Smashbox Camera Ready BB cream vs Estée Lauder DayWear BB Anti-Oxidant Beauty Benefit cream

BB creams have been around for some time and now the companies started with the CC creams which are basically updated BB creams that claims to have not only skin care benefits but to correct skin tone as well. As far as I'm concerned they all perform about the same in term of skincare so for me the most important thing is coverage and how it wears during the day if worn alone or under foundation. Usually I go for drugstore products but I bought these two products in some sets so I decided to try them and see.

Price: you can buy Smashbox in Sephora (30 ml for 34€), Estée Lauder either in Sephora (30 ml for 39,90€), in Belgium in IciParisXL (31,45€) otherwise try your local perfumery.

Smell: Smashbox has almost no perfume, I can smell little bit of chemicals (maybe active SPF ingredients). Estée Lauder has fresh cucumber perfume.

Application: I applied both BB creams with hands. I used them instead of my daily face lotion since they contain SPF 35.

(left) Estée Lauder DayWear BB Anti-Oxidant beauty Benefit cream , Smashbox Camera ready BB cream (right)

Texture and finish:
Smashbox: it has cream texture that is nor too thick neither too thin, it spreads nicely into the skin and soaks in 1-2 minutes (comparable to regular face lotion) so you have time to blend it well. When I wore it under the foundation I noticed little bit of shininess on the nose during the day, so I would recommend this BB cream rather to dry skin girls than to others.
Estée Lauder has thick cream texture which is harder to blend than Smashbox; you have to press your finger more on the skin to blend it well. It dries very quickly so you have to work fast. Even though the texture is thick it doesn't alter the finish of the foundation you put on, so I would recommend it to the girls with normal or even slightly oily skin.
Worn alone they both have natural finish, so neither matt nor luminous.

Colour: both BB creams are in colour Light, which is 2nd lightest colour for Smashbox and lightest colour for Estée Lauder. While Smashbox has 9 colours to choose from, Estée Lauder has only 2. What concerns shade Light, in both case the BB creams have warm undertone although Estée Lauder seems to be warmer when applied on my skin than Smashbox and that’s why I prefer Estée Lauder (colour wise). I’m NW15-20 in MAC and these BB creams seem to be about NW20 when blended on the skin (the swatches on the pictures are very heavy so the colour looks darker than on the face).

Smashbox Camera ready BB cream (left),  Estée Lauder DayWear BB Anti-Oxidant beauty Benefit cream (right)

Coverage: Smashbox has slightly more coverage than the Estée Lauder but they are both buildable to the point they actually create medium coverage (in foundation terminology). This is very unusual for BB creams as they tend to have very sheer coverage.

Longevity: when worn alone they tend to last for about 4-5 hours. When worn under the foundation, they stay on as long as the foundation does, they neither disrupt foundation longevity nor extend it.

Final verdict: both products are very nice. I can imagine that they would be great for girls who don't like wearing too much makeup or somebody very busy to put lot of makeup on as they offer good coverage and good SPF35.
I always use foundation on the top of them, although only with sheer coverage (MAC Face & Body) and the makeup looks so much nicer and more natural than with regular lotion and heavier foundation. I will use both of them during the winter months or when I'm not self- tanned. As the summer approaches I will go back to my Garnier BB cream which is sold only in darker shade (review here). As of now, I cannot decide which one I would repurchase; I like the texture and coverage of Smashbox but the colour of Estée Lauder. Once I use both of them up I may have a better idea which one I like better.
I recently both new drugstore BB cream from the skincare line I liked, I will test it and let you know if it’s a dupe or not for these creams.