Review: Candy Doll Makeup Base and KATE Mineral BB Gel Cream

It's been awhile since I've done a review on Japanese base makeup, since I've been experimenting a lot with more Western brands (mainly MAC and theBalm) most recently. In my first Tenso order I decided to order the Candy Doll Base from Candy Walker and KATE Mineral BB Gel Cream from Bi-sai.




Candy Doll Makeup Base in Shade 02

Description: Makeup Base that contains SPF 30 and can be used as a primer or alone as a BB cream. This particular shade has a gold pearl shade and finish for those with light-medium/medium skin tones.
Price: 1890yen
Size: 30g
Shades available: 01 (pink pearl), 02 (gold pearl)

Before                                      Application                                        

After

You can see that there is a difference from the start to finish with this makeup base, however it's definitely not enough coverage for me! For those who only need light coverage this would work as a BB Cream for you, but for people with more redness this is suitable as a primer. I love the gold pearl color as well, because it gives you an illuminated glow without the use of an illuminizer. Definitely great for brightening up my complexion compared to the before photo.
With using this as a primer, my base was able to last for 9+ hours without touch ups.

Pros:
- Golden pearl finish helps to brighten up the complexion and look alive.
- Works great as a primer, helps to keep your base on for hours.
- The liquid is very light out of the tube, and applies very easily.
- A little goes a long way!

Cons:
- Not enough coverage for me to use alone.
- Not exactly a color match for me to use as a BB cream.
- Might be too shimmery to use alone.
- Expensive for what it is, since you can get Canmake products that are the same size for half the price.
- Hard to get outside of Japan, and when you can buy it overseas the markup is huge.

Overall:
This will work as a great primer for people who have medium to dark skin tones. If you have light to medium skin tone with not a lot of redness, this will be great to use as a BB cream. However, since it's fairly hard to get I would only recommend it to people who have easy access to it or who really want it!

Where to buy?
Ichibankao
Tokyo Wink

KATE Mineral BB Gel Cream in OC-D

Description: A BB Gel Cream that is has SPF 30 PA++ and is alcohol and fragrance free with natural oils. This BB cream has coverage that is buildable and starts off as a gel and has a powder finish.
Price: 1500yen
Size: 30g
Shades available: OC-B (Light), OC-C (Medium), OC-D (Tan)

You can see it's a pretty good match when blended, maybe just a tad bit more on the yellow side though.

                     Application                                  First Layer

Second Layer + Concealer

You can see that the coverage is actually pretty decent! It didn't cover up all of my redness in the first layer, but the second layer and the help of my favorite concealer (NYX HD Photogenic Concealer Wand) cleared all of the redness and just looks flawless.

Pros:
- Although it is thick, it isn't hard to apply and doesn't feel too heavy on the skin.
- Lots of skincare benefits, since it's a multipurpose skincare product with sun protection, skincare benefits and is a foundation!
- Color runs darker than most BB creams. Definitely can get away with wearing this if you are NC/NW 30-35.
- Buildable coverage for those who need it.
- No added fragrance and alcohol free!
- Helps to control oil.

Cons:
- A bit thick, since it starts out as a gel and is supposed to leave a powder finish.
- Leans a bit more on the yellow side, since I have warmer skin it isn't a 100% match unless I set it with a darker powder.
- Although it has buildable coverage, I found it still couldn't cover all of my redness alone.
- Won't be able to find a shade if you're over NC/NW 35.

Overall:
An excellent BB cream for those that want to have buildable coverage! It's fairly affordable for how good of a product it is, and considering it's a new product it has a more wide availability. It is additionally very helpful for those who have combination skin, since it can help control oil. I can't say if it works well on oily skin, but since I have combo skin I can say it definitely did make a difference!

Where to buy?
Ichibankao
ebay

Here's my finished look with both of these products:

Together both of these products worked amazingly well. I finished off my base with Diamond Puff in Dolly Matte, and my base looked flawless for 9+ hours! No touch ups at all, and I didn't even get oily throughout the day! The only thing I wished I did was set it with a darker powder, like my MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Dark. The base looks just a tad light on my face, but other than that it looks AMAZING and stays like that!

I definitely recommend both of these products, but if I had to choose which one I would recommend more... it would be the KATE BB Gel Cream!