I’ve never been a foundation girl. Truthfully, I typically stay away from it because it can break out my skin, and it’s tough to find a shade that fits. I have yellow undertones with a sprinkle of hyperpigmentation from previous acne struggles. Foundations with yellow undertones don’t seem to have it all the way together yet. In my experience, the foundations always give banana-hued vibes. I usually purchase two foundations and mix to find my perfect shade, which isn’t always ideal for my wallet.
When I scrolled on TikTok and came across the L’Oreal Magic Skin Beautifier, I was intrigued. The lightweight BB cream was going viral for its so-called ability to adjust to any skin tone. I watched as beauty gurus purchased it in green or orange, melted it into their skin, and raved about the results. At the time, I was entertained and fully convinced until I realized one common denominator: Everyone who reviewed the product was a white woman. I searched the "For You" page on the app to find women of color who had tried the product but fell short.
Still curious about the viral magical BB cream, I decided there was only one thing left to do. I added the product to my cart and purchased it. Check out more on my experience with the L’Oreal Magic Skin Beautifier:
About The Product
According to the site, the product is made to deliver four elements that will enhance your skin: It revives tired and stressed skin, evens tone, and hydrates. It’s also supposed to transform into your perfect shade for a flawless look. I must say, the idea of a product adjusting to every skin tone and having us all looking amazing sounds way too good to be true. Skin is very complicated and unique to the individual.
Before we go any further, we should look at the ingredients. While doing my research, I noticed the product doesn’t have SPF. I see this detail as a positive rather than a negative because SPF in beauty products can land differently depending on skin tone. I also noticed the product contains dimethicone which some may see as harmful to the skin because it is not a natural ingredient, however, this ingredient can prevent clogging pores by sealing any sweat or dirt on the face. Those with sensitive skin or who are prone to breakouts may appreciate this.
Courtesy of Celeste Polanco
About My Skin
My skin has been through many different phases in my life. There was the oil phase, which honestly was my favorite phase. My skin was glowing, and I barely found the need to use any highlighter or even foundation. I loved my skin’s natural glow. Next was the acne phase, and as you can imagine, this was the least favorite time in my life. The stress of college and a toxic ex had my skin out of whack, but when college and my relationship ended, so did my acne.
Today, my skin is clear and more on the drier side. I love it, but I can admit that it could use an extra life boost.
I Tried The L'Oreal Viral TikTok BB Cream
I purchased the L’Oreal BB cream in orange because it aligned best with my needs. My skin looked very fatigued, and the orange BB cream targeted those issues. The alternative would have been the BB cream in green, which is specifically for dark spots, but I use concealer for those areas. As seen on TikTok, I squeezed the product directly on my face and rubbed it in. The orange color was intense at first, but as I massaged it into my skin, the product began to transform as promised.
Courtesy of Celeste Polanco
The BB Cream Tried Me
The results of the L’Oreal Magic Skin Beautifier weren’t that magical. Once the product settled in, I was pretty disappointed by the results. The product felt very dry on my skin, and when the orange liquid settled, my skin didn’t look as flawless as expected. I felt the BB cream gave my skin a dull appearance. Since the product targets fatigued skin, I was surprised by a dull result.
I brought my skin back to life with bronzer and concealer, and the BB cream did take the layering of other makeup products better than expected. I was grateful for this, but I still wouldn’t consider it a holy-grail product.
The Value
The only reason I’m not too upset about the result is because of the price point. At $10.99, it's a very fair price for a drugstore BB cream. If you’re still debating trying this product, at least it won’t break the bank.
The Final Verdict
To be honest, this just wasn’t for me, and that’s OK. I have yellow undertones and still felt like the product didn’t align with my skin tone. People with darker skin tones may also struggle to find this product fitting. If you feel like the result may be different for you, go for it. The product is not expensive and won’t take up all of your coins. However, for me and an ideal BB cream, the marathon continues.
Featured image courtesy of Celeste Polanco
Those rumors were more than laid to rest when Jodie and Joshua went to the 2023 Oscars together earlier this year, and even more recently, when they celebrated her birthday together last month during the September unveiling of the Lotus Emeya.
Jodie Turner-Smith celebrates her birthday with husband Joshua Jackson at the unveiling of the new fully-electric Lotus Emeya on September 07, 2023 in New York City.
Brian Ach/Getty Images for Lotus
Despite seeming particularly happy and in love, perhaps the writing was already written on the wall even then. In the past, Jodie has been very celebratory publicly about her love for her estranged husband, even boldly recounting their love story for the books in a 2021 interview with Seth Meyers.
When Jodie and Joshua met, it was while at his birthday party in 2018. Their relationship was hot and heavy from the start, with Jodie openly noting that they began as a "one-night stand." During her 2021 interview with Seth Meyers, she jokingly referred to their love story as a "three-year one-night stand." She shared:
"First of all, I saw him before he saw me and when I saw him, I was like, 'I want that.' And then when he saw me, I just pretended like I didn't see him. He had to yell across the room to me, and I was wearing this T-shirt from a movie called Sorry to Bother You and [actress] Tessa Thompson plays a character called Detroit, and she has this T-shirt that says, 'The Future Is Female Ejaculation.'
"And so, he shouts across the room, 'Detroit!' He comes over and… does this really cute, charming thing that he does and just all night -- he just basically followed me around the party."
The couple were together from that moment forth, and even made things "Instagram official" less than two weeks later while on a dinner date. Joshua would later clarify to Insider that the night they met in 2018 was not a 'one-night stand' or a 'three-year one-night stand' like his then-wife joked but instead, it was "technically a three-night stand."
"It was sealed with a kiss that night and then we didn't leave each other's sides for, well, three years now," Joshua continued at the time.
In a July 2021 interview with Jimmy Fallon, Joshua dropped more details about the why behind getting married. He revealed that he didn't know he wanted to get married to Jodie until "the moment she asked me."
"She asked me on New Year's Eve. We were in Nicaragua. It was very beautiful, incredibly romantic, we were walking down the beach and she asked me to marry her."
He added, "I did not know [she would propose], but she was quite adamant and she was right. This is the best choice I ever made."
Joshua Jackson Reveals Jodie Turner-Smith Proposed To Him
Jodie received quite a bit of flack for proposing to Joshua because it goes against tradition and what society sees as acceptable for a woman to do to a man, and proposing isn't one of them. No matter how much time has passed, the viewpoints around who should do the proposing and who should be proposed to are still very traditional.
After being on the receiving end of such backlash, Joshua would later clarify to the media in a separate interview that it wasn't just Jodie's proposal to him that sealed the deal of them getting married, he proposed to her too. She might have initiated it, but Joshua followed through.
"I accidentally threw my wife under the bus because that story was told quickly and it didn't give the full context and holy Jesus, the internet is racist and misogynist," he explained to Refinery29 that same year. "We were in Nicaragua on a beautiful moonlit night, it could not possibly have been more romantic."
David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images
He continued, "And yes, my wife did propose to me and yes, I did say yes, but what I didn't say in that interview was there was a caveat, which is that I'm still old school enough that I said, 'This is a yes, but you have to give me the opportunity [to do it too].'"
"She has a biological father and a stepdad, who's the man who raised her. [I said], 'You have to give me the opportunity to ask both of those men for your hand in marriage.' And then, 'I would like the opportunity to re-propose to you and do it the old-fashioned way down on bended knee.' So, that's actually how the story ended up."
Joshua and Jodie would eventually marry in December 2019. Shortly thereafter, Jodie gave birth to the couple's first child, Janie, in 2020.
In a recent interview with Elle UK, Jodie shared the ways becoming a mother to Juno helped to heal her of her wounds from colorism she experienced in the past. "It's interesting because I had a lot of resistance to becoming a mother and, throughout my life, I always said if I were to have children, I wanted to have Black, Black babies so that I could affirm them as children with the love that I felt I needed to have been affirmed with by the outside world," Jodie shared with the outlet.
She continued, "Then I fell in love with my husband and we talked about having kids. I did have this mini pause, where I was like, 'She's going to be walking through the world not only having an experience that I did not have, but looking like people that, in a way, I'd always felt a little bit tormented by.' Now that I've got this little, tiny, light-skinned boss, I feel like it’s the universe teaching me lessons. I've been given a daughter who looks this way to heal my own conversations around colorism."
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Featured image by Amy Sussman/Getty Images
