A BB Cream stands for "Beauty Balm" or "Blemish Balm" and is
basically supposed to hydrate and benefit the skin while adding the pigment level of a light to medium coverage foundation. Unfortunately the BB creams we have in the West are not at all the same formula, quality or product they have in Asia.The majority of BB creams you'd find in the drugstore and Sephora are just repackaged tinted moisturizers that masquerade as BB creams but really aren't. Also the Asian style BB creams are considerably more pigmented.
A true Beauty Balm should go on nearly clear or white and adjust to your skin tone giving your skin that "renewed" nourished effect and a fair degree of coverage. The closest version to the true BB cream formulation is the one by L'oreal - the rest are knock offs, trust me.