Holika Holika Essential Petit BB Cream SPF 30 PA++ Review
Recently I tracked down and purchased the Holika Holika Essential Petit BB Cream SPF 30 PA++ because I’d heard it might possibly be pale enough for me. BB creams are also known as blemish balm. They come in a variety of formulas. The specific formula I purchased is the orange label Essential, which is supposed to nourish the skin. BB creams can function as sun block, moisturizer, foundation, concealer, anti-wrinkle, brightening and some even claim to work as a primer, too.
The Website Claims:
Triple functional BB cream. Rich nutrients and good adhesion. Caviar and collagen ingredients help to make elastic skin and supply rich nutrients to skin. Adenosine, that helps to improve wrinkles and Niacinamide, that helps to improve dull skin tone with whitening effect, make elastic and fresh skin by taking care of tired and non-elastic skin condition. Marine collagen has high harmonizing effect as natural proteins extracted from marine fish’s skin that has rich natural amino-acid. Collagen fiber of marine collagen is quickly absorbed and is not mixed with other fat. Marine collagen only includes beta-chitin. Caviar contains omega 3, vitamins a, d, b, rich proteins and rich phospholipids. Caviar totally supplies rich ingredients and vitalize your skin and is highly effective in skin reconstruction.
Price:
$9.99 for 30 ml.
I purchased it from bello-girl on ebay in the shade Light Beige.
BB Cream with Porcelain on top.
Does it live up to its claims?
I think it lives up to some of its claims and it also does a lot of things that it never really mentioned, too. I think it is healthy for my skin and I haven’t broken out or been irritated by the product at all. I can’t speak to the whitening effect, as I’m not looking for a whitener and I don’t think it’s made me paler. It really is a great multi-function product! First, it works as an SPF, providing sunscreen protection for the face. Next, it works as a moisturizer and skin food, nourishing the skin. Then, it works as a concealer, as it seems to mask imperfections in the skin. It also works as a foundation, evening out skintone, hiding redness and smoothing out my face. I seem to be reaching for this more than anything else in the morning when I’m getting ready for work because it’s so easy and it does so many things. I really feel my skin is looking fantastic lately.
BB cream with Aromaleigh Ultra Resolution Finishing Powder in clear.
Additionally, it’s a really good match for my skintone. When I’d tried BB creams in the past, they’d been too dark for my skintone. This one is not. That is why I tracked down this BB cream to try out, and I’m glad I did!
In the sunlight, just the BB cream.
How do you wear it?
I usually wear it by smoothing it on my face and eyes and blending downwards to my neck. I sometimes, but not always, apply Aromaleigh Ultra Resolution finishing powder on top of it to set it. I’ve also used Laura Geller’s Balance-n-brighten foundation in Porcelain, NARS sPF 12 Powder foundation, and Meow’s Pampered Puss foundation in Inquisitive Siamese to set it.
In the shade.
I’ve also worn it by putting my LaVanila Healthy Face SPF 40 moisturizer underneath it, which I’ve been told gives me a lovely glow.
I tend to prefer to set it with a bit of powder, since I’ve got a bit of an oily t-zone, but I’ve worn it without too.
Just the BB cream.
Would I purchase again?
Yes! I already have again, actually. This bb cream just makes things so simple and fast for my morning routine, which really helps since I’m getting up so early these days! Additionally, the price is amazing for all the multi-tasking this product does. I really feel that it does five things for me: SPF, moisturizer, skin food, concealer and foundation. Finally, it’s a good match for my skintone.
Just the BB cream.
What do you think of Holika Holika? Have you tried any of their products? What’s your favorite BB cream?
Product purchased by me. All opinions are my own.
Omg Phyrra lol I order from Bello Girl, and I got the Moisture Petit Holika Holika bb cream. I LOVE IT. I’m as pale as you are, and it makes my skin look so so good. I want to try the other types, and I’m so glad you like it. Now I’ll need to get this one! :]
This one is definitely amazing to me.
I will soo have to try this, I’m extremely pale with no skin tone XD It’s really hard to find ones that aren’t too dark or too pink orrr yellow. I use Missha perfect cover in 13 and it’s pretty perfect. It’s super light and neutral, at least on me 🙂 I also ordered holika’s peach girl bb in #1 and the oriental gold for skin79, I can let you know how it is if you’d like and how dark 🙂 There’s an awesome ebay seller called RubyRuby76 who’s products are authentic and on sale right now 30% if you’re interested in a link 🙂 I got mine about 6 days after I ordered it. There’s also another seller called Beautyparcel, I got my package in two days from Korea and the shipping was free! Sorry for rambling ^_^ I just thought I’d share 🙂
I’d love to hear how all of those work!
How long did it take for your order to arrive? I’m intrigued, but I’m moving at the end of the month, so I’m not sure whether I should wait or go ahead and place an order.
I think it took like 2 weeks. It seemed much quicker than the stated time.
I think this product really makes your skin look nice. I wonder if these would work well for me as I have TERRIBLE skin…….great review!
Looks great on you! I am intrigued. But I cannot find a full ingredient list anywhere! Do you know where to find the list, in English? I’ve got quite finicky skin so I need to know what I’m putting on it to avoid surprise disasters, lol.
I emailed Bello-Girl to ask her. I only know the key ingredients. I’ll update this blog if I get a response 🙂
I’ve been using the Holika Holika Petit BB Moisture for a few weeks now and I’m really pale (lighter than nw15). It’s my ‘go to’ foundation every day. My skin’s fairly dry so it’s perfect for it. It gives the most beautiful dewy sheen without looking at all sparkly and it’s pretty full coverage too. Have had loads of comments on how beautiful my skin is looking rather than my makeup. It truly is the best foundation I’ve ever tried and I’ve had a HG quest going for foundation for about 10 years now, I’ve tried every high end one going – this beats ’em hands down and is so cheap from Bellogirl on ebay. Think it works out at just over £6 shipped. It’s ace!
Sounds like you’re very close to me in color! I’m paler than NW15 as well 🙂 Yeah there’s no sparkle in this foundation. I adore the finish.
Another vote for Missha Perfect Cover in #13. Out of the 10 or so BBs I’ve tried, it’s the only one I’ve gone back & ordered the full size tube of. It’s definitely the fairest I’ve used, and the coverage is tops too!
Having said that, I’m gonna have to give this Holika one a try- the ingredient list sounds great. Though they may not mention it, adenosine is an anti-inflammatory and niacinamide is a freaking wonder ingredient! Studies suggest that it helps everything from lines & dark spots to acne!
Top it off with the fact that every time recently that you post a FOTD and I think “wow, her skin looks amazing today” you’ve got this on…yeah, I’m going shopping 🙂
Another vote for Missha Perfect Cover in #13. Out of the 10 so BBs I’ve tried, it’s the only one I’ve gone back & ordered the full size tube. It’s definitely the fairest I’ve used, and the coverage is tops too!
Having said that, I’m gonna have to give this Holika one a try- the ingredient list sounds great. Though they may not mention it, adenosine is an anti-inflammatory and niacinamide is a freaking wonder ingredient! Studies suggest that it helps everything from lines & dark spots to acne!
Top it off with the fact that every time recently that you post a FOTD and I think “wow, her skin looks amazing today” you’ve got this on…yeah, I’m going shopping 🙂
Yay! Let me know what you think of it 🙂
I’ve been wary of BB creams in the past because I’ve heard they can be heavy (not good for my evil skin!) but this one looks so damn good 🙂
This doesn’t feel heavy to me, if that helps?
Hmmm, I might have to check this out. I never could understand why bb creams are so dark. I mean I know it’s designed for the asian market, but still. Nice to have a shade for us porcelain girls!
The container is really cute as well.
_M
BB creams really have a limited range, usually only 1 or 2 shades available per line from what I’ve seen. And I agree, the container is awesome.
Oooh it looks and sounds great, maybe I’ll have to try this. I’m so intrigued by BB creams.
Me too! I was happy to try one that was actually pale 🙂
I am also a pale girl and I use Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in #13. I am in love with it! It’s so easy and it has an SPF of 42+++ which is really great. I think it does just as good, if not a better job then most creamy foundations out there.
I recently was on a holy grail mission for foundations that were moisterizing (my face is like tha Sahara), had medium coverage, would last at least 8 hrs, and wouldn’t break me out. I tried samples of: Lancome’s Teint Miracle, Bobbi Brown’s new moisture cream foundation, Hourglass Veil Foundation and none even come close to this BB Cream for me.
Where do you get the Missha from? I’ve been curious about the Lancome Teint Miracle because I’ve heard so many great things about it.
I’ve only tried one BB cream. I rec’d it in Grey’s International makeup swap. I have normally dry skin, but the one I tried felt really cake-y and thick, and a bit greasy. I realize this was only one formula, but I was really put off, and sort of lost interest after that.
Where do you get these? Do you buy them direct from the website?
The texture on this one looks really great, and I kind of want to try it despite how much I hated the last BB cream I tried.
I bought them on Ebay from the seller bello-girl. I linked to it above in the review 🙂
This didn’t feel cakey to me at all, but I do make sure to blend well with my finger tips.
that looks so great on you! I actually purchased the Holika Holika Moisture Petit BB Cream from the same seller! haha. Unfortunately though, it was a bit too dark for me 🙁 I think I’m going to try their Peach Girl BB Cream next!
Oh, dear, now you’ve got me into another product! I wonder if the Holika Holika blue bb cream would also be able to fulfill all those roles – moisturizer, etc – and still cope with my super-oily skin? At $10 it sounds like it’s seriously worth a try, though. My worry would be that it might be too pale for me, though; I’m between a 2 and 3 on Meow’s scale, and I can’t find if these bb creams come in more than one shade at all. :-/
I think they make a version for oily skin that might be worth checking out. It also comes in 2 shades 🙂
oh might give that a go. The palest bb cream ive found and used and LOVE is Missha Signature Real Complete bb cream in shade 13. They also do their classic Perfect Cover bb cream in shade 13, but that did give me a few blemishes and i think that was due to the mineral oil featuring high up on its ingredient list. The signature doesnt have it at all and seems to make my skin feel better.
the shade 13 is quite recent and not everywhere does it. I got mine on ebay from bello girl,who has good ratings for selling authentic products (many fakes out there)
Many whitening bb claims really mean that they contain ingredients that will tone down freckles and any skin discolourations. Ive found using the signature, my larger freckles are diminishing, which im really happy about as i always felt the freckles gave an uneven skin tone and stood out unless i wore heavy foundation which i hate doing.
I’ll have to look for the Missha Signature then! Sounds great.
Damn, and I just bought one from Missha when they were having their big sale. It was $10 (originally $46, the Choboyang one in #2) so I had to jump on it, even though I knew the shade was slightly too dark. Hopefully I’ll get tanner this summer and it’ll be a much better fit.
I’ll definitely try this next, once I run out.
Your skin looks flawless! Thanks for the review! I’m gonna have to check this out.
Thanks Jennifae! I hope you love it!
The thing about BB creams, is there are never ones dark enough for me.
Missha just released #31 (their Perfect Cover brand), which is their darkest shade. It’s a warm golden shade, but their online swatch is completely off. Better swatch: http://www.pinksith.com/search?q=missha
It might be a fit. But, yeah, just about all of the bb cream brands have such a limited range of shades and tones.
Yep, and usually they’re too dark for me, but dark enough for others.
They usually seem to have a very limited range of shades, which can make it difficult to find a good match.
This looks amazing on you! After trying a few BB creams I found my match (for summer anyway) in Skin Food Aloe Sun. It’s light and works well without feeling heavy. For winter I prefer Etude House Magic BB Cream (Refreshing). It’s a bit heavier but still works well with my oily T zone. I am so glad to have found BB cream. I know I sound like an infomercial but they really are amazing.
Yay! I’m glad you found some you love 🙂
I think I reaaalllyy need to try this! I get too impatient to use multiple face products, especially in the summer when it feels like the more layers of product you have, the faster it will melt off in the heat/humidity.
I know exactly what you mean!
I’m just 1 Meow shade darker than you P – I usually wear Siamese in Sleek Pampered Puss. Would this foundie work for my tone too? Very intriguing!
You know, it might, but I’m not 100% sure.
I’d been using the Moisture version (purple) and loved the way it felt and look on, except it started to separate after a few hours wear. I think I’m just too oily for it. I wrote a review of it on my blog and picked up this one and the one for blemish-prone skin, which I’ve been testing lately. I really like the Holika Holika BB Creams, and they’re much cheaper than Skin79 (although I REALLY love Skin79’s Pink label). Are you planning on trying the Holika Holika Peach Girl BB Cream? I hear good things about it!
I’ll add the peach to my list of products to try 🙂
Just bought some of this! Your review sounded wonderful and I have been really looking for a good balanced cream for my face.
Yay I hope you love it like I do!
Got it today!!! I was a little worried when I first opened it that it would be too dark, but it matches my skin perfectly!!! I used it along with my Laura Geller Porcelain powder and it looks wonderful. Thanks for the heads up about this product!!!!
This product just jetted itself to be in the top 5 most “WANTED” list. 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing P! 😀 Has anyone tried the purple one ?
You’re so welcome! I have only tried the one type.
I love Missha Signature Real Complete BB Cream! Since it’s summer and I’m using self-tanner, #21 is perfect for me and makes my skin look flawless. For fall and winter though, I’m definitely going to need a lighter color and will either try Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in #13 or Holika Holika since I’m quite pale.
I’ve never had luck with self-tanner, but it’s great that you’ve got a great BB cream.
Just lovely! I will be trying this one next. Right now I’m using Lioele Beyond the Solution BB Cream. It’s not a bad match but not perfect.
Most BB creams I’ve tried have been too dark, but this one is fab and inexpensive. It also comes in 2 shades. I hope it works for you 🙂