Skin 79 and Etude House BB Cream on Darker Skin

BB cream is typically an all-in-one product which is supposed to be healing/moisturising with coverage and sun protection.

I won't go into detail about these companies/products because there are countless reviews elsewhere. BUT few of them feature darker skin. Most people will say automatically that Korean BB cream will not work for us but this isn't always the case.

When reading reviews, many compared Skin 79 to Etude House, saying it was a much better brand. I ended up torn between either matching my tone or trying what was popular.

So I got samples of Skin 79 VIP Gold Super BB and Skin 79 Triple Functions in pink and orange. Basically they are all excellent BB's, but definitely too light on my skin.
VIP Gold blends the best as seen below, but in order to be wearable it needs to be mixed with foundation or used as a primer. I also found VIP Gold to be slightly irritating to my skin. My mom tried and loved it though, so this is clearly an individual sensitivity.

Until recently, the only Korean company that made a dark BB was Missha Perfect Cover in shades 27 and 31. Running at about $20+, the darker shades are much more expensive than Missha's usual line (varying shades of white and tan) and Etude House. Also, Missha's ingredient list loaded with parabens had me weary. Etude House on the other hand has comparable shades to Missha in Honey Beige and Sand Beige costing usually between $7-$14 depending where you look.

Etude House vs. Skin79

Etude House 's BB is quite good but I will admit Skin 79 is superior in quality. It goes on much smoother and oxidises better. Ultimately, tone matters way more to me and I prefer Etude House. Also Skin 79 has a much less favourable ingredient list IMO.The real deal breaker for me and Skin 79 came when I heard all this stuff about there being knock-off/fake versions being passed off as the real thing. If I wanted any of their products, I'd ultimately have to buy from their Official U.S. site (which is overpriced) or take a chance on potential knock-offs on E-Bay. By that point, I decided to forget Skin 79 altogether.

How Does Etude House Hold Up?

Here's a comparison shot of how it looks against my foundations.

 

(A)Fashion Fair Tenacious Topaz    
(B)Etude House in Honey Beige    
(C)Revlon Colorstay in Toast
Etude House holds up well and rivals Revlon in blendability. The last pic shows how well they absorbed and oxidized after 5+ minutes.

Positives:

• Packaging--pump makes application clean and simple
• Light Coverage
• Evens out skin tone
• Long-lasting
• SPF used

Drawbacks:

• Difficult to wash off
• Can be overpriced
• Hard to find--must be bought online or in Asia
• May be potential risk for fake/knock-offs (...hey it happened to Skin 79 so who knows!)

 

• Effectiveness: ★★★☆
• Ingredients:★★☆☆
• Moisturising:★★★☆
• Cost:★★★☆
• Overall: ★★★☆

Recommend?: Depends what you're looking for, but generally yes.

Overall, a decent BB that I will keep using.