Review | Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream
Hello ladies! I’m very excited to be sharing my favourite base with you all! When my best-friend asked me to recommend a natural looking base which feels light on the skin but provides decent coverage this CC cream was the first thing that came to mind (and she loved it too!).
I had never bought into the whole BB cream hype, mainly because the well-known drugstore brands didn’t seem to have tones that suit the olive skinned/yellow tones among us. Also the reviews were so hit and miss, I decided to stick with the base I was using. However looking for an ethical replacement for my favourite light/medium base needed to be done soon because I’m almost out of that stuff. After reading the fantastic review written by Kal from Cluttered Closet I was pretty much sold! It sounded amaaazing, and I had high hopes ^_^
A CC Cream also known as a ‘colour correction’ cream is supposed to even out your skintone and cover up redness without that thick heavy feel of a foundation – well done Bourjois you have nailed it! This has fast become one of my favourite bases I have ever tried. I have the shade 33 Rose Beige, which when first applied does look a little light for my NC30ish skintone, ok scratch that, it looks FAR too pale, pale enough to worry me at first… but when it has ‘set’ properly it blends into the skin perfectly, and the colour almost adapts to my skintone. I would say it takes a good 10 minutes to stop me looking too pale and chalky and I should also add that Rose Beige does lean on the SLIGHTLY on the pinker/orange spectrum, which did disappoint me when I first saw it. But as I’ve said, it does set to a more neutral colour.
The Bourjois 123 Perfect CC cream (£9.99) contains 3 pigments, orange for Anti-Fatigue, Green for Anti-Redness and White for Anti-darkspots. The consistency is not super thin, but certainly not as thick as a foundation. A little goes a long way, and my favourite way to apply this is with my fingers. I am most definitely a brush girl, but this blends the most seamlessly with the warmth of fingers.
For me this the ideal ‘everyday kind of base’, as it does even out my skintone, provides great coverage while feeling light to the touch and also it contains SPF15 which is always a plus. This is not something I would choose to wear to a wedding or a special occasion because it doesn’t provide that flawless face look that you can achieve with a foundation. However it does cover redness on my cheeks and around my nose which I was very happy with. It just does its job of being a colour correcting base very well, and that’s what I want in a base for daily use.
The finish is what I love most, I don’t need to use a powder with this (unless you have oily skin) as its satin and very natural looking so provided you have blended this is well, you can get away with looking like you have no makeup on. I love how it doesn’t mask the skin, it really does blend INTO the skin like a cream does and it is SOOO quick to apply. I can still see all my beauty marks and also a little pink from my naturally rosy cheeks with one layer. This is definitely light-medium and it reminds me a little of my MAC F&B but with a lot less dewy.
The main criticism of this for me is that it is only available in 4 shades, which in this day and age especially is ridiculous – especially when other drugstore brands have started expanding their shade range extensively, Bourjois please do the same with this CC cream in particular!
Final Verdict:
Product rating: 9
Pros: It’s fantastic for evening out the skintone, it really does cover up redness and the colour although it looks VERY off at first, sets to a beautifully natural shade and finish. It’s in my go-to base for every-day and it looks fantastic applied with fingers which makes it even more practical.
Cons: As I said, the shade looks horrendously light when first applied, but this does set. Also I do wish there were more shades available.
Repurchase? Yes I would buy this again, its the most effective yet natural looking base I’ve come across. It almost blurs out imperfections despite being thin in consistency and allowing the skin to breathe properly.
Thanks for reading!