Who needs good lighting when there's Becca? A review of their latest skin enhancers
Different makeup brands have different strengths. Colourpop, for example, would always be known for its affordable liquid lipsticks, MAC for its iconic, trend-starting bullet lipsticks and eyeshadows, Benefit for its cheeky packaging, Maybelline for its iconic mascaras, and Revlon for its long-wearing foundations. Becca is another brand that has a unique proposition: it is singularly focused on making us ~glow~ like never before. Becca has color cosmetics of course, but bases are its specialty; skin is its star.
The brand recently sent me a few new releases at Sephora.ph: the Becca First Light Priming Filter (P2,234), Soft Light Blurring Powder (P2,234), and Kabuki Brush (P1,772). I've been using these for almost two months, and I'm finally ready to share my review. Here goes!
I didn't understand the First Light Priming Filter (P2,234 at Sephora.ph) at first. It doesn't really make my base makeup last longer as a traditional primer would, plus it gave my skin a slight sheen, but without any shimmer so it wasn't a highlighter. The more I used it though the more I got it: it's a subtle skin enhancer that brightens instantly with both light-reflective mica and skincare ingredients.
It's sort of like a serum since it has cactus pear extract, ginger root extract, and hyaluronic acid for literally refreshing the skin (I listed the ingredients below for your reference). It also contains super fine mica and ultramarine pigments to create a real-life brightening filter with a slight purplish tint. In the world of color correcting, applying a purplish color to a skin-toned surface neutralizes the yellow tones a bit to fake a more illuminated complexion.
This is a water-based primer so it feels like nothing when it dries. It makes skin look fresh with just one layer; I sometimes use this as is if I just want nicer skin without the use of heavy pigments! I find the photos below from Becca fairly accurate in portraying how it brightens skin and creates this sort of filter over it.
Overall, I highly recommend the Becca First Light Priming Filter to anybody who needs a brightening base that really works, without any shimmer included. If you don't like wearing foundation and just want the appearance of glowy skin, use this then add a sheer layer of loose powder after! You'll get amazing-looking skin. If you love wearing heavy coverage products, this makes even heavy matte foundation look less of a thick mask.
Just do know that this isn't for making your makeup stay on longer. There's nothing in it to help with that! It won't aggravate oiliness as it is water-based and non-pore clogging (as other primers are wont to do), but it won't help manage oil. That being said, it's an excellent product for enhancing how your skin looks inside and out.
The Becca Soft Light Blurring Powder (P2,234 at Sephora.ph) also made me initially scratch my head. What is it with Becca and baffling products? Anyway, I'm used to blurring powders being completely matte, but this one has a subtle golden sheen that looks absolutely gorgeous on skin. I use this as both a setting and finishing powder to give my skin a glow - the shade name, Golden Hour, is apropos for how it makes my face look like after a sheer layer!
Like the primer, this doesn't have any visible shimmer. You'd have to look closely to see its golden, glowy finish! I love how it sticks to the skin - it doesn't just sit on top, it kind of sets to the surface if you know what I mean. It promises some oil control, and weirdly enough, it does give me that. It's mostly talc according to the ingredients list, but there's also boron nitride (for powder adherence and oil absorption) and silica (fine powder used for giving a blurring, HD finish). It has mica to achieve that fine shimmer and oxides for getting that universal yellow gold tone.
Using the First Light primer + a light layer of powder foundation + a sheer layer of the Soft Light Blurring Powder
Very little goes a long way with this powder. I'd say I use about...1/4 of a teaspoon per application. The jar contains 10 grams.
Can we talk about the packaging? I love how the clear acrylic square jar looks like crystal! It has heft and looks lovely on my dresser. I'll probably re-use this when I run out of powder since it'd be a waste to throw away. I enjoy using it with the Becca Kabuki Brush (P1,772 at Sephora.ph) too since the tool blends the mineral powder well and feels so soft on skin. The bristles are synthetic, but they are tightly packed and finely cut.
Overall, I love the Becca Soft Light Blurring Powder and would recommend it to anybody who loves to subtly glow. Use it to finish off liquid foundation, or just directly on top of the First Light Filter to achieve smooth, bright, and realistically illuminated skin.
I would love to know what you think of the primer and powder. Do you reckon they're worth the splurge?
BECCA First Light Priming Filter Ingredients
Aqua (Water, Eau), Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Glycerin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Butylene Glycol, Mica, Opuntia Ficus-Indica Stem Extract, Zingiber Officinale (Ginger) Root Extract, Maris Aqua (Sea Water, Eau de Mer), Tocopheryl Acetate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Menthyl Lactate, Silica, Benzimidazole Diamond Amidoethyl Urea Carbamoyl Propyl Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Carbomer, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Hydroxide, Parfum (Fragrance), Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin, Amyl Cinnamal, Citral, Limonene, Linalool, CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77007 (Ultramarines).
BECCA Soft Light Blurring Powder in Golden Hour Ingredients
Talc, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Mica, Boron Nitride, Silica, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Caprylyl Glycol, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Hexylene Glycol, Dimethiconol, Dimethicone, Isodecyl Neopentanoate, Sodium Potassium Aluminum Silicate, Phenoxyethanol, Tin Oxide, CI 77491/77492/77499 (Iron Oxides), CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide)
