The ABCs of BB and CC Creams

Are you confused with the recent influx of double-alpha base makeup this year?
It was BB creams making waves last year that gave way to even more offerings this year and just as you’ve only gotten your head around the new product, the beauty market moves onto the CC cream craze.

Before we go into the actual products, let’s do a recap first.

• BB Cream fondly known as beauty balms or blemish balms has a primary function as a makeup base that provides flawless natural coverage with skincare benefits. 
• It’s generally multi-purpose acting as a all-in-one primer, concealer and medium coverage foundation product to provide a natural and flaw finish to skin
• BB creams generally have a gel-like texture and have a dry to touch finish. 
• On top of being a moisturiser, it has additional skincare benefits depending on variety (whitening, healing, anti-ageing)
• It has UV protection often means you don't need a separate sun block. 

Then what is a CC cream?
Being the new cream of the crop, a CC cream is a colour correcting cream and similar to a BB cream being primarily a makeup product but packed with additional skincare benefits like vitamin C and E that focuses on improving skin clarity and tone. CC creams normally contain colour pigment that specially correct redness, pigmentation and broken capillaries as well as higher concentration of skincare

Today I’ll look at a few a bunch of BB creams and one of the CC cream released this year. Let’s start with the latest BB cream offerings.

Clarins Skin Perfecting BB Cream - RRP A$50 45ml 
Texture:  light weight cream with floral scent very easy to blend
Finish: semi matte finish and contains optical pigment to created radiant (not shiny) skin.
Coverage: medium buildable coverage that is long lasting
Benefits: broad spectrum SPF 25 mineral sunscreen so don’t need a separate sunscreen when used alone. and contains kiwi extract for anti-oxidants, katafray and hyaluronic acid to restore the skin’s moisture level and improve its softness.
Colour matching: available in 3 shades (light, medium, warm) I tried the medium one which was slightly too dark and I notice that it is more suited for those with red/beige undertones than those with yellow undertone – great to achieve a tanned look in summer for me. I'll be going for the light shade next time.
Best for: anyone looking for a multi tasking base that is moisturising and those with oily skin.
Clarins is available in Clarins counters in Myer, David Jones and online at Adore beauty. 

Face of Australia BB Cream (6 in 1) - RRP A$8.95 50ml
Texture: creamy with a light citrus scent blends without too much effort.
This is more of a tinted moisturiser in texture than what I’m accustomed to in BB, work quite or it will dry up and become gritty during blending. It is also prone to balling up when layered with other skincare or makeup powders.
Finish: natural finish with a healthy glow on skin
Coverage: quite sheer, providing a healthy tint to skin to even out light imperfection and sallowness to enhance your natural complexion.
Benefits: very hydrating, helping to soothe fine lines and protect skin from irritations with aloe vera, vitamin C, green tea and chamomile extract.
Colour matching: available in 2 shades (light/medium, medium/dark) - the light/medium one I tried matches well with beige/neutral skin undertones.
Best for: those with dry skin or those with fine lines as it very hydrating and will fill those lines without settling and those with relatively good skin as it doesn’t provide adequate coverage on its own. You may need more UV protection as it only contain UV filters not enough to achieve an SPF rating.
Face of Australia is available in Priceline, Big W, Kmart and online at Fashion Addict. 

Natio Pure Mineral Skin Perfecting BB Cream SPF15 - RRP A$14.95 50g
Texture: light gel lotion. Takes some time to blend in but worth the effort lightly aromatherapy scented with lavender and ylang ylang.
Finish: provides a natural dry-touch finish with a light glow.
Coverage: light to buildable medium coverage.
Benefits: one of the more lasting hydrating BB creams in this selection with vitamin E, jojoba oil and shea butter. Really effective with soothing redness or blemish marks
Colour matching: available in 3 shades (fair, medium, tan) – I used the fair one and although lighter than my skin colour, it matches quite well once blended in, especially when warmed up with some bronzer on top.
Best for: looking for a light hydrating base that addresses conditions like redness and rosacea.
Natio is available in Myer, David Jones, leading pharmacies and online. 

Garnier BB Cream Miracle Skin Perfector for sensitive skin - RRP A$13.95 50ml
Texture: is a fluid cream that is quite creamy and takes some time to blend and absorb into skin. This is a fragrance free offering to avoid irritating sensitive skin. Unfortunately, this BB cream easily balls up when mixed with other skincare (layered underneath) or foundation (for extra coverage).
Finish: a soft dewy finish with a light glow.
Coverage: quite sheer and is a bit streaky so might need other products over it to provide adequate coverage.
Benefits: with SPF 15, it does a decent job of reducing redness in skin and allows skin to breathe with its light sheer coverage. On oily skin types, it can look greasy within a few hours.
Colour matching: available in 2 shades, light and medium. Both are beige undertone so are more suited to those with pink/cool undertones.
Best for: those looking for good hydration and covering redness on good skin days.
Garnier is available in supermarkets, Priceline, Big W, Kmart and leading pharmacies. 

Clinque Moisture Surge CC Cream - RRP A$45 40ml
Texture: an unscented light gel fluid, it takes some effort to blend.
Finish: provides a natural dry-touch finish with healthy glow.
Coverage: medium finish but on my oily skin, it doesn’t last. About four hours later, my face seems to just eat up the product and I look like I’ve not used any product other than a sheer tinted moisturiser. Setting the product with powder stretches its lasting powder by a couple more hours.
Benefits: with SPF30, this CC cream contains lavender tinted micro beads to help correct sallowness  that instantly brightens up skin and full of hydrating ingredients that includes hyaluronic acid, aloe and trehalose to keep skin supple all day long.
Colour matching: available in 4 shades (very light, light, light/medium, medium/deep). I’m using light and it matches well with my skin tone
Best for: dryer skin types who are wants a light radiant glow.
Clinique is on counters in Myer, David Jones and online. 

I love Natio and Clarins BB creams for meeting all the criteria of a multi-purpose makeup/skincare product, Clinique is nice but seems to not last on oily skin and I suspect those with dryer skin would see more longevity when using it whilst Garnier and FOA were too sheer for my liking but is great for the no make up look for anyone with good skin that just need evening out of skin tones.

Overall thoughts 
Whilst I haven’t tried too many CC creams yet (next on my list is the L'oreal Nude Magique CC cream), I can’t say I see enough differences between CC and BB creams to think that they should be categorised separately. The current CC creams just seems to provide that little bit more coverage than the offerings of BB creams available (excluding the Asian BB creams which gives great medium coverage)  and contains optical pigments to improve the appearance of skintone.

What do you think of BB and CC creams? Have you tried one you like?

Review & FOTD: Rimmel BB Cream

During the 2nd half of 2012 - the beauty market exploded in the number of non-Asian BB cream launches (the non-Asian version prefer the abbreviation BB to be known as Beauty Balm creams whilst Asian varieties are known as Blemish Balm creams).

Being a popular staple in the Asian markets over the past 10 years, it's little wonder that the BB cream mania been as wildly embraced once released in the non-Asian market. Today, you definitely need your own version of a BB cream if you want to be taken seriously as a makeup company (Clinique, Dior, Estee Lauder, MAC, Garnier, Natio and L'Oreal are all on-board!).

So what makes a product a BB Cream as opposed to being just a tinted moisturiser? Well they have the following properties.

• is a all-in-one primer, concealer and medium coverage foundation product to provide a natural and flaw finish to skin
• has a gel-like texture and have a dry to touch finish. 
• is a moisturiser and has additional skincare benefits depending on variety (whitening, healing, anti-ageing)
• has UV protection often means you don't need a separate sun block 

But even though there are skincare benefits in BB creams they are not to the same level as targeted skincare products so I would still apply my serums and skincar  as they are more effective in addressing the my specific concerns.

Till recently, my interactions with BB creams have only been the Asian varieties, so I was excited to get introduced to the western versions with my first one being none other than the Rimmel London BB cream.

Rimmel Londom BB Cream - 30ml 

Boasting 9 benefits claims:

• Skincare benefits: 1 -prime, 2 - moisturise, 3 - minimise appearance of pores and 4 -helps protect against environmental damage;
• Makeup benefits: 5 - conceals, 6 - covers, 7 - smoothes, 8 - mattifies, 9 - brightens 

Available in 3 different shade, this BB cream caters to a wider varieties of skin tones. This is a plus as alot Asian BB creams only come in 1 shade. The light, and medium version are neutral tone and both suits me (summer and winter shade) and when blended out gives a very decent colour match.

Rimmel BB cream on NC30 skin, natural light

Being SPF 25, it gives decent sun protection so that you don't need a separate sunscreen if you are only going to be in incidental sun for a short period of time (which is adequate for those of us who doesn't get outdoors much during the day).

There is a light citrusy floral scent that is not over bearing and in fact quite pleasant. It definitely has a rich gel-like texture but is very easy to blend on skin to give a velvetly smooth finish.

For those with normal/oily skin, this BB cream would also provide adequate hydration on its own but if you have dry skin, I'd defintely layer a separate moisturiser rather than solely rely on this for hydration.

The claims of being a primer is substantiated as it does a good job of evening out the skin and mattifying it for a 4 hours (after that, my oily skin just shines through).

As a concealer, it provides medium coverage so that discolourations, redness and marks are all evened out but any large blemishes will need stronger coverage as this won't cover them as well. It also gives a radiant natural finish that looks like you've applied a soft-focus lens over your face so it temporarily brightens skin as well.

As for minimising appearance of pores, I found that my pores looked the same but it didn't accentuate it so this was a moot claim for me.

Verdict
Rimmel has put out a great BB cream as has pulled off 8 of the 9 claims - a pretty good result and I'd happily incorporate this BB cream into my everyday makeup repertory.

Skintone is even and complexion brightened with Rimmel BB cream

In fact, I do so most work day or casual weekend when I'm after a natural finish that covers my uneven skin tone, dark circles and what not but don't have me looking too cakey or heavily made-up. I normally would apply a translucent powder on top to set the product and a little blush, lippy and minimal eye product and I'm ready and out the door. This is an example of my not too made up look I sport on weekends.

Fresh look FOTD with Rimmel BB Cream. Full product lists used are

• Rimmel BB cream in M111vb11edium
• Face of Australia Translucent loose powder
• Bobbi Brown Blush in Apricot
• YSL Glossy Stain in #14 
• Kiss Me Heroine make smooth liquid eyeliner 
• Lancome Hynose Star mascara
• Daiso Dark brown brow pencil 

Rimmel BB cream RRP A$1295 at Kmart, Target, Big W, Priceline and David Jones stores as well as Woolworths and selected pharmacies nationally.

This BB cream was provided for consideration. Other products featured were purchased by me. 

Review: Skinfood Mushroom Mult-care BB Cream

BB or blemish balm creams (and not beauty balms as some brands have called it) are the hottest beauty product in Asia that have started to make their way into the mainstream western market and seem to be taken the cosmetic world by storm.

BB creams shouldn't be confused with tinted moisturisers as their primary function is a makeup, not a skincare product and the coverage from BB creams are fuller than the sheer colour that tinted moisturisers provide.

The concept is that blemish balms are a combination of skincare and makeup, made to even out skintone and give excellent coverage so is suitable for all skin types, even those with acne or problem skin but without the heavy mask-like effect of heavy foundations and also has skincare ingredients that will improve skin's tone and texture over time.

I wouldn't say I've had too much experience with the plethora of Asian BB creams in the markets because

1. they are not readily available in Australia, and the local Asian beauty boutique that stock them sell them at highly inflated prices compared to their retail prices in Asia 
2. there is generally only 1 or 2 shade available for the product and they generally gravitates towards the lighter end of the spectrum (the Asian consumers like their faces as white as possible, even if it means it's significantly different than their natural skintone whereas I prefer a natural looking shade). 
3. the ones I've tried have made my skin look grey and ashy and generally quite ghastly-looking which disheartened me to try the other BB creams for a good 2 years. 

It was upon the ravings of the MBBE ladies about the Skinfood Mushroom BB cream and how it would not look ghastly grey on skin that I decided to give BB creams another try. And of course I can never go wrong with the advice of MBBE because even with my limited experience in BB creams, I know a gem when I come across one. 

Skinfood Mushroom Multi-care BB Cream SPF 20 PA

Hailing from Korea, Skinfood is a brand that has a huge following outside of its home country within the east Asian region and appeals to consumers with its use of natural food and produce in its original form as ingredients in its products.

Description

This triple-function BB cream provides UV protection and deep moisturisation to skin with aloe and mushroom extracts, while arbutin and adenosine make skin clear and resilient. 

Whitening, Anti-aging, Sunblock. 

The Mushroom BB cream come in an easy to dispense 50ml tube and a cardboard screw cap. I'm not a fan of the cap as I find it hard to twist it along its groove after use, but have not had the cardboard warp or break on me so I guess I can live with it. 

It comes in 2 shades 1 or 2 as indicated on the back of the tube packaging in the brown circle. I knew I would be #2 from previous experiences of going for the darker shade whenever there are 2 options as it's more natural looking on me (incidentally shade #1 is called radiant skin and #2 is natural skin).

As for the product, it is quite fluid, almost like a moisturiser in consistency but is very easy to blend. It has a soft scent. 

Using a brush gives a good blended finish but it does not really meld into the skin to give the fused look that one wants from their makeup (ie. not heavier sitting on top of skin). 

Interestingly, it spreads and blends best with finger in a smearing action outwards from the centre of the face, then blending the product on the nose, jawline and the forehead. The finish a soft dewy look that makes skin look and feel very hydrated (thanks to the aloe). And because it feels so comforatble on skin, I don't feel bad on days when I'm in a rush and skip my skincare treatments and just apply this straight on.

Coverage is excellent and almost as good a full coverage foundation with imperfections and dark circles easily covered and concealed. Extra coverage just needed another layer of the product patted into the specific area of skin. I finish by setting with loose translucent powder and the coverage lasts all day, even in hot humid weather. 

Shade #2 is very natural looking, and although slightly lighter than my summer skintone, adjusts well on skin and does not leave me looking too pale or washed out. Rather, I have a fresh healthy subtle glow (non-shimmer induced) and there is no white cast effect from the SPF 20 to be found. 

NC30 skintone - this BB cream adjusts well once blended into skin

This BB creams photographs amazingly well as seen in the photo below (please excuse my bare face with no eye makeup or other products on at all). My dark circles are not present, skin evened out and smoother with a slight dewiness on the side where I've applied the BB cream. You can also see that it is also slightly lighter my my natural skintone but is still very natural looking. 

I like the fact that I'm also helping to maintain my skin whilst applying this makeup and my skin always feel soft and smooth after taking off the product and facial cleansing afterwards. 

L-R with Skinfood mushroom BB cream, bare face

So thanks to my gurus at MBBE, I've finally found my first favourite and possibly HG BB cream. Having said that, BB creams are not for everyone - due to the fact that if you are NC/NW30 or above, you will look unnaturally pale using these products without a bronzer to bring colour back to your face. If you are lucky enough to be able to use the this or the lighter shade (which would suits NW/NC15-25), then you would be nuts not to try this BB cream.

50ml approx US$13 online by e-tailers. If you are after convenience and instant gratification, you can pick it up locally at Asian beauty boutiques for A$29.