When I finally got my hands on some CC creams and tested them out, the first thing I noticed was the amount of coverage they provide. While most BB creams fall midway between tinted moisturizers and foundations on the coverage spectrum, CC creams vary dramatically. Some, like the Olay Total Effects CC Tone Correcting UV Moisturizer, $21.50, are more like souped-up tinted primers to wear under your usual foundation. However, some of the CCs in Asia, like the Rachel K CC cream, will give you more coverage than a BB cream.
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Texture
When we road-tested BB creams in the Total Beauty office, some of my fellow editors really didn't like the texture. They thought they were too silicone-like and oily. Well, they're thrilled about CC creams, which have a softer, almost mousse-like consistency. "Unlike BB creams, CC creams have a lighter texture," says Rachel Kum, co-founder of Rachel K Cosmetics in Hong Kong. "This results in a formula that's extremely easy to blend."
The biggest beauty product trend I can remember in my eight-plus-year career (and many more makeup-obsessed years prior to becoming a beauty editor) is BB creams. Just about every beauty company in the world spent the last 12 months formulating and then launching one of these tinted multi-taskers otherwise known as "beauty balms."
Then, a few months ago, I started hearing whispers among big players in the beauty biz about another hot skin care trend coming out of Asia -- a cream that would do the BB one better. The obvious name for such a product? The CC cream.
But CC isn't just an arbitrary name cooked up by a beauty executive with a preschooler at home. CC stands for "color correcting," because that's exactly what it's designed to do: even and brighten the color of your complexion. (Of course, that's the primary function of BB creams as well. But I digress.)
While the CC cream phenomenon is still in its infancy, Olay won the metaphorical race and launched the first one in the United States this October. And I think it's safe to assume that many companies will be following suit and coming out with their own CC creams in 2013.
After trying just about every BB cream available, I spent the last few weeks playing with the new Olay Color Correcting cream and as many of the best CC creams from Asia that I could get my hands on. And I'm breaking down the noticeable differences between BB creams and CC creams -- they're subtle, but they're there. Here's what you need to know to be a step ahead of the CC cream trend. You know, before a DD cream comes out.
