TLDR: 

When it comes to choosing a BB cream – short for blemish balm or beauty balm – there are a few quick wins you can look for: Favor pigments like iron oxides over mica to avoid ethical labor concerns. Opt for non-toxic SPF agents like zinc oxide over reef-harming oxybenzone. Skip palm oil, unless it’s RSPO certified. Choose antioxidants like green tea and Vitamin E, but again, sourcing matters—go for organic and responsibly-derived versions when possible. Feel like going the extra mile? Select a product with packaging made with recycled content and always look to recycle or refill when possible. If your fave brand doesn’t offer a takeback program, companies like Terracycle can provide an alternate disposal option.

Ingredients

‍Emollients

Emollients help to soften and smooth the skin by filling in cracks in the outermost skin layer, preventing water loss and protecting against irritants (and improving the appearance of skin texture). Generally, there are three types: 

• “Natural” emollients made from plants, like jojoba oil, are not derived from climate-warming petroleum and have anti-inflammatory properties that your skin will thank you for. Natural emollients can also come in the form of butters, like shea butter and cocoa butter. If you’re choosing between the two, though, go for shea butter – it contributes to women’s economic empowerment in numerous African countries, and it avoids the concerns with child labor and inhumane working conditions that are associated with cocoa butter. 
• Synthetic emollients are made through chemical processes, but this isn’t always a bad thing. Esters, for example, can be made from inputs like coconut or sugar, and are therefore a bit less emissions-intensive than their petrochemically-derived counterparts. 
• Fatty alcohols and acids are another type of emollient that helps promote baby-soft skin. Be wary though – while ingredients like cetyl alcohol are technically plant-based, they’re derived from palm oil, which is closely linked to global deforestation. Yikes. If it’s a must-have in your product, opt for brands highlighting their Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification. Otherwise, options like stearic acid derived from sunflower oil are considered lower-impact.

‍Sunscreen Agent

We love a multi-use product – especially one that provides some sun protection. While not all BB creams have sunscreen, many do.

Here’s a breakdown of what to look for:

• Avoid products with oxybenzone, which might seem beneficial for its ability to absorb UV radiation and convert it to heat, but it’s linked to hormone disruption. On the environmental side, it’s also been linked to coral bleaching. It was banned in sunscreens in Hawaii, but unfortunately, there are no bans for the ingredient in BB creams, so we need to make the extra effort ourselves to be vigilant. 
• In sun-protective BB creams, products that use titanium dioxide and zinc oxide might be a better bet – they provide the same UV protection with fewer health and environmental implications. While these ingredients aren’t coral-bleaching bad, chronic exposure to titanium dioxide can lead to sub-lethal effects for marine life (and cause skin inflammation for us humans), while zinc oxide can accumulate in aquatic organisms and cause stress. 

‍Pigments

Pigments are used in BB creams to provide color and even out skin tone. One of the most popular is iron oxide – which are naturally occurring mineral deposits made of iron and oxygen. Though, it’s often synthetic in makeup to ensure that it’s free from heavy metals or other contaminants. While mining and extracting iron oxide can contribute to soil erosion, habitat destruction, and loss of biodiversity, when given a choice (albeit very difficult choice), we’d probably choose iron oxide over mica (which is associated with child labor and inhumane working conditions). 

‍Antioxidants

Antioxidant-rich BB creams claim to have a variety of functions, from UV protection, to reducing inflammation caused by pollution, to preserving the product’s shelf life by preventing oxidation. When it comes to these mighty inflammation-fighting molecules, you’ll most often see Vitamin E, Niacinamide, or green tea as ingredients.

‍Vitamin E (tocopherol) helps strengthen the skin’s natural defense against moisture loss, but its sourcing origin comes with sustainability considerations like land-use, cultivation, and processing. Go for sunflower-oil-derived Vitamin E over deforestation-linked soybean oil.

Niacinamide can help repair UV-induced skin damage, which is pretty cool. While niacinamide in cosmetics is usually produced through chemical synthesis, research is exploring how adjusting the starting reactant in its formula can avoid considerably more toxic reactants and waste. 

Like niacinamide, green tea plays a similar damage-control role for our skin. Conventional green tea farming can be water and pesticide heavy, so look for organic certifications like COSMOS Organic, which means the extract was made with fewer pesticides and in a manner that protects soil and water quality.

Packaging

Most BB creams come in plastic tubes because plastic is relatively cheap to produce and transport, it’s durable and lightweight, and it provides airtight seals that help preserve active skincare ingredients, like SPF. That said, we also know that 95% of cosmetic packaging is thrown away. When you consider that the global cosmetics market is expected to reach $500 billion by 2030, that’s a lot of plastic that could be accumulating in landfills as a result of beauty care product packaging. Some things to consider when it comes to BB cream packaging:

• Single-layer paperboard packaging, like the one used in Bee You’s organic BB cream, avoids the whole plastic conundrum. (This one also has zinc oxide in it for sun protection, so you’re protecting yourself from the sun and checking off another item on our recommendations list.) 
• If you’re struggling to find a totally plastic-free BB cream that best suits your needs, look for programs like Ilia’s, which gives U.S. customers the opportunity to mail up to ten empty beauty products per month – from any brand – back to the company to help with more responsible disposal of harder-to-recycle beauty products. 
• While they’re not quite as common, refillable BB creams like this one from Eco Minerals allow you to extend the life of the packaging. Alternatively, MG Naturals has a BB cream refill that comes with a product straw to foolproof the refill process.
• When in doubt, third-party recyclers like Terracycle can offer an alternative for the disposal of cosmetic packaging that might not be accepted elsewhere.

Usage Tip

Rather than using applicator sponges, try applying BB cream with clean fingers. Seriously, just try it. Not only will you cut back on disposable waste, but also since our fingers don't absorb as much product as a sponge does, less product will be lost. Win, win!

Certifications:

PETA Cruelty Free

PETA’s Cruelty-Free offers a searchable database of companies and denotes whether they conduct, commission, or test their products on animals.

EWG Verified

The Environmental Working Group has created a database that aims to be the gold standard in rating personal care products based on their ingredients, ensuring products are free from the chemicals of concern to human health that are outlined in their unacceptable list. Look for the EWG logo to make sure you’re avoiding those pesky ingredients.

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)

RSPO is a globally recognized standard for the sustainable production and use of palm oil. While it’s not a silver bullet, it helps assure that certain sustainability requirements have been met.

Fun Fact

BB creams were first developed in Germany in the 1960s to help patients who had undergone laser or other skin treatments soothe and cover irritated skin.