Belo Illuminating Cream Review

First things first. This thing costs P6,400 a tub as per the Belo website.

Let that sink in, my fellow beauty product hoarders.

Now that I've enjoyed a few seconds of getting you to maybe think I'm Heart Evangelista-rich, let me come clean by admitting I received a 250 g (P3,600 when bought new) as a gift/hand-me-down. LOL

So P6,400 Illuminating Cream. I have a mental list of things I could buy with P6,400 instead of one single beauty product, but we live in a world where rich people need ridiculously priced things or else they die of existential crisis so things like this exist. Honestly though, this isn't a horrible product. Let me tell you why.

It's basically a luxuriously rich body cream that is so thick it's almost a liquid foundation. It also functions somewhat like a liquid foundation in that it goes on thick and opaque on the skin. I initially expected this to be like normal body lotion, but it is nowhere near normal as its price suggests. It takes a full minute to get this to spread evenly on skin and can look like makeup when applied thickly. A little goes a long way and P6,400 can be stretched to a full year of use.

Unlike most leg foundations though, this is does not come in shades of skin colors. The color is bright Boysen white, and so you have take your time spreading it well, maybe even use a sponge or foundation brush to get it to go on smooth and natural-looking. I've been out under the sun for months and have gotten dark so this looked weird on my arms. My neck, which is generally paler than my body, is an ok area to put this product on thickly. 

I imagine if I were back to my original color, this would have worked perfectly well, blending inconspicuously. I guess this product is for people with pale pale skin to begin with and needs a product to get their skin to look blindingly bright. That makes sense, considering this is an ILLUMINATING cream. This product actually makes you look like you have an invisible ring light following you around.

The star ingredients are Alpha Arbutin and Liquorice.

Alpha Arbutin - a plant extract that brightens skin and is found to be effective in reducing pigmentation caused by sun damage, acne, and wound scars. This is a popular skin whitening ingredient in Japan. It is well loved because it is at par with other bleaching ingredients, but unlike harsh exfoliators, Alpha Arbutin generally does not make the skin more sensitive to the sun. 

Liquorice - a natural extract which used to dominate skin whitening products in the early 2000s. I was surprised to find this in an expensive product because licorice had its time back when I was young. To me it was a sentimental skin whitener like Papaya extract. Nonetheless, this no-longer-popular whitener works to brighten skin, fade pigmentation, and help treat issues like acne and inflammation.

Other ingredients include: Niacinamide, Titanium Dioxide, Bee Venom (!), Glycerin, Citric Acid, and other stuff normally found in skin creams. 

Bee Venom - helps stimulate formation of collagen and so reduces damage and fills in wrinkles and scars.

Belo Illuminating Cream also has SPF 40 for UV protection. 

No funky fragrance. For the price I was expecting it to smell like cherries and champagne, but it smells like regular lotion so that's I guess the only negative comment I have. 

I feel like people who have naturally pale skin, or those who are actively taking oral whiteners, can benefit from this product the most. Belo is known for being the skin doctor of the stars, and so this product was probably developed for artistas in mind who need to look bright, fresh and 3D on camera. 

Normal people can still probably benefit from using this for photoshoots or special events or for when they want to look ridiculously blindingly bright idk. I forgot to mention that this product does NOT have shimmers, thank goodness, so normal people can probably get away with using this on a normal day. That is, if they can afford the price idk. 

Bottomline

Erm. This is an overall amazing product. But again, this has a specific market, not only due to its price tag, but due to its shade. It's not marketed as a whitener, but as an illuminator because that's really what it does - it makes already pale skin look lit-from-within. 

Oh, before I forget, just to add to its exclusively-for-the-rich-and-artistas, this product is not for people who have to walk and work under the sun. This can get sticky in an unairconditioned room.

So recommend? Yes, if you're a) rich, b) an artista, c) stays in airconditioned spaces all day, d) already white/pale to begin with. If you're not at least two of those things, this product isn't for you. Sorry. Belo has a product line for us mere mortals on Watsons shelves.