BB,CC,DD creams…what’s the difference

I first discovered BB cream on a trip to Asia in the summer of 2011. As usual when I travel to different countries I have to scope out the beauty stores, it’s so much fun to discover new things!

I kept seeing all these labels with “BB cream” on them, of course not being able to read the rest of the labels( no I still haven’t learned mandarin!) I wasn’t sure what it was.

So I innocently asked my Taiwanese friend, “ what’s a BB cream?” “ WHAT!?” she said “ you haven’t tried BB cream!?” OMG it’s just the most amazing cream from Korea that has ever existed!

Well of course I HAD to HAVE it! The first one I tried was from the Faces shop brand, being that’s a Korean brand I thought I try it from the source. It’s lovely and my skin looked flawless, so then I moved on to something a little more expensive from Missha,also a Korean brand.

They had many options to choose from but I chose Missha signature wrinkle filler BB cream. Asian women have such flawless skin ,I was feeling my age!

The cream touts that it provides anti-aging and moisturizing benefits and covers fine lines and pores, and evens skin tone. It also has SPF37/PA++

Perfect!

When I came back to Miami I gushed to my friends about my new Asian beauty find and of course they all wanted to try it. At that time, however, there were only a few on the market, Dr. Jart, Boscia  to name a couple and they only had one shade so I don’t think I made anyone into a convert.  Especially not my Indian friend.

Now there are many choices, it seems almost every brand has some sort of BB cream and now CC cream too. Hmm… I wondered was CC cream just clever marketing to fill the gap where BB cream fell short?

I’m not so sure there is really a big difference between them. If BB ( beauty balm) creams  were originally meant to be an all in one product , replacing moisturizer, serum, primer , foundation and sunblock, then CC ( color control) cream is supposed to cover all of the above plus more nourishing ingredients and better coverage with a lighter texture. Now for DD cream… Julep, the company behind this “Dynamic Do-all” cream due out in June promises that it will do all that BB and CC creams already do but with the added benefit of improving your skin over time. It all sounds wonderful and I applaud the cosmetic companies for their expanded range of shades of these creams. Now all we are waiting for is the same thing for our bodies! EE cream, Elongating, eliminating cream , or FF cream Forever Flawless….

Until then here are my top picks for BB/CC creams.

Missha signature wrinkle filler BB cream- here

Peter Thomas Roth CC cream broad spectrum SPF 30- here

Maybelline Dream Fresh BB 8-in-1 Beauty Balm Powder

PS. If you have to be outside all day like I do for my work , I sometimes layer this great BB powder on top of my makeup or BB cream. Since you are supposed to reapply your sunscreen I find it’s easier to brush on a powder than add more BB cream.

Physicians Formula Super BB All-in 1 Beauty Balm Powder – here