The Best BB Creams For Combination Skin

Choosing makeup when you have skin that’s oily in some areas and dry in others is tricky, but the best BB creams for combination skin strike the perfect balance between being moisturizing, yet light enough to not leave your skin feeling suffocated or greasy. Beyond that, the best BB cream for you will depend on two simple things: your skin tone and your budget.

Because BB creams — especially ones that are suitable for combination skin — are few and far between, you’ll also find a few other makeup/skin care hybrids that work similarly in this article, like a foundation serum, a pressed powder, and a CC cream. (The ‘CC’ stands for color correcting, and they’re a good choice if you’re prone to redness or an uneven skin tone; meanwhile the ‘BB’ in BB cream usually stands for beauty balm.) And if you’re wondering, though BB creams and tinted moisturizers offer many of the same benefits, BB creams tend to provide fuller coverage.

Now without further ado, scroll on to shop three of the best BB creams for combination skin. And if you’re interested in more beauty products for combination skin, be sure to check out these well-balanced moisturizers, clay masks, and primers.

1. The Overall Best

Australian Gold can do no wrong in my book, and this BB cream from their Botanical line is a perfect example of why. The oil-free formula is made with the mineral ingredients titanium dioxide and zinc oxide for sun protection (it has an SPF of 50), as well as moisturizers like glycerin, shea butter, and squalane. It also contains silica to provide mattifying benefits, antioxidant-rich botanicals like kakadu plum extract and eucalyptus to nurture and protect skin, and last but not least, iron oxides, which provide a tint for coverage and added UV protection. So in other words, it has everything combination skin could want from a single product. And at less than $20, you can’t beat the price.

• Available Shades: Rich, Medium, Fair

2. Runner Up

This purlisse Perfect Glow BB Cream offers “matte meets glowy” coverage, which is essentially ideal for combination skin. The makeup/skin care hybrid is oil-free, vegan, and formulated with plenty of antioxidants and nourishing ingredients to keep your skin moisturized, protected, and healthy. It’s made almost entirely of naturally derived ingredients, and has the derm- recommended amount of sun protection (SPF 30) for daily wear.

• Available Shades: Deep, Tan Deep, Tan, Medium Tan, Medium Golden, Medium Warm, Medium, Light Warm, Light Medium, Light, Fair

3. The Best Organic BB Cream For Combination Skin

This vegan and cruelty-free BB cream from Australian brand INIKA is made with a bounty of nourishing, naturally derived ingredients like avocado, aloe, prickly pear, jojoba, and pomegranate — and an impressive 80% of the ingredients are certified organic. The mineral-based cream leaves skin feeling so soft and hydrated, but not at all greasy — just what combination skin needs. That said, this is the only product on this list that doesn’t offer sunscreen, so don’t forget to put some on before applying this BB cream.

• Available Shades: Cocoa, Toffee, Tan, Honey, Nude, Cream, Porcelain

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A CC Cream With Vitamin C

Yes, Honest Beauty’s Clean Corrective tinted moisturizer is a CC, not a BB cream, but the multi-tasking cream should fulfill all of your combination skin requirements. Because it contains vitamin C, which helps promote brighter, clearer skin, it’s great for those who have hyperpigmentation, redness, or a generally uneven skin tone. It also calms, moisturizes, and protects; offers mineral-based SPF 30 protection; and gives your skin a sheer, natural-looking tint without feeling heavy or suffocating. Bonus points for being vegan, cruelty-free, and noncomedogenic.

• Available Shades: Mojave Deep, Sonoran Deep Rich, Sol Rich, Sahara Medium Deep, Oro Medium, Dune Light Medium, Terra Light, Alabaster Fair Light, Tundra Fair

A Hydrating Serum & Foundation In One

Though it’s not technically a BB cream, L'Oreal’s Age Perfect Radiant Serum Foundation basically functions as one. This makeup/sunscreen/moisturizing serum is best for those on the drier side of the combination skin scale; on oily areas you can set it with a translucent or tinted powder, like the one below from PÜR. Best of all, this affordable drugstore buy comes in a relatively wide range of 30 shades.

• Available Shades: Espresso, Deep Amber, Cool Mahogany, Chestnut, Deep Cool, Sienna, Cappuccino, Almond, Hazelnut, Classic Tan, Soft Sable, Toffee, Amber Beige, Caramel Beige, Perfect Beige, Golden Sun, Golden Honey, Sand, Honey Rose, Ivory Beige, Warm Beige, Golden Beige, Golden Vanilla, Natural Buff, Nude Beige, Beige Rose, Cream Beige, Golden Ivory, Rose Ivory, Ivory

A 4-in-1 Powder To Add On Top Of Your BB Cream

Much like a BB cream, PÜR’s 4-in-1 Pressed Mineral Makeup does a few jobs at once. It’s marketed as a foundation, concealer, setting powder, and sunscreen in one (though note that it only has an SPF of 15, so you can use this as an added form of sun protection, but not your primary one). The oil-absorbing powder is made with good-for-skin ingredients like vitamin E, iron oxides, and the brand’s Ceretin Complex, which is an encapsulated blend of retinol, lactic acid, shea butter, and ceramides — a mix that sounds perfect for combination skin. Use this on top of your daily sunscreen and/or moisturizer for a light layer of coverage; build it up for fuller coverage on the areas that need it; or wear it on top of your foundation or BB cream to tone down shine.

• Available Shades: Truffle, Coffee, Chestnut, Deeper, Cocoa, Deep, Cinnamon, Hazelnut, Golden Dark, Nutmeg, Medium Dark, Tan, Medium Tan, Sand, Light Tan, Beige, Golden Medium, Bisque, Linen, Blush Medium, Light, Vanilla, Ivory, Porcelain, Fair Ivory, Light Porcelain