Beauty News

BB vs. CC Creams: What’s the Difference?

There’s a huge amount of confusion around BB, CC, DD andon andon… creams and ultimately this is because the difference sits mostly on the packaging, i.e. whichever doubled up lettering the marketeers choose to pick next. They are all basically tinted moisturisers.

BB Creams first hit our shores from South Korea in 2012, even though they were all the wrong colours for the British public, we lapped them up. A BB cream (Beauty Balm or Blemish Balm) is typically a non-comedogenic, light foundation; that doesn’t irritate sensitive or acne-prone skins, with high levels of anti-oxidants and a good SPF factor, usually 30+.

CC creams (Color Correcting) are designed with light reflecting particles to address issues like redness or sallowness, they are also full of anti-oxidants and protect with around SPF 30+. CC creams are meant to be slightly lighter in texture, but they really vary between brands.

At Cult Beauty we’ve stayed relatively immune to the hysteria, only stocking these skin care/make up hybrid creams from brands we trust like {REN}, {Omorovicza}, {Stila} and most recently a fantastic one from {Resultime by Collin}. Coverage-wise they all sit between tinted moisturiser and foundation and all come with great skin care benefits and SPF. As with most BB, CC creams the colours self-correct to a degree so it’s easier to buy online with confidence, but these will only perfect pale to dark olive skins I’m afraid. The one downside to BBCCDD etc is the colour ranges they make are limited.

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Verity Douglas

Verity Douglas

Content Editor

Cult Beauty’s Content Editor and a Cult Beauty OG, Verity loves nothing more than the marriage of language and lip balm. A quintessential Libran, she’s a self-professed magpie for luxury ‘must-haves' and always pursuing the new and the niche — from the boujee-est skin care to cutting-edge tech. Balancing an urge to stop the clock with her desire to embrace the ageing process (and set a positive example for her daughter), Verity's a retinol obsessive and will gladly share her thoughts about the time-defying gadgets, masks and treatments worth the splurge...