Bobbi Brown CC Cream

You know what I struggle with when I see CC creams? Prioritization.
These creams are often designed to correct a tone – be it redness, dullness, sallowness. It’s all seems so very neat and distinct as a concept. But is it really? What if you have more than one correction requirement? What if your nose suffers from redness, and the rest of your face is dull? Obviously thinking of my own face here...
The sales assistant would probably fervently recommend buying two/three tones to sort out these “flaws” – something I am unlikely to do – so it comes down to prioritizing what your main concern is.
In the last 6 months or so mainstream brands have become very aware of these concerns because every counter in the department store now has it’s own line of CC creams. MAC, YSL, Clinique, Peter Thomas Roth, Smashbox... everyone’s doing it and during the last few weeks I have been trying out Bobbi Brown’s contribution.

So a bit of background for you: in Spring she released a line of 3 CC creams – one each for fair, medium and deep skin tones. I had a makeover with the Regional Artistry and Education Manager for the Middle East, Eliano Bou Assi and he stated that either the fair or medium would work on my skin – depending on tan levels.
In writing this post I did a bit of swotting up to see what other people said about it. I am a weirdo and love to do this after I have tried something and formed my own opinion. Am I with the consensus or the odd one out? Here are some of the common statements I have seen about this product:
There’s no coverage Totally agree with you there. There is ZERO coverage. None. Zip. Zero. This is a CC cream in the true sense – it’s for correcting and not covering. Bobbi Brown marketing collateral consistently pitches this as something you apply BEFORE a foundation product and they don’t promise that you can skip base when you use this.
I have seen this as one of the main criticisms against the CC cream and I think the confusion arises because some of the products on the market that adopt this name DO have coverage and act like tinted moisturisers. The Bobbi Brown, like the YSL, needs something over the top for most of us...
There is a tint that interferes and changes the colour of anything you put over the top Okay I kind of agree with this. Although there is no coverage, it does give a tint to the skin. I guess that’s the whole point, right? Some reviewers think that this is almost too strong and that the subsequent foundation changes colour because of it. I haven’t found this at all. For me – and I have been using Warm Nude – it just enhances the colour.
It’s a multi-use product Yep, agree. I love the fact that this comes armed with an SPF 35. It also acts as a great primer for the skin because it seems to even out my skin texture. It doesn’t have a fake silicon texture – it’s a nice, dense cream – that applies very nicely onto the skin with fingers (or a brush if you’re fancy).
For me it’s the last point that’s probably the most important/relevant and the factor that would be most likely to lead to repurchase. I have never been particularly pro-primer but if you are going to go down that road then why not get something that corrects, protects via the SPF and makes your skin feel nice? It’s a win-win!
I will add one thing though. I just cannot combine this with a liquid foundation. For me it’s just too much cream on my face (!!) It’s entirely psychological because it’s not like this amps up the coverage and turns my face mask-like but the only way I like to wear it is with a good powder – enter Laura Mercier and today’s FOTD:

Face: Bobbi Brown CC Cream in Warm Nude, Laura Mercier Mineral Foundation Blusher: NARS Madly Eyes: NARS primer, MAC Blonde’s Gold pigment and Nooner from Urban Decay. Black shadow for liner and L’oreal Miss Manga Mascara Brows: MAC Lingering Lips: By Terry lipstick in Baby Bloom and AERIN lipstick in Garden Path mixed together
FYI: The CC Cream costs 210 AED in the UAE and is at counters now. And if you are visiting/based here go to the store in Dubai Mall because the private makeup room is AMAZING!
What do you think of CC creams? Do you have any favourites?