TSABD Edit: BECCA Priming Filters + Soft Light Blurring Powder

Welcome back to another edition of TSABD Edit!

I’ve been a fan of the BECCA Cosmetics brand since they first launched in the U.S. at Bergdorf Goodman and at the Plaza Hotel’s beauty level back around 2005. The brand started by an Australian makeup artist had quite an extensive range of shades (over 30 at first launch I believe) and I marveled at the fact that there were a number of shades deeper than my skintone—I’m typically the deepest or second to deepest shade in some ranges and that’s IF the range even goes that deep—AND that they had deeper shades and more than one undertone. I also admired the type of makeup looks you’d see in BECCA Cosmetics promo images: healthy, glowing skin; groomed brows and supple lips.

While the brand has undergone some changes both in company structure as well as with the product line-up (the complexion shade range is no longer as vast but is replaced with less but more “flexible” shades—more on this here), the brand’s core aesthetic seems to remain the same. Through the launch of several products such as the new First Light Priming Filter and the Soft Light Blurring Powder and current staples like Backlight Priming Filter and all the Shimmering Skin Perfector iterations, BECCA is coming through to get your skin LIT.

I received a press package from the brand last month filled with all the BECCA products that each give you a certain kind of gorgeous glow. I’ve already reviewed and swatched Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed, Poured, and Liquid so you can check those out here. See my review on the Under Eye Brightening Corrector here. Today’s focus will be on the products I hadn’t already tried and reviewed: BECCA First Light Priming Filter, BECCA Backlight Priming Filter, and BECCA Soft Light Blurring Powder.

BECCA First Light Priming Filter

Official description:
A skin-awakening primer that instantly erases the signs of a bad face day to leave the complexion fresh, awake and hydrated.

THE LOOK

Fresh
Healthy
Glistening

O-M-G this stuff is AMAZING. Now of course as with most if not all things beauty, individual results will vary but this really took my skin to some next levels. I’d also say a little goes a long way if you have oily skin like mine—the dewy look can get GREASY on us really quickly if we’re not well equipped. I had to blot my skin more often than usual when I paired this with my beloved Cover FX Total Cover Cream Foundation set with my NYX Stay Matte But Not Flat Powder. The look I got from using BECCA First Light Priming Filter was gorgeous, but it needed to be controlled way more than what I typically need to do with my makeup and it’s winter now—I would have to be on this double time as it gets warmer out.

To manage the amount of blotting I’d use less product and a foundation with a matte finish on oily skin like mine—you’ll likely still need to blot but not as much. If you have normal or dry skin, you likely won’t have these issues.

While I really LOVE BECCA First Light Priming Filter, this wouldn’t be an everyday primer for me. I’d only use it when I wanted a particularly dewy look. Make sure you read my Balance in Your Makeup post—if you’re using something that gives such a beautiful dewy finish like this primer does, you want to make sure you balance that out with something that has more of a matte finish. You definitely don’t want to wear this with shimmery eyeshadow, a shimmery blush, and a glossy lip—that can have the tendency to look too “greasy” and even more so in pictures.

VIDEO DEMO
(there’s no volume on this—I did that so you can watch from wherever you are without alerting folks…lol)

BECCA First Light Priming Filter Demo on Dark Skin from Danielle Gray on Vimeo.

Price and where to buy: $38 at Sephora.com (plus 4% cash back when you use eBates) and Sephora stores, ULTA.com (plus up to 6% cash back when you use eBates) and ULTA stores, BECCACosmetics.com

Bottom line: I say BECCA First Light Priming Filter is a go IF you’re looking for this type of elevated gorgeous, dewy glow. I do wish it came in a smaller version for those of you who might want something like this in your stash but wouldn’t use it for every makeup look. Get a sample at Sephora first to try it out with your foundations at home before you commit to a full bottle.

BECCA Backlight Priming Filter

Official description:
A makeup primer to help blur imperfections and impart a radiant glow.

THE LOOK

Lit-from-within
Diffused
Luminous

BECCA Backlight Priming Filter was much easier to manage on my oily skin than BECCA First Light Priming Filter—I didn’t have to touch-up as often to control the look. To compare, Backlight gives you radiance whereas First Light gives you a dewy look (dewy meaning something that looks moist or wet). Think of how something looks when it looks “wet” or “moist” than compare that to when something radiates or glows—that should help you distinguish between the two. On the skin the nuances between the two can be a teeny bit hard to detect, but if you were to wear them separately, you’ll see the difference.

I loved the effect of the Backlight Priming Filter but if you have oily skin like me, this is NOT a primer that will also help with oil control. That may not make it a deal breaker, but you will have to work with it differently than you would with a primer that does provide oil control. For one, I personally wouldn’t use something like this when it’s warmer out because while it’ll look great from when I first put it on, if I’m not constantly on it for touch-ups (i.e. using a blot powder/paper, etc) or doing something to tweak it (i.e. layering oil control products underneath it or other methods), it can get super greasy SUPER fast. Ditto with BECCA First Light. I’d likely wear either of these for days when it isn’t warm out (which is typically fall/winter but you can never be certain these days—it was close to 65 degrees one day last week in NYC and then we had a snowstorm the next day).

VIDEO DEMO
(there’s no volume on this—I did that so you can watch from wherever you are without alerting folks…lol)

BECCA Backlight Priming Filter Demo on Dark Skin from Danielle Gray on Vimeo.

Price and where to buy: $38 at Sephora.com (plus 4% cash back when you use eBates) and Sephora stores, ULTA.com (plus up to 6% cash back when you use eBates) and ULTA stores, BECCACosmetics.com

Bottom line: I say BECCA Backlight Priming Filter is a go IF you’re looking for this type of radiant glow (you can get a similar look with products like the NYX Foundation Mixer in Luminous or other similar liquid luminizers or primers). I do wish it came in a smaller version for those of you who might want something like this in your stash but wouldn’t use it for every makeup look. Get a sample at Sephora first to try it out with your foundations at home before you commit to a full bottle.

BECCA Soft Light Blurring Powder

Official description: Inspired by the ethereal hazy light of twilight, where everything is in soft-focus & looks dreamy.

THE LOOK

Blurred
Soft
Dreamy

I really loved the BECCA Soft Light Blurring Powder. It has this gorgeous soft golden luminessence about it that looks AMAZING on the skin and works on virtually all skin tones. It can be more of a subtle look if you use the application method shown on BECCA’s site or you can intensify it by lightly layering.

The BECCA Soft Kabuki Brush allows you to buff the Soft Light Blurring Powder (and products like it) into the skin—I liked the brush, but you can still use the product with similar brushes in your stash or even play around with application by using other types of brushes.

Again though, if you have oily skin like mine this doesn’t also control oil. I had to stay on the touch-ups when I tested this out because I had some oil breakthrough pretty often–and that’s with it being colder out. I would make sure I used some sort of oil control product (you can see posts on oily skin as well as oil-control products here) if I wanted to wear something like this. I wouldn’t use this as my everyday powder—just when I wanted the look.

VIDEO DEMO
(there’s no volume on this—I did that so you can watch from wherever you are without alerting folks…lol)

BECCA Soft Light Blurring Powder Demo on Dark Skin from Danielle Gray on Vimeo.

Price and where to buy: $38 at Sephora.com (plus 4% cash back when you use eBates) and Sephora stores, ULTA.com (plus up to 6% cash back when you use eBates) and ULTA stores, BECCACosmetics.com

Soft Kabuki Brush is $30

Bottom line: I say BECCA Soft Light Blurring Powder is a go IF you’re looking for this type look in your makeup looks. I do wish it came in a smaller version for those of you who might want something like this in your stash but wouldn’t use it for every makeup look. Get a sample at Sephora first to try it out with your foundations at home before you commit to a full container.

See more BECCA posts, swatches, and reviews here

*****
All three are amazing products that can make your skin and makeup look even more amazing depending on the look you’re going for. Make sure you read and understand how the three products differ and how they might perform if you have oily skin like I noted above (if you have normal to dry skin what I mentioned above of course shouldn’t be an issue for you). I personally would incorporate all three products (not all at the same time) into my makeup looks, but none of these would be something I would use every time I do my makeup—doesn’t take away from how great the products are, just my personal preference.

Note on the video demos:

So I LOVE creating these video demonstrations for products I review—I think they’re awesome and will continue to do them when I can. BUT one thing that is a little bit of a struggle is getting even lighting all throughout the demos. I use natural light to film but on days when the clouds move around (which seems to happen pretty often), the light that comes through isn’t always even. We try to work with it by changing ISO (or whatever it’s called—I don’t work the camera…lol) to maintain the lighting but sometimes I’m already deep into a demo when the light suddenly changes on me because of the clouds moving. So sometimes I may look too red in some frames or some frames might be brighter than others. Sometimes I wait for the light to be more even, but as you can imagine that can be very time consuming (not to mention the fact that there’s less daylight during the winter months) and also costly since I pay for my filming time. I also try color correcting in post editing and it has helped some, but sometimes it doesn’t really match things up for me. Then add in how colors can look different on your various computer or smartphone monitors. So I say all that to say sometimes the imagery can be a little “off” from what it looks like in person. I’m constantly working to improve (I mean, sheesh—not too long ago I had ZERO CLUE on how to produce videos and I’ve certainly come a long way) but want to also point these things out. I still want to continue to do the video demos because I do think they’re very helpful and have received feedback from many of you saying you love them. Just understand that I’m working many times from a shoestring budget and limited time. Love ya!

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Have you tried any of these yet? Would you? Tell me in the comments!