L'Oreal Magic BB Cream - review, swatches and pics of my skin with & without

So as you know, I'm a huge fan of Missha BB Cream, a real Korean brand BB Cream. I've mentioned before that I think Western companies seem to be putting out super sheer tinted moisturisers and calling them BB Creams, but I'm always open to being proven wrong. I got the chance to try the L'Oreal Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream through SheSpeaks.com and was excited to see if it lived up to the name BB Cream.

From the L'Oreal Paris website:

Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream 

4 Beautifying Actions in 1.
Hydrates, Primes, Perfects, Corrects.
Flawless bare skin finish.

Meet the Magic all-in-one skin BB cream, with Beautifying Beads; encapsulated pigments infused in an ultra-light lotion with antioxidants Vitamins C&E. This mullti-tasking skin beautifier delivers 4 beautifying actions in 1: hydrates, corrects, evens and perfects. Instantly transforms to your perfect shade for a flawless, bare skin finish. Over time, more beautiful skin. 

 This BB Cream comes in 4 shades, Fair, Light, Medium and Deep. I assume they are designed to magically adjust and match your skintone, which is why there are only 4 shades. The one I received is Medium.

L'Oreal Magic BB Cream

L'Oreal Magic BB Cream unblended

L'Oreal Magic BB Cream partially blended

L'Oreal Magic BB Cream blended

As you can see, L'Oreal Magic BB Cream starts out white and has tiny microbeads that react with your skin (idk, I'm not going to get all technical) and match your skintone, while diffusing light, smoothing skin and covering imperfections. It glides on beautifully, but because it's so light and smooth, it can be a bit hard to know if you've got enough on.

For the picture below, I applied L'Oreal Magic BB Cream only on the left (your left) side of my face. Here you can see the subtle, but beautiful effect the Cream has:

L: With BB Cream  R: Bare skin

L'Oreal Magic BB Cream

Sorry for hugeass pic of my mostly makeup-less face.

The coverage is quite light, but it gave my skin a natural, glowing, almost airbrushed look and managed to even out texture and tone, cover my pores and redness and lessen my dark circles. The Medium shade matches my skintone perfectly, I am guessing this is the pigmented microbeads doing. The finish is slightly dewy, but seems to eliminate excess shine. I am absolutely in love with how this looks and feels and even if you're after more coverage, this product would make an EXCELLENT primer. My skin felt so smooth and like I had nothing on.

Now, is this a real BB Cream? Well, the first thing I noticed is that it doesn't have SPF. This is one of the main features of an Asian BB Cream, a high level of SPF. Secondly, it's not as full coverage as most Asian BB Creams, it gives more of a nice, even, natural look. Thirdly, it's not really a Blemish Balm. Pretty much every Asian BB Cream has some kind of skin regenerating, brightening and anti-aging properties. The L'Oreal BB Cream does have Vitamin E though. Overall, while this is not a TRUE BB Cream in the sense of Asian BBs, it is an amazing product and definitely NOT just a sheer tinted moisturiser. I usually only use my Missha BB Cream, but I will definitely be reaching for this product again when I want a lightweight, natural look.

Although the RRP on the L'Oreal site is $10.95, I have seen the Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream at Walmart and Target for around $8.

Disclosure: Product sent for honest review. For more information, see my Disclosure Policy.