Erborian CC Creme HD

One of Erborian's better known lines includes their CC and BB creams - Sarah wrote about their BB cream a couple of years back - and today I have their CC cream to show you.  Where the BB cream has a light, almost ashy cool colour to it, the CC Cream is colourless straight out of the tube, promising to adapt to your skintone as you rub it in.

If you look carefully at this photo, you can see flecks of pigment in the predominantly white cream.

As I start to rub it into my hand, the pigment starts to show itself.  And it's looking a little bit dark for my pale skin.

Err, yup.  Fully developed, the colour is too dark and too warm for me - if your skintone is warm, olive-y, and medium toned Caucasian, this might match you.  Otherwise, you're out of luck.

Texture wise, it's very light and feels hydrating, and even the badly matched hand swatch shows a finish which is surprisingly natural - it's not overly matte, nor is it dewy.  Nice, if it matches your skintone.

Costing £36 at Space NK, it's undoubtedly expensive, although given that lovely texture, and that Sali Hughes has recently raved about it, it's sure to sell out.  If you're curious, it's definitely worth popping in to your local Space NK to try it before you buy.

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This post originated at www.londonbeautyreview.com. If you're reading it elsewhere, it's been stolen, violating my copyright.

Clinique Moisture Surge CC Cream Compact SPF25 in Very Light

Clinique have released a new format of their Moisture Surge CC Cream - it's called, rather verbosely, Moisture Surge CC Cream Compact SPF25.  That's a lot of Cs right there.  I was only mildly impressed with the liquid version - I didn't think it added a lot over the BB cream, and I didn't quite understand the Moisture Surge moniker when it actually wasn't very hydrating.

This new compact version promises little above the liquid version, albeit offering a more portable format.  Inside the compact, you get a large, clear mirror and a small white sponge.  These sponges make me sad.  They're so white and pristine, and then immediately they become dirty and a bit beige.

I found that the compact format allowed for easier blending than the liquid - the act of using a sponge to dab and blend a little at a time proved much easier than trying to blend in the liquid, which seems drier and less velvety than the compact.  It's a cream to powder formula, with the final finish being a soft, glowing matte - I need a little powder to set down my T-zone, but otherwise it remains pretty matte throughout the day, which is odd for a moisturising product.

Left: before; right: after

The coverage is sheer to medium, and it works best for evening skintone out and adding luminosity.  I also found that it was very effective at toning down the redness of spots (I definitely had some corkers the first time I tried it) and, layered up slightly, works well as an undereye and blemish concealer.

Is it massively hydrating?  I don't think so.  It doesn't dry my skin out, but I didn't notice that my skin felt better hydrated throughout the course of the day compared to normal foundation.  Does it give a lovely finish?  Yes.  For that reason, I like it - much more than I liked the liquid version.

Now, on to a major bugbear - this foundation is £30 (that's not the bugbear).  It's a bit expensive, but not too awful compared to some of the foundations in my collection.  However, if your best shade match is Deep, the darkest of the six shades, this foundation is £35:

What's up with that, Clinique?  Why does a darker skintone justify a £5 price hike?  Answers on a post card...

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This post originated at www.londonbeautyreview.com. If you're reading it elsewhere, it's been stolen, violating my copyright.

YSL Forever Light Creator CC Creme

Finally!  Someone has released a CC cream which isn't just a BB cream with new packaging!

YSL's latest skin offering is this new CC cream, which really is a colour corrector, and comes under the Forever Light Creator brand.

Lavender, Apricot, Rose

There are three shades - Lavender for neutralising yellow tones and sallowness; Rose for counteracting dullness; and Apricot for adding a warming glow.  Each boast SPF 35 and PA+++ protection, meaning that your skin is protected from both UVA and UVB rays whilst wearing it.

The texture is extremely light and fluid -  they spread easily across the skin and sink in quickly.  I found I needed less than I expected - a small blob applied atop moisturised skin is plenty.  Going overboard will leave you looking a bit odd thanks to the white-ish base.  I wonder whether they'd work on those with deeper skin tones - the white-ish cast to the Lavender and Rose shades might look a bit ashy, and not as natural as intended.

And here I am wearing the Rose shade underneath my normal foundation.  Granted, the light was pretty good when I took this photo, but my skin certainly is bright when I wear it.  For me, it's a toss up between Rose and Lavender for my favourite shade - both make my skin look bright and even, help my foundation apply more smoothly, with the Lavender really helping out when I've not had enough sleep.

The verdict, then?  Lovely, albeit not entirely necessary - if you seek perfect skin, this'll definitely help, but if you're not that fussed for brightness you probably don't need it, particularly given that these babies cost £30 a tube.  Find them now at the YSL Beauty website.

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This post originated at www.londonbeautyreview.com. If you're reading it elsewhere, it's been stolen, violating my copyright.

Curse of the Light/Medium: Origins Smarty Plants CC Cream

This is Origin's new CC cream, Smarty Plants.  Love the name.  According to Origins, this product is skincare meets makeup with an extra Origins boost.  The formula contains salicyclic acid and chestnut extract to help control oil, minimise pores, and generally improve the skin's texture.  And granted, the texture is rather lovely - it's moist and hydrating without being greasy.

Unfortunately Origins also claim that the formula matches itself to your skintone for a "true to you flawless look".  So confident are they that they've released only two shades - Light/Medium and Medium/Deep.

I was sent the Light/Medium to try, and you can see that it has definitely not matched my skin particularly well - compare my jawline against my neck and you'll see that my face is a little unnervingly yellow.  Smarty Plants unfortunately is too warm toned for my rather cool skin.

I do wish that beauty brands would stop trying to coerce their products into as few shades as possible.  Despite liking the texture and the lightweight coverage, I won't be using or recommending Smarty Pants as I suspect there are only a couple of skin tones it really matches.

If you think your skin might be more suited to this shade, you'll find it at the Origins website, where it'll cost you £28.  I'd recommend trying it in store rather than playing skintone roulette online!

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This post originated at www.londonbeautyreview.com. If you're reading it elsewhere, it's been stolen, violating our copyright.

Clinique CC Cream in Very Light

This is Clinique's newest base product - CC cream.  Now the whole world and his civil partner has released a BB cream, we're up a letter and moving from Beauty/Blemish Balms to Correcting Creams.  CC creams are supposed to have the same skincare benefits and SPF as BB creams, but provide colour correcting, skintone evening effects rather than behaving like a foundation.

This Clinique version is sold under the Moisture Surge range - placing it with skincare as opposed to with Clinique's colour collection.  It's billed as a hydrating product, and whilst my skin doesn't feel dry after a day of wearing it, I can't really say I notice that it's particularly hydrating - in fact, it goes onto the skin much the same as Clinique's BB cream, with a pretty dry texture which needs moisturiser underneath it.  You'd expect that a CC cream would simply correct any redness, hyperpigmentation, etc instead of actually acting as an all in one base product - and yet, Clinique's CC cream evens the skintone and adds a light veil of colour.

Excuse the squinting, it was bright outside!

It does give a bright, glowy effect on the skin, though.  I suspect I could have done with a bit more moisturiser on before I applied the CC cream I'm wearing in this photo, but the overall effect is pretty natural, radiant, and perfectly matching to my winter-pale skin.  It's a light to medium finish - if your skin is a little uneven but not overly blemish-y it should give you enough coverage to look even and smooth.

At £28 a tube, it's quite an expensive base product - particularly given the light levels of coverage and the slightly dry texture which makes for a somewhat difficult application.  That said, it does even the skintone and it does add brightness - bit of a mixed bag, then!

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