The fifth brand I’m testing in my quest for the best BB cream is Vichy Neovadiol Lumiere cream. It’s promoted as the first BB for mature skin (ie. menopausal age), and is able to densify and sculpt three facial zones, even and illuminate the complexion, as well as smooth and nourish the skin.  The cream claims to provide 24 hour hydration and possess Proteic GF + Pro-Xylane illuminating pigments. It can be purchased at Rexall or Shoppers Drug Mart for around 30 bucks. There is only one shade.

I know I’m years away from ”menopausal age” but this Vichy BB cream was worth checking out since it’s readily available at the Canadian drug stores. Honestly, I think this product can be used by anyone who is concerned about aging – Vichy is merely trying to create a BB cream for a specific demographic (and it’s a pretty good marketing plan).

The first noticeable thing about the BB cream is the colour. It’s very orangey compared to all the other creams I’ve tested. I found it looked okay with my skin tone, and it provided a very sheer coverage. It’s probably tied with Garnier when it comes to (useless) coverage. Let me explain this a bit more. A little of the cream went a long way, but if I added too much product, the orange colour became very obvious on my skin tone no matter how hard I tried to ‘blend’ it. You can see this from the photo of my arm.  I also believe that this shade is the worst of the ”all-in-ones” since many ladies will not be able to successfully wear this cream. I couldn’t use it to my satisfaction.

I must say the hydration of the Vichy BB cream is great. I can confidently say that it is the most moisturizing of all the BBs I’ve tried. I wore it with no base moisturizer and it was fine. I was also impressed by the ‘glow’ it provided from the formulation. But what a pity those were the only major redeeming factors of the product.

BB cream checklist time!

• good moisturizing ability————–Great
• hypoallergenic————————–Yes
• SPF of at least 15———————No (BIG negative)
• anti-aging elements——————–Yes
• sheer/natural-looking coverage——Yes (but too sheer)
• complementary to my skin tone—–Sort of
• sufficient oil-control———————Ok
• acceptable use/mL ratio—————Yes
• under $45———————————Yes (~$30)
• a ”nice” smell (if any)——————There is a fragrance, but it’s fine

Current BB cream ranking:

1. Too Faced
2. Boscia
3. Vichy
4. Marcelle
5. Garnier

I placed the Vichy BB cream in the middle of my ranking but let me state that it is a HUGE distance away from Boscia. I would never purchase a BB cream that lacks SPF. While the cream was too sheer and orangey, I had to place it above Marcelle since it has great moisturizing ability, had anti-aging factors, and gave me glowing skin.

**Check my intro BB cream post and the listing of ALL my BB reviews here! For those wondering, I am NC30 in MAC code.

Vichy Neovadiol Lumiere BB cream can be purchased at Rexall and Shoppers Drug Mart stores. Visit the Vichy website here.

UP NEXT (and last): Smashbox BB cream!

Image source: vichy.ca