Welcome to the world of alphabet creams! If you’ve wandered through the beauty aisles lately, you’ve probably been bombarded with products boasting letters like BB, CC, DD, and EE. But what do all these letters actually mean? Are they just marketing jargon, or do they each offer something unique for your skincare routine? Let’s break down these alphabet creams to uncover their secrets and help you find the perfect one for your needs!
BB and CC creams are the go-to favorites for those who like natural makeup, all-in-one products, and as many skin care benefits as possible. DD and EE creams are a little more complicated, and much less common. Trying to decide which of the alphabet creams you need can be difficult, especially when there are so many options on the market.
What is true for almost all BB, CC, DD and EE creams is that they are one-part foundation (or maybe closer to a tinted moisturizer), and one-part skin care products. Some can also cover the categories of face primer, anti-aging serum, and sunscreen (or at least so they claim).
Whether you’re new to these multitasking marvels or just looking to refine your beauty regimen, read on to find out which alphabet cream is your perfect match.
Where did BB, CC, DD, and EE creams originate?
The OG BB creams, while created in Germany, became a hit thanks to their popularity in East Asia. A dermatologist formulated the first BB cream in the ‘60s, in order to give a safe and protective makeup product to patients who have had strong acid peels.
In Korea and Japan, there is heavy emphasis and pursuit to have near perfect and soft skin. With BB creams being marketed as both a skincare product and makeup product, they caught on quickly.
Currently, alphabet creams make up about 13% of the beauty product market in South Korea, and they are also a serious part of the Western makeup work. Since 2012, BB and CC creams have become more and more popular in the West, and nowadays almost every makeup brand carries their own BB or CC cream.
What are the main differences between BB, CC, DD, and EE creams? Are they definitive?
When it comes to alphabet creams, no two formulas are alike. So going from brand to brand BB creams will be different from other BB creams, CC creams will be different from other CC creams, etc.
You might even find that what is a DD cream according to one brand really reminds you of a different brand’s BB cream. There are no specific rules, although for the most part you will find some claims are more commonly made about one type of alphabet cream, and others are made when speaking about a different alphabet cream.
Ultimately, when trying to choose between BB creams, CC creams, or DD creams, it’s important to consider each product individually – is the color right for you? Do you like the coverage it gives? Do the skin care benefits this product offers take care of your specific skin concerns? Those answers are much more important than the letters used to name the product.
BB Cream: The Beauty Balm
BB creams are the first alphabet creams to make a splash on the market. Depending on the brand, the BB either stands for “blemish balm” or “beauty balm.” It aims to conceal minor blemishes or imperfections while giving the skin a natural, everyday look.
Not only does it give light coverage, it also offers sun protection and hydration through moisturizing ingredients like hyaluronic acid, glycerin, and botanical extracts. Overall, it’s a great all-in-one product that simplifies your skincare and makeup routine while providing your skin supple and essential benefits. It’s perfect for minimal makeup days or for those who prefer a more streamlined routine.
Our Picks
1. Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream SPF 42
This Korean BB cream is one of the beauty balms that led to the BB cream popularity explosion, so its place on this list is well deserved. It offers a medium-light coverage, and has a pleasantly smooth texture. It works well with most skin types, and even offers hydrating and anti-aging benefits, not to mention robust sun protection. It comes in 5 shades well suited to those with warmer skin tones. You can purchase it through SokoGlam.
2. Tarte BB Blur Tinted Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 30 Sunscreen
Tarte makes some of the best, most wearable foundations, and their affinity for skin-loving ingredients makes it only natural that their BB cream would be exceptional. Its light coverage means that the relatively small color range (4 on offer) is no big deal.
One of the best BB creams, this one goes on smoothly, and diffuses the appearance of both larger pores and fine lines. It works decently on all skin types, and a simple formula means that it’s phenomenal for sensitive skin. It can be purchased at Sephora.
3. Kosas BB Burst Tinted Moisturizer Gel Cream with Copper Peptides
Clean beauty products have been sweeping the globe rapidly, incorporating non-irritating ingredients that are safe for all skin types – even the most sensitive. A refreshing twist on tinted moisturizer, this clean, tinted gel cream from Kosas offers a burst of active skincare benefits.
Its formulation is noted with triple-hydration technology to bolster the skin barrier, collagen-boosting copper peptides, and zinc oxide to visibly diminish redness. It provides light, buildable coverage and leaves your skin with a smooth, hydrated, and natural finish. Find it on Sephora.
4. erborian BB Cream Tinted Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 20
This multitasking tinted crème delivers a flawless matte finish by seamlessly blending into your skin, minimizing the appearance of pores and imperfections. Enriched with ginseng, known for its moisturizing and smoothing benefits, the erborian BB cream helps keep your complexion soft and even.
We love it’s inclusion of broad-spectrum SPF 20 as it provides essential protection against harmful UVA and UVB rays. It has a beautiful lightweight and buildable coverage that creates a velvety-soft complexion. You can find it at Ulta, in 4 versatile shades.
5. Dr. Jart+ Premium BB Tinted Moisturizer with Niacinamide and SPF 40
Choosing the best BB creams from Dr. Jart+’s roster is difficult, since this brand is a leader when it comes to crafting them. Ultimately, this one stands out as exceptional, especially for those with oily skin and enlarged pores. It gives a medium coverage, with both available shades leaning towards neutral. This winning long-wearing formula can be picked up at Sephora.
CC Cream: The Color Corrector
So it seems to me like it was a marketing gimmick that gave birth to the first CC cream, and very little else. CC creams stand for color correction, but how they correct color in a way that BB creams don’t is a mystery to me. Nevertheless, they are designed to address specific skin issues like redness, dullness, or sallowness. It often contains ingredients that help neutralize and balance out different skin tones.
Often you will find that CC creams, in addition to correcting as a foundation would, also contain skin-brightening ingredients like vitamin C. They usually have thinner texture, and are often marketed towards mature skin – it is no surprise that their finish tends to be creamier and more dewier.
CC creams might also brighten the skin cosmetically, with light-diffusing minerals that’ll give a radiant glow to the skin.
Exceptions always exist, with brands often focusing on differentiating within their brand, rather than following universal rules.
Our Picks
1. IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream SPF 50
This is one of the best CC creams, thanks to a robust formula of anti-aging ingredients including my personal favorite Asian beauty staple, snail mucus. It offers a medium to full coverage, so it can straight up replace your foundation, and is best for normal and dry skin types. It is up for sale, in 7 different colors, at Sephora.
2. Supergoop! CC Screen 100% Mineral CC Cream SPF 50
This SPF focused CC cream is a game-changing fusion of makeup and skincare magic. This mineral marvel doesn’t just brighten up your complexion with its instant luminosity; it also smooths out your skin tone while protecting against those pesky UVA and UVB rays. Packed with apple extract for a vitamin C boost and Irish moss to fend off free radicals and keep your skin healthy, this cream delivers a radiant, natural finish that’s as good for your skin as it is for your look. It is available in 6 shades, at Dermstore.
3. bareMinerals COMPLEXION RESCUE Tinted Moisturizer with Hyaluronic Acid and Mineral SPF 30
This lovely CC cream perfects the skin gently, with coverage on the medium side of things and a dewy, healthy glow finish. It’ll work well with most skin types, but is specially targeted for dry and combination skin types. It’s hard to find negative reviews, because it simply works so well as a makeup product. Throughout the day it keeps the skin hydrated, with some gentle moisturizing ingredients. You can choose one of the 20 colors it comes in at Sephora.
4. Clinique Moisture Surge CC Cream Broad Spectrum SPF 30
Clinique’s BB cream for acne-prone skin is phenomenal, so their CC cream, targeting dry skin is unsurprisingly also fantastic. With 6 colors to choose from, the color palette is impressive, and the coverage is more than adequate while still looking light and natural. If your skin is on the oily side, you can use this and skip your moisturizer. One of the best CC creams, it is available for sale at Nordstrom.
5. e.l.f Cosmetics Hydrating CC Cream SPF 30
This long-lasting cream offers full coverage while hydrating your skin for a smooth, radiant finish. Enriched with vitamin B5, tremella mushroom, and hyaluronic acid, it provides deep moisture and nourishment. Additionally, its broad-spectrum SPF 30 helps shield your skin from harmful sun rays. It can be found at Ulta.
DD Cream: The Dynamic Do-All
Let me start by officially announcing that the whole concept of DD creams is pretty much dead. May they rest in peace! The ‘DD’ in DD creams stands for either “dynamic-do-all” or “daily defense”. This is deems to be pretty pointless, seeing as that “do-all” idea was already part of the BB cream mythos, while defense, likely in the form of a sunscreen, is de rigeur in your average alphabet cream.
It is telling that no Korean company seems to have ever come up with a DD cream. Marcelle and Julep were two of the first brands to introduce the concept, but both have discontinued their DD creams in the past few years.
Our Pick
1. PÜR Beauty 4-in-1 Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20
Although DD creams haven’t fully differentiated themselves from the previous alphabet creams, this 4-in-1 tinted moisturizer makes its mark as a staple in a simplified skincare routine. It combines the benefits of a moisturizer, primer, foundation, and broad-spectrum SPF 20 protection into one easy step. It can be purchased on Amazon.
EE Cream: The Extra-Everything or Extra Exfoliation
Usually, the EE in EE creams stands for extra exfoliation. In other words, these are not a two-in-one skin care and makeup products… they are only skin care!
Like many other beauty bloggers and writers, I call shenanigans. A scrub is a scrub, and there is no reason to pretend that you reinvented the wheel by trying to jump on a different marketing trend. So yeah, no, no thank you!
There was also an attempt to market EE creams as Even Effect – super sheer, low-coverage, with a blurring effect. The first (and only, I think) EE cream of this kind was released by Estee Lauder, but it doesn’t seem to have wide marketing.
Our Picks
1. Estee Lauder Perfectionist ProMulti-Defense Aqua UV Gel SPF 50 with 8 Anti-Oxidants
This sheer product barely qualifies as makeup, instead, it uses a patent-pending formula, also featuring Tiger Lily Extract, to blur the skin in order to hide pores and wrinkles. It does provide a tiny bit of coverage, as well as some sun protection. It can be purchased at Saks Fifth Avenue.
Alphabet Cream Application Tips and Tricks
- Always start with cleansed skin before applying BB or CC creams.
- If your skin is on the oily side, most BB, CC, and DD creams will do it all by moisturizing your skin in addition to priming and protecting it from the sun. Feel free to skip the moisturizer.
- If your skin is dry, you might still want a hydrating serum or moisturizer underneath that alphabet cream.
- While alphabet creams often contain impressive skin care ingredients, they will not penetrate into your skin as well as they would if they were in a moisturizer. If you’re looking for heavy-duty skin benefits, wear a serum underneath your BB creams.
- To get the full sunscreen benefits of your BB, CC, DD and EE creams, you probably need to apply double what you are used to. If that ends up in a cakey result, then perhaps alphabet creams won’t work for you as a sunscreen replacement.
- It is perfectly okay to amp up the coverage of your BB cream with a layer of concealer or a heavier foundation on top, or only on the spots where you need a bit more coverage.
- To extend the wear of your BB, CC, DD or EE creams, or to give them a more matte finish, set them with your face powder of choice. Personally, I am forever loyal to the Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder, which is available at Nordstrom, and works beautifully with almost all alphabet creams.
How do you feel about alphabet creams – sick of ‘em, or still enjoying their all-in-one magic? Do you have a favorite that I missed? Let me know!
