I was really happy to be asked to be part of this trial, the product sounds so good in theory.
The packaging didn't stand out to me, though Olay is a well known and trusted brand, so maybe that gets it through. The first claim - perfect light cover. If you have perfect skin, then this will probably glide on gloriously. If your skins is a bit...average like mine (combination, but fairly acne free while I was trying this) then it probably wont look so good. On my skin it looked patchy, dark spots that looked like I had caked it on and others that were light. (Note I'm always the palest shade you can get in foundation, and this was not a match for me at all) It worked a little better when I piled some light powder on, smoothed out the patchiness and lightened it enough to have just a light summer cover. This kind of removes the 'radiance' claim that comes with the shine of the product without powder. The sunscreen element is great - it really works. I have had other foundations that claim to have spf but have failed dismally. This worked well in the full sun of a 28 degree day at the beach, and it wore well as well, not sliding or disappearing. I can't really comment on the anti-aging. It wasn't obvious on application to me and I don't feel that I had long enough to figure out if it was going to make any huge difference.
Would I buy this again - honestly, probably not unless they came out with one for us vampire pale girls. I like the idea of it, and I think it works. It's just the colour and patchiness that really don't impress me personally.
First of all, I was selected to trial this product and for this reason i'm terribly disappointed to have to write such a negative review of this product, as i'm afraid that it could potentially come across as being ungreatful. Please don't get me wrong, i'm incredibly greatful to have the opportunity to occassionaly get invited to participate in BR trial teams, and I was super excited to trial this product.
In theory this product sounded like just thing for me as i'm extremely conscious about the signs of aging, SPF beauty products are essential, I have a real love for BB creams and use them a lot more often than foundation, and I had never tried a product from the Olay brand before.
The box that this product comes packaged in looks very attractive and promising. It has a shiney gold front and boasts vitamins E, B3 & ProB5. Although I had no idea what B3 and ProB5 were, they were presented on the box in such a way that it seemed pretty convincing.
Opening the box to examine the plastic pump bottle inside, I was surprised to see clearly printed on the side of the bottle 'Made in Thailand.' I was not expecting that and had kind of assumed that Olay products would be made in the US or Australia.. Aaanyway, the pump bottle is quite light, and it's a durable seeming plastic, so quite practical. The pump disperses the product well, although one full pump gives you more product than is required.
I used my fingers to apply this product, as I usually would with a BB cream and the first thing that I noticed upon application of this product is how thin the consistency is. I really struggled with the application of this product, and couldn't seem to achieve an even coverage.The coverage that this BB cream provides is very light, and it seemed to make my blemishes stand out more.
Every time that I used this product, I felt that my skin looked so terribly patchy that I ended up washing it off and using a different BB cream. I tried this BB cream 7 times before I gave up and decided that it just didn't work for me. Maybe it's because I have quite signifcant blemishes and issues with enlarged pores.. Whatever the reason, my experience was that my skin looked so bad with it on that I just wanted to get it off, pronto.
Disappointing as it is that I didn't have a good experience with this product, i'm glad that I had the opportunity to try it. I imagine that it might work for people who already have a clear and even skin tone, but if your skin is not great like mine, then i'd definately advise against it.