Avon Skin So Soft DD Cream, $12
Good for: easy, barely-there sun protection

Our take: So many people hate the texture of sunscreen but regularly apply body lotion, which makes me wonder why more beauty brands won't invest in developing a light sunscreen that feels just as great as an everyday moisturizer. Enter: Avon's DD Cream. With broad-spectrum SPF 15 and costing less than $1.50 per ounce, this is inexpensive and light enough to consider wearing daily. Its mild, clean scent won't overpower other fragrances and wears well throughout the day. Its benefits sound pretty similar to Urban Decay's BB: firming, tightening, wrinkle-reducing, etc., with fancy-pants ingredients like algae extract and caffeine and hydrators like sweet almond and olive oils.

There are two major cons of this DD. Two of its active ingredients are avobenzone and oxybenzone, controversial chemical sunscreens that are suspected to have some of the highest health risks. Still, most dermatologists say that wearing any sunscreen is better than no sunscreen at all -- and picking a product that you can stick with is the key. So get your DD on, girl. Also, be careful to apply the cream in a thin layer; if you smooth on too much, the product tends to pill.

Osmotics Cosmeceuticals Cellulite Control Body Glow CC Cream, $75

Good for: correcting mildly lackluster skin tone and tightening wobbly bits

Our take: The six-ounce Osmotics CC Cream has to be one of the most expensive body products I've ever used. That said, its coverage is almost perfect, with a touch of sheer color that made my pale legs a little less ghostly; it also blends well on darker skin. Its light-reflecting pigments are subtler and more neutral in color than the Urban Decay body BB, whose gilded shimmer is pretty but looks more obvious in sunlight. It also includes caffeine, a proven, if temporary, cellulite-smoothing ingredient. Vitamin B-5 and grapeseed and sweet almond oils provide some benefits. Plus, it contains no artificial colors, parabens or fragrances, and it's not tested in animals -- major selling points for vegans and allergy sufferers.

The cons? The scent is mildly musty, and gets a little funkier as the day wears on. A light floral or green note would be a welcome addition and help balance out the odd scent. And, of course, there's the price, which would take a big bite out of most women's beauty budgets.

Jergens BB Body Perfecting Skin Cream, $12.99
Good for: subtle brightening and everyday hydration

I naïvely expected Jergens' body BB, like Urban Decay's, to contain slightly more coverage a la a facial BB cream. I was still hoping this would be a good, less-messy replacement for my tinted moisturizer-with-lotion trick. Apples to apples, this is more like a CC cream since its primary benefits are optical brightening and blurring, not improving skin tone by adding pigment. It's got a tiny bit of color -- that would be the purported "self-adjusting tone technology" -- but it's hardly noticeable.

As a body lotion, it's super: It makes skin feel instantly hydrated, smooth and plump thanks to shea, mango seed and cocoa butters, vitamin B-5, aloe, coconut water, collagen and elastin. I also never got tired of the light, slightly musky fragrance. I didn't notice a significant difference between this product and Osmotics Cosmeceuticals' CC Cream, which goes for $60 more, making this (like the Avon DD) a stellar value. The only bummer is its lack of staying power -- after a few hours, my skin still felt supple and smelled awesome, but my glow had faded. (Guess I better wipe down that desk chair again.)

This body BB was my second-favorite alphabet cream after Urban Decay's product for its solid function and affordability. Would I pay $34.99 to score it on eBay? Nah. But I'm still using it. And I haven't ruled out the possibility that, once those skin-perfecting benefits kick in, I'll be more porcelain than pasty.