cult wonder product that gives your skin a complete natural, flawless finish. The weightless all in one creamy formula blends seamlessly into skin; moisturising, concealing, smoothing and protecting." 

 It's key qualities are summarised on the front of the box;

• Evens skintone
• Covers imperfections
• Flawless finish
• Oil control
• SPF 25

Now I agree with almost all of these... 

The Pros

• The formula is exactly as described - weightless and creamy. 
• It was really easy to apply and blend, and I loved the natural looking finish. 
• It definitely evens out your skintone and my pores on my cheeks even seemed a little reduced. 
• The SPF is definitely an added bonus.

The Cons

• What I would say is that the "flawless finish" is only really true if you don't have spots; I found that it was quite good at covering small blemishes and fading spot scars, but actual spots I needed to apply concealer as well to achieve the "flawless finish". 
• This is the biggie - for me the oil control seemed almost non-existent. In fact, my skin actually seemed oiler! Half way through the day I'd look in the mirror and in certain places such as my chin, my make-up (I also use powder) had gone cakey. It had basically "gathered" together in patches and looked like it was sitting on top of my skin. I also had some shine on my t-zone. 

So would I buy this again? No - because of the oil control. I've actually stopped using it because I didn't trust it to not break me out in more spots. Since I've stopped using it my skin is only a tiny bit oily, which is normal for me. It's a real shame, because I could have lived with having to apply some extra concealer as needed! It could be perfect for someone else, just not for me.

The search continues...

Have you tried this BB cream? Are there any alternatives you'd recommend I'd try? 

Beauty Bird xx