Being totally made-up is something that some of us girls always wish to be, but it’s not something that we can always do. Some days it really just doesn’t make sense to walk out of the house looking like we’re wearing an entire department store. Some days, just a touch of makeup to enhance beauty and to cover up a few blemishes is more than enough. However, it can be said that the western market mostly carries and offers only the heaviest foundation formulas. Luckily, across the pond out in Asia, comes a foundation solution that will save you time and effort and help you prevent runny make-up for the summer -- or any season, really. Now let’s talk about this total makeup lifesaver.
Shop Missha M Signature BB Cream
The beauty industry in East Asia (Korea and Japan, especially) has innovated and changed the foundation game so much that it has made a new, powerful trend, one that is currently taking the world by storm. I’m talking about the BB and CC creams, some of which can be packed in an interesting cushion with an effective sponge applicator.
The BB&CC Craze
BB Cream stands for Blemish Balm or Beauty Balm, depending on the brand/manufacturer. They are essentially facial makeup base creams that were developed by a German doctor named Christine Schrammek, as a way to protect her patients who have just undergone facial peels and surgeries in the 1960s. These creams were used in medical applications until the 1980s, when they were taken in and developed into what they are today by Korean companies. And thus, the BB Cream was born. BB Cream is a facial product that is said to mix many products in one - primer, moisturizer, sunscreen, serum, and pigment, to give coverage much like foundation.
Shop Klairs Illuminating Supple BB Cream
CC Cream, on the other hand, stands for color correction. It is another facial makeup base cream that Korean beauty experts have developed. These products often promise to correct redness and discoloration from the skin, as well as to offer sun protection and faint pigmentation that can effectively cover up facial imperfections. These, unlike BB creams, are not originally made out of medical need - they are produced to meet the demands of people who want to hit many, many birds with one stone. You see, CC creams are amazing multi-taskers – they can relieve sallowness from skin, cover up redness, cover up some blemishes, offer up SPF, moisturize, and provide anti-aging benefits, all while also acting as a tinted moisturizer or foundation.
Why BB? Why CC?
Why choose BB and CC creams over ‘normal’ foundations? Simple: it’s lightweight, and checks all the needed beauty boxes in one product. If you’re in a hurry and you have no time to do your full make-up routine and regimen you can slather on some BB cream, as it has primer, sunblock, moisturizer, and pigment. One layer and you’re right out the door.
Unfamiliar with the color wheel and color correctors? Slap on some CC cream and your sallow skin due to the cold winter is solved! Want that natural glow, but don’t want to cake on too much product? Let the light formula and promising pigmentation of the BB and CC creams be your solution. Indeed, they are the future of makeup.
These creams - the BB and CC creams - have been a huge craze in South Korea for the longest time now. Korean experts are indeed the forerunners of making these light, all-in-one foundation creams a hit - not only in Asia, but now in the whole world. Korea’s obsession with such light foundations can be traced to the ‘natural look’ trend that has gripped the nation ever since. With the rise of the natural look in the make-up realm (it’s coming for Kim K’s hash contours and highlights!), BB and CC creams are poised to take over the world, and you should definitely get into it if you want to save yourself time, money, and energy!
