With all the BB and CC creams on the market, you might think they must have started with AA creams and you somehow missed them.
And if they’d included a gazillion Anti-Ageing creams then – scientific jargon aside – we’d largely understand them. Wouldn’t that be straightforward? But in fact they simply began with BB creams, or Beauty Balms. Containing a combination of make-up pigment with skincare ingredients, as colour cosmetics they fall somewhere between tinted moisturiser and foundation although, being so sheer, they’re closer to the former than the latter. As skincare however they’re much more multifunctional, interesting and innovative, which is why alphabet creams became so wildly popular.
BB creams, when they first arrived four years ago, were divided into either Blemish Balms for spot-prone teens, thanks to zit-zapping agents along with a touch of coverage, or Beauty Balms, which also offered sheer colour, but provided up to 10 different skincare benefits, thanks to ingredients such as antioxidants, collagen boosters and environmental protection. One of the best is Clarins BB Skin Perfecting Cream SPF25, £30, which is described as ‘make-up that behaves like skin care”.
* CC creams came along a year or so later. Known as Colour Correcting creams, their slightly better coverage and clever colour adapting pigments made them ideal for harmonising uneven skintones, treating blotchiness, calming redness and brightening dullness. Still much lighter than foundation, but craftier than tinted moisturisers, they include Clinique’s award-winning Moisture Surge CC Cream SPF30, £28 which comes in six shades and contains longterm hydrating colour-neutralisers
* DD creams – or Daily Defence products – have a strong anti-ageing focus as well as slightly more coverage than BB creams. Accordingly, Nuxe Creme Prodigieuse DD Creme with SPF30, £21 and Decleor DD Cream Daily Defence Fluid Shield SPF30, £29.50 both contain antioxidant, anti-pollution and UV-protection.
* EE creams are the latest addition to the alphabet craze. According to Estee Lauder, EE means Even Effect, so the products are aimed at fighting age spots, post-blemish marks and discolouration. Their Enlighten Skintone Correcting Collection includes Dark Spot Correcting Night Serum, £50, and hydrating Correcting Creme, £46, while their Skintone Corrector SPF30, £34 combines anti-ageing and anti-discolouration ingredients, plus subtle colour-correcting pigments.
So what’s next? If FF creams arrive, surely they’d be just another way to describe foundations. It’s just a thought, but perhaps Finer Foundations could contain pore-minimising, texture-smoothing skincare in addition to light coverage. As for GG creams, in France L’Oreal already sell an illuminating bronzer called Glam Bronze GG Cream, although it hasn’t launched here. After that, of course, there’s still another 19 letters to go. Maybe we should even suggest a few of our own, just in case manufacturers need our help.… (HH Homme Hydration creams, or YY – Youthful Yawn – lipcreams, anyone?) Watch this space…
Dear readers – what would your suggestions be for alphabet creams? Just leave a comment below.
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