Article by BR Natalie
Once upon a time, if you wanted less coverage than a foundation, but needed to add a little oomph to your skin tone there was one choice. The tinted moisturiser. Now we're faced with a barrage of sheer/light coverage products all with catchy double letter acronyms. A girl could go crazy trying to sort her BBs from her CCs. Enter Beauty Review - we've got all bases covered.
The Original - Tinted Moisturiser
The name sort of says it all.
With a tinted moisturiser you'll get the hydrating power of a moisturiser with a very sheer colour. These have never been about coverage; they add a little depth to your natural skin tone. For many they would have been our first foray into makeup bases, a baby step before buying our first foundation.
With the current craze for alphabet creams many in the industry think the tinted moisturiser is heading the same way as the dinosaurs, but brands are still producing some great choices for those wanting a simple base product. Look for one with SPF and that will suit your skin, for example Laura Mercier has a range of Tinted Moisturisers, from Illuminating for dull skill, to oil free for acne prone skin.
The Revolutionary - BB Cream
Blemish Balms. Beauty Balms. Blemish Base. Beblash Base.
BB creams have been popular in Asia for decades, particularly in South Korea. Yet the formula that would become the BB was actually invented in the 1960s in Germany by dermatologist Dr. Christine Schrammek to protect her patients' skin after facial peels and surgery. The word Beauty began to be more widely used, due to a Korean trademark on the word 'blemish'. The Western World caught on to these multipurpose, miracle creams about two years ago and let's be honest; we've all been a little BB mad since.
BB creams are lighter than a foundation, but have more depth than tinted moisturisers. You'll often be faced with choosing between 1 or 2 shades. They're also jam pack with ingredients and properties to enhance and benefit your skin, making them a lazy girl's best friend and a busy girl's must have. Common features of a BB cream include hydration, sheer coverage, oil control, 'blurring' of fine lines, evening skin tone, illuminating dull skin, minimising the appearance of pores and SPF.
It's important to remember that whilst we love the 'less is more' factor of BBs, this carries the risk that we're not using enough of them for the added SPF to be efficient, so you might want to use an actual sunscreen too.
Also, the term "Jack of all trades, master of none" is worth remembering. Just as like the SPF issue, BB creams with 'anti ageing' or "pigmentation reducing" qualities probably won't be enough to replace your existing products. Use them as a compliment to your regular serums, lotions and potions!
The Next Generation - CC Cream
Colour Correction. Colour Control.
It could be considered a marketing ploy of a company trying to make BB creams look outdated, but the name CC cream does refer to a very specific purpose of the product. Colour Correcting creams will address specific issues with skin like rosacea, sallowness or uneven skin tone. When used over time, the right CC cream can help to improve dark circles, sun spots and acne scars.
CCs will generally be lighter than a BB cream and quickly absorbed into the skin. There will be a focus ingredients such as light diffusing particles, specific tones (for example green toned to counteract redness of the skin) and lots of antioxidants.
CCs are often used as a primer - by correcting the skin's colour before applying foundation you're creating an even canvas for your makeup base.
The Last Line of Defense - DD Cream
Daily Defense. Dynamic Do-it-all.
Originally Daily Defense Creams were created for everywhere BUT your face - particularly targeting hands and feet. Then, following the success of BBs and CCs came the Dynamic Do-it-all, for your face. (We know, it's a bit of a reach, but DD is more catchy than DDIA right?)
To be honest, there's not much difference from BB and CC creams. Generally DD creams are trying to be the best of both worlds - ultra moisturising and ultra protective, whilst evening and correcting your skin tone.
So there we have it - Beauty Review has covered all bases. Well the light to sheer ones anyway. Over to you - are you on the BB train? Or the CC? What do you think about all these double letter products - marketing hype or genuine must haves? Get chatting below!
Well I never. Didn't know there was CC and DD. Im interested in that cc cream because I have uneven skin tone. It makes it harder to find the right shade.