Hi, all! I finally took the plunge and bought the new Bobbi Brown BB Cream SPF 35, and I thought I'd do a quick review, since I haven't actually seen that many reviews of the formula since it was released in the US and Europe.

First things first: size. The BB cream is way smaller than Bobbi's tinted moisturizer, which I swear by. The BB cream comes in at 1.35 ounces, and the tinted moisturizer at 1.7oz. I do like the little round tube better, I think - it seems like it would fit better in a makeup bag for daily carry or travel. (And it definitely fits better in a clear plastic baggie for when you have to deal with airport security!)

Second: color and consistency. I bought the shade Extra Light; I normally wear Alabaster in Bobbi's foundations, and the next-lightest shade (Porcelain) is always too orange for me. Below, you can see Alabaster liquid foundation (top) and Extra Light BB cream (bottom); Extra Light is considerably darker and when I first swatched, I was sure I was going to have to return it. The BB cream is also VERY thick - it's much thicker than my Ettusais Mineral BB Cream (creamy) and my Boots BB Cream (liquidy), almost "stiff", if that makes sense. 

Third: application. Because this is a BB cream and part-skincare, I skipped a base moisturizer. (I've found that using moisturizer underneath BBs just makes them slide off of my oily skin.) I made the decision to apply the BB cream with my fingers rather than a brush, because I'd read that it's fast-drying and it's best to work in small sections. With that in mind, I put a dot on my nose, forehead, chin, and a Z-shape on each cheek, and took each section in turn. You absolutely MUST use this method, because as soon as you start blending, it starts drying. It's almost like glue! It also may look a little streaky at first, but blend the streaks as much as you can and then don't worry too much - letting it set for a minute makes them nearly disappear, and when you put powder over top, you can't even tell! The other thing about the application - this stuff smells STRONGLY of sunblock. This is perhaps to be expected because of the high SPF factor, but wow, it was really pungent. It doesn't last too long, and by the time you're done with your makeup the smell will have dissipated, but that was really unexpected.

Above: my face with just BB cream, nothing else. (Please excuse the hair towel...) As you can see, it doesn't quite cover all the redness and unevenness of my skin; my nose, chin, and cheeks in particular are still decidedly pink. But in general, the color seems to be a pretty good match - it doesn't look as orange as it did in the tube.

And this is after setting the BB cream with blush (Bobbi Brown Nude Peach) and powder (Lancôme Color Ideal pressed powder in Beige Porcelaine). I also used concealer (MAC Pro-longwear in NW15) under my eyes, on the tip of my nose, and around my jawline to neutralize redness and cover minor blemishes. The formula doesn't hide my pores, but it also doesn't emphasize them, which is all I can really ask for.

(On my eyes: Bobbi Brown Natural Brow Shaper in Rich Brown; Clinique shadow duo in Like Mink over top of NARS primer; Bobbi Brown Lash Glamour mascara; MAC Eye Kohl in Teddy. On lips: Fresh Sugar lip treatment SPF15 in Honey Sugar.)

And lastly, this is my face about six hours after initial application. My oily spots - nose, cheeks, chin, and forehead - are starting to get just a little bit shiny, but not yet greasy. My pores are a little more noticeable thanks to the shine, but nothing drastic. Blotting gently with a tissue dealt with all of the shine problems. The color hasn't oxidized at all, which is also a plus. 

In conclusion: I'm pretty happy with this BB cream. I think it works well for my skin tone (very pale) as well as my skin type (oily, somewhat blemish-prone) as long as it gets set with powder and used as part of a whole look, and I would recommend it very highly if you want this sort of light-medium coverage. However, I don't think it would work very well for dry skin, because it's very "dry" for a cream product and takes a lot of work to blend. I foresee this getting a lot of use this autumn (and probably next spring/summer), because of the high SPF factor and the fact that it sticks like glue.

Thoughts? Have you tried Bobbi's BB cream? Or any other? I'm still dipping my toes in the shallow end with BB creams, so thoughts/opinions/recommendations/comments are welcome! And thanks for reading!