Do They Know They Skipped AA Cream?
A few years ago, when my skin started breaking out more often, I started wearing foundation. Despite loving makeup since I was teensy tiny, I didn't actually wear foundation until I was in my 20s. I was a devotee of concealer and setting powder, but I never got into foundation. I was, and still am, of the belief that you don't actually need foundation unless you have something you really feel the need to cover up. I had a slew of pimples, hence, foundation. You might have rosacea or an uneven skintone or some other reason to desire a clean base on which to create your makeup look. That's all well and good, but the majority of foundation wearers, in my opinion, don't need the heavy foundation they're wearing.
I am now one of those people (praise Accutane!). On the average day, I don't need foundation to feel confident in my skin's appearance. I could go back to my teenage look of concealer/setting powder only. But through those years of skin struggles, I started to depend on my foundation, and I liked the look I could achieve through having a base layer on which to build my Face of The Day. Enter CC Cream.
BB, CC, DD, there's even EE now. It's all getting kind of ridiculous, but they are pretty worthwhile products, despite being the victims of marketing nonsense. I was first alerted to BB cream when I was binge watching kdramas like there was no tomorrow, and hearing about it all the time. There's a moment in City Hunter when Nana is looking at a picture of her dead parents and she says something like, "Don't worry Mom, I'll always wear BB cream." When I saw that, it was the last straw. "I GOTTA get myself some of this BB cream!" I screamed to the heavens.
So I ordered some BB cream. From Korea. Via eBay. Look, at this time it was practically impossible to find BB cream in the states. I would NOT recommend buying beauty products on eBay, but sometimes you're desperate. You'll do it, you'll learn from it, you'll blog about how it was a mistake. I bought the lightest shade, but even that was too dark for me. It also smelled kind of funky. I chalked it up to another beauty blunder and moved on. Then BB creams started popping up in the US, and because they were being made by US brands, the range of shades was much more vast than Korean brands. I was gearing up to try a BB in a pale shade, when the shelves were suddenly stocked with CC creams. CC's were like BB's, but with the added bonus of color correction. My complexion can get a bit ruddy, and I suffer from hyper-pigmentation post-breakout, so I thought this was the best option for me.
I spent an hour hopping between displays at Sephora, trying out all the BBs and CCs I could get my paws on, and I finally decided on Smashbox's. I love their Studio Skin 15hr Foundation, and I viewed their CC cream as a sort of "foundation for good skin days." I've been using this amazing CC cream for months now and I love it. I wear the shade Fair, the lightest they offer, and it's perfect for me. It doesn't create a visible layer of coverage (the worst trait a base can have, in my opinion), but melts into my skin, leaving it looking smoother, more even, and all around healthier. I still keep a few foundations that offer more coverage around, just in case I want to cover up more or look more polished for a special event, but my good skin, day to day base is this CC cream. And I don't even have to buy it from a sketchy Korean eBay seller!
