Paris Picks! The CC Cream Edition – 3 CC Creams I’ve been using recently

You know, it took me a long while to warm up to BB Creams and it wasn’t until I eventually found some that actually worked for me that I actually warmed up to the idea of using them. By that time, CC Creams had come on the scene and I had a headdesk moment. I was going to have to re-learn the whole notion of alphabet creams again!

CC Creams, or Colour Correcting creams claimed to be an improvement on BB Creams. They boasted a lighter texture, and colour correcting pigments instead of mere tint. If you ask me however, barring some truly colour correcting creams that are basically primers to correct sallowness or redness in skintone, there is very little to distinguish BB or CC Creams. So you know what? Don’t bother. Just use whatever you like, whatever it may be called. Even if it be a GG (Glamorously Gorgeous) Cream which isn’t yet invented but which just might be 😛 Remember however, it is first and foremost a makeup item, not skincare so please clean it off accordingly and please do not attempt to sleep in it.

But because everyone loves labels, I thought I’d share with you 3 CC Creams I’ve tried that I actually like and use pretty often. It might surprise you that a popular CC Cream that was said to have started the whole trend isn’t here in my list, but you know, that’s life 🙂 I just found myself preferring these. So let me quickly share them with you because I’ve never reviewed them individually before this and I’ve got a tip for making these CC Creams work better for me! 😀

Clinique Moisture Surge CC Cream – Natural Fair RM125/40ml

You might think “Liar! You have reviewed the Clinique CC Cream and you hated it!” Well, yes and no. When I first reviewed the Clinique CC Cream, it was a press sample that was one of the colour correcting primer types. That, I wasn’t impressed with as it didn’t seem to do much of anything for me. However, not very long after, I was browsing the Clinique counter at the airport, when I decided on a whim, to get one of the tinted versions in Natural Fair. Turned out that I liked it a lot!

The tint in Natural Fair was a close match to my skintone and it offered a light coverage, to just even out my skintone quite nicely. It was a nice base to wear on a lazy weekend or while on holiday if I wanted to just have a light base on. The high SPF30/PA+++ rating was a good thing to have as well. The texture is fairly creamy and it isn’t drying nor does it make my skin oily. It doesn’t offer very much coverage, but if what you need is just to even out skintone so it doesn’t look blotchy and you aren’t too concerned about covering up blemishes, pigmentation or marks on skin then this is a nice, lightweight base to have on. I actually used this one quite a lot until the next one in this list came along.

Ingredient list: Active Ingredients: Octinoxate 7.5%, Octisalate 5%, Titanium Dioxide 5.2%, and Zinc Oxide 3.2%; Inactive Ingredients: Water, Squalane, Octyldodecyl Neopentanoate, Butylene Glycol, Propanediol, Glyceryl Stearate, Behenyl Alcohol, PEG-40 Stearate, Polyglyceryl-10 Pentastearate, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Water, Thermus Thermophillus Ferment, Trehalose, Caffeine , Glycerin, Linoleic Acid, Lecithin, Stearic Acid, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Sorbitol, Polyglyceryl-6 Polyricinoleate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP Copolymer, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-t-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Isopropyl Titanium Triisostearate, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Xanthan Gum, Silica, Alumina, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Tin Oxide, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol. May Contain: Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides.

Peter Thomas Roth CC Cream – Light & Light to Medium RM198/50ml

I have to say that of the 3 that I like, this one’s my favourite and I wasn’t even expecting to like it! The Peter Thomas Roth CC Cream contains fairly high sunscreen protection with both Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide and on top of that, is supposed to contain Camu Camu which is said to have 30 times the Vitamin C in oranges. Vitamin C and arbutin help protect and brighten the skin’s complexion while the tint in the product minimizes the appearance of imperfections.

I find that this PTR CC Cream has slightly better coverage than the Clinique CC Cream and a slightly thicker texture. I find that it does a pretty good job at making my skin look good with very minimal effort and that’s something every woman craves, trust me. Not all of us want to take hours to primp in front of the mirror in the early mornings, attempting to make our skins look flawless. Some of us (me actually) actually value our beauty sleep more so a quick fix is often helpful and this is my quick fix.

As you can see, coverage isn’t 100%. Anyone who has pigmentation fights this problem, but I’ve taken a more laid back attitude to it now. It evens out my skintone enough to make me happy to head to work sometimes, but I have a little trick to help it along to make my skin look better.

My tip for making CC Creams work better

This is a simple tip but it requires the help of my magic balls – Guerlain Meteorites. I like to use either 02 Clair (previously Teint Rose) or Medium (previously Teint Beige) for this purpose.

What I do is apply a CC Cream on my skin as base. Then, I buff Meteorites powder all over. The CC Cream base evens out my skintone and offers a slight tint of colour, while the Meteorites pulls the look together and gives it a glow that allows me to fake the effect of a good night’s sleep and clear natural makeup-free skin when neither is true! CC Cream, being of a lighter and sheerer texture than foundation or most BB Creams allow more of the natural skin to come through so it looks more natural. Try it, if you don’t believe me and tell me if it works for you!

Here is the ingredient list for the Peter Thomas Roth CC Cream.

I like the texture of this one, it doesn’t turn oily and it sits well on my skin and looks natural. I have 2 shades. Light is very light as you will see in the swatches below. It is more like a primer that brightens the skin if you have a deeper skintone, and if you are very fair skinned then this may be the shade for you. Light to Medium is fairly deep in the swatch, but when I wear it actually seems fine. I do only wear a thin layer, which you can see in the picture above and I buff it out with Meteorites which actually help brighten the skintone and help it look better.

Olay Total Effects Pore Minimizing CC Cream – Light RM49.90/50g

This one was purchased completely on a whim while out on a jaunt to the local pharmacy. I believe it was on sale when I picked it up and from recollection, there are 3 or 4 shades available. I picked it up in Light.

The first thing I noticed is that it has the signature Olay Total Effects scent. It isn’t unpleasant, but it is there and quite strong. The texture is quite liquid which I found a little unusual compared to the other CC Creams I’ve used that tend to have a slightly thicker texture. As a result, it also has a very light coverage and really, works best for someone who already has fairly good skin.

While I can’t say I noticed any pore minimizing going on, I actually thought this wasn’t too bad, for the price and for the way it performed because it seemed to neutralize redness on my skin fairly well. It did nothing for me in terms of coverage but when I dab on some concealer and use my Guerlain Meteorites trick as I told you above, I get away with a fairly natural base even for work days. That was what I liked. This Olay CC Cream made a good base. If I needed a little more coverage, I’d use a pressed powder (I like the RMK Pressed Powder N) all over, buffed gently into the skin and everything looks natural, almost as if I didn’t have a base on.

Here is the ingredient list for the Olay Total Effects Pore Minimizing CC Cream. I don’t know if it’s the same with the ones sold in the USA or Europe as ours are made in Thailand but if you are based in Asia then this is the one you’d likely get.

Of the 3 featured, this has the lowest sun protection at SPF15 so if you dislike wearing sunscreen and are depending on this to protect your skin (please don’t!) then don’t get this because SPF15 in the tropical sun is far too low.

And finally, here are the swatches of the CC Creams I’ve featured here.

The Clinique CC Cream in Natural Fair and Olay CC Cream in Fair are fairly close in tone. The difference between the two is texture. Clinique’s is thicker while Olay is lighter and more like a lotion than a cream. I also find that Olay offers less coverage and can slip on my skin as the day wears on while Clinique’s doesn’t slip as much. Setting both with some powder definitely helps with coverage and longevity.

The Peter Thomas Roth CC Creams both have a rather warm tone but I like their texture which you can see offers better and smoother coverage. Light, on the extreme right is very light and has less coverage than Light/Medium. I can actually wear both although I definitely use the Meteorites with Light/Medium to brighten the skintone. Funnily enough, it swatches very dark, but as you can see in the FOTD above, it doesn’t make me look orange. It just kinda works!

Have you tried any of these CC Creams? Do you use CC Creams and is there one you like?

Of the 3 brands here, I like the Peter Thomas Roth, followed by Clinique and then Olay. However, I don’t usually wear them for long hours because I keep these for weekends or holidays or off days so I don’t really test them for longevity. As far as light casual bases go, these work for me, but I can’t say they’ll work for everyone out there 🙂

Paris B

Clinique Moisture Surge CC Cream SPF 30/PA+++ Price: 125/40ml Availability: Clinique counters, Sephora stores | Peter Thomas Roth CC Cream SPF30 Complexion Corrector Price: RM198/40ml Availability: Sephora stores | Olay Total Effects Pore Minimizing CC Cream with sunscreen Price: RM49.90/50g Availability: Olay counters at most major pharmacies