Ponds Luminous Finish BB Cream

Ponds Luminous Finish BB Cream

I don’t bother with foundation on a daily basis for two reasons: 1) I’m lazy, and 2) I just generally prefer not to. There are days, though, where I’d like to even my skin out and wear SOMETHING without going all-out with a full-face. I received a sample of the Ponds Luminous Finish BB Cream ($10, drugstores) recently when I restocked on my beloved Ponds Wipes (the Original Wet Cleansing Towelettes), tucked it into my drawer o’ samples, and forgot about it for a while. This is what the Pond’s site has to say about it:

Sounds good, doesn’t look like it is making wild and crazy claims. That makes me feel pretty good, because after all…if it sounds too good to be true, you’re probably screwed.

Last Saturday, we had some stuff to do (including a birthday party to attend) – I wanted to even my skin out a bit, but by the time I realized I wanted to, I was short on time. I hadn’t moisturized, I hadn’t slapped SPF on, I didn’t feel like busting out the BeautyBlender or F80. I remembered that I have the little pink-and-white sample foil from Ponds. I received  Just like my experience with the Olay Fresh Effects BB Cream, I was not sure what to expect…but I was worried this experience would be similar to the last.

Let’s talk about the product “features!”

Superior Coverage of Imperfections – Definitely better than your average tinted moisturizer, better than the Olay Fresh Effects BB Cream. Still only light-to-light/medium coverage at best, but that’s fair for what the product is. It covered my dark circles reasonably well without any extra help from concealer!
Superior Visible Dark Spot Reduction – I do not have any dark spots yet, so I cannot speak to this one. Sorry! It does leave a luminous finish, so it might at least make them less obvious.
Superior Non-Greasy Feel, with a Matte Finish – Feels less greasy than my CeraVe Moisturizer and less than the Olay product, but it isn’t a dry, powdery finish either. I would not say it leaves a completely matte finish. It is more of a satin/natural finish – it does give you a slightly dewy finish. That dewiness, however, will increase if your skin is combo/oily/t-zone, though (it did on me – but that happens with anything not super-matte for me).
Broad spectrum SPF 15 sun protection – Yep!
Non-comedogenic – won’t clog pores – I did not experience any blemishes or breakouts or misbehaving pores from using this product.
Dermatologist tested – I mean, I would kind of hope so (and I would assume this is required for this type of product…) – not much of a feature, but OK.
Hypoallergenic – I can’t prove it, but I guess? I can’t see why they would bother explicitly stating that if not.

I ripped open the packet containing their light shade and squeezed a little out onto my fingertips. It has a bit of a thicker, creamier consistency than the Olay, but it emulsified well and spread evenly onto my face without FEELING thick. In fact, it feels lighter than the CeraVe Moisturizing Cream. It went on smoothly and blended out well. I was also pleased to find that although it does have a scent, it is light and you only smell it when you are first applying it – unlike the Olay product, it did not overwhelm or gag me (though I still do prefer fragrance-free face products).

In all, I was pleasantly surprised by this product. I half-expected an experience similar to the Olay BB cream. While I still would consider this more of a tinted moisturizer than a, “true,” BB Cream, my experience with it was far more positive. The Ponds Luminous Finish BB Cream didn’t make me any warmer or cooler-toned than I am normally, though the shade I have is ever-so-slightly lighter than I am currently, it was still passable. My only real disappointment with this product is that Ponds only currently offers this product in Light and Medium shades – let’s see some love for some other skin shades, alright, Ponds? I do recommend giving this a shot if you’re in the market for a US BB Cream, a tinted moisturizer, or even a light-coverage, inexpensive foundation (hey, you can skip some steps with this!) You can get it for about $10 at drugstores, mass merchants, and the internet.

Disclosure: Hey, Ponds doesn’t know who the heck I am, I just tried this on my own and wanted to share. That said, some of the links here are affiliate links – this means I may get a very small percentage of the sale if you decide to buy something. I’ll only tell you that something is awesome if I have verified it myself!