Chanel CC Cream & Rachel K CC Cream: Review, Swatches & Comparisons

I'm not a BB Cream lover as i found most of BB Creams leave a greasy feeling on my face.
When i heard that Chanel introduced CC Cream earlier this year, i didn't have any idea what CC Cream is. I thought it's just Chanel's version of BB Cream, that's why they name it CC Cream lol. I was very skeptical, i thought, "is it just another BB Cream with a new name?"

What is CC Cream anyway?
  
According to Wikipedia, CC cream, also known as Color Control cream, is an improved and refined blemish balm cream or Beauty Balm created and developed in Korea. BB (Blemish Balm) cream was originally formulated in Germany and has in recent years gained a huge following in Asia and is quickly making its way to Europe and the USA for its skin-regenerating properties. CC cream is now also widely used in Asia to provide natural-looking skin coverage. While BB cream was manufactured primarily as a skincare product, CC cream was developed to retain all the skincare benefits of BB cream with added nourishing ingredients and the additional aim to provide more effective skin coverage. CC cream is the newest miracle beauty product available and was formulated with technology originating in industry-leader Japan and further developed in Korea.

As i wrote earlier, i was skeptical with cc cream, i didn't get excited at all even when i heard Chanel has it also. My curiosity grew when i read bloggers reviews about it. It was a 50:50, some said good, some said it was just another BB Cream with another name. And then i watched my favorite Youtube guru RaeView reviewed about Chanel CC Cream and how it looks on her. She gave a good review about it and i also love how lovely her skin was after she applied the cc cream. I always trust her reviews, and she said that it's a good product, so i decided to buy it and give it a try.


I also got two samples of Rachel K CC Cream from a friend. Rachel K is known for their CC Cream products, i think it's the pioneer of the CC Cream era. It has been recommended by top Hong Kong based prominent makeup artist, Zing, who is the appointed personal makeup artist for famous singers and actresses such as Zhang Ziyi, Shu Qi, Faye Wong, Sammi Cheng, Kelly Chen, Angelababy and also pageant beauty queens from around the world. Rachel K Cosmetics is the first make-up brand in Asia to be marketed as a beauty queen's brand that is supported by pageant beauty queens from around the world. And it's suitable for all skin types, even the sensitive one. Interesting, eh?

Chanel CC Cream

When i bought Chanel CC Cream last January, it's only available on it's official web and on Chanel's Asia stores such as Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
I think the main target market is Asian women, that's why it's still only available on Asia and that's why it's still only has one shade available, 20 Beige, which has a strong yellow undertone.
The texture is thick, creamy, powdery, and quickly dry. You have to work fast with this product, or you'll get ugly patches on your skin.
When i opened and applied it on my hand i was a bit freaked out because i thought it's too yellow for me, i was afraid it might look ashy. But no, it blended nicely on my skin after a while and did not cause any break out or look ashy. Just nice.
The coverage is medium but build-able. It covered my pores and my redness amazingly in 1 layer.
The oil control and the staying power are great. I used it for more than 8 hours last week, i only needed to blot my face once on the T-Zone and cheeks. And it didn't melt nor shifted. I looked as fresh as daisy once i blotted the oil away.
I found that this product is best worn alone. When i topped it with powder all over my face, it looked heavy and cakey, horrifying.
But when worn alone, it gives me a flawless, fresh look.
It instantly gives me a slightly dewy finish right after i blended it out on my face. A natural one, not too shiny or greasy like what i've experienced with BB Cream, not as moist as the Chanel Vitalumiere effect on my skin.
What's more important is that it has SPF30! Although it has high SPF, it doesn't cause a whitecast on me. You can see the proof on the FOTD photo below.
It also has a nice soft flower scent. I didn't like it before but now it grows on me.
Overall, i'm so happy with this product. Good coverage, the staying power and oil control is amazing, it matches my skin perfectly and it doesn't break me out.
The only downside is the price. But hey, it's Chanel anyway.

Rachel K CC Cream

The pink one is Neutral, the black one is Original.
The Original (black) shade is lighter than the Neutral (pink) one.
I think the black one will matches women with fair skin, NC15ish perfectly, while the pink one matches women with neutral shade, a NC20ish and up. Me personally likes the black one better. It brightened my face and i looked fresh all day.
Texture wise, these two are thick, but not as thick as Chanel CC Cream texture. They blended easily on my skin and not easily dry. So you can take your time
Both have high SPF, SPF35, and doesn't cause white cast.
For the coverage, both are medium. It covered my redness, pores and acnes well. But i think the black one has better coverage. You can see on the before-after below that the black one covers my skin imperfection better than the pink one.

The black one has dewy finish and the oil control is so weak. Only 1-2 hours after applying and my face already full with oil, you could use it to cook, wtf! However, it's all better when i topped it off with a powder. Took 3-4 hours before my face started to get oily, but not too much. In fact, i love how it looked, my face looked dewy and healthy like KPop stars lol. I think this one works better on women with normal & dry skin with the dewy finish and low oil control. The dewy finish is pretty and i love the brightening effect.

The pink one has matte finish and has better oil control. I didn't have to blot it until 5 hours.
If you look at the swatches, you may find that this one matches my skin perfectly. But my face and neck are brighter than my hand, which is NC15, so it doesn't look as great as the black one on me. Just nice, but doesn't blew me away. It didn't do its job to brighten my face and the coverage is just so so. I think this would work great on women with oily and combination skins. But you might skip it if you're looking for product with a good coverage, i don't recommend it.

They lasted for 5-6 hours on me before started to fading and they have no scent.
However, if i have to choose, i prefer the black one rather than the pink.
Although the black one has weak oil control, i can still top it off with powder.
But it does its job to brighten up my face and covers my imperfection much better than the pink one.


How they look on my skin

bare skin :p

As you can see on my bare skin, i have big pores, acne, acne scars and redness here and there.

It gotten bad these past few days before i had my period, it's so ugly i wanna cry.

Coverage:
My fave from the all three is definitely Chanel. It covers my pores and redness in 1 layer only.
But i also love Rachel K black, as you can see it does a good job, my face looked flawless.

Texture:
I prefer Rachel K ones, Chanel CC Cream dries too quickly -__-"

Oil Control & Staying Power:
Definitely Chanel CC Cream. Last week i had it for 10 hours and it stayed beautifully. Only needed one time touch up after 7 hours.

Scent:
Chanel CC Cream! It smells so nice. Rachel K ones have no scent.

Packaging:
I like Chanel CC Cream packaging, it's sleek and elegant.

Price:
Definitely Rachel K. Rachel K regular size is only IDR 390k. While i bought Chanel CC Cream for IDR 600k!

Overall thoughts:
Although i found them better than any of of those BB Creams i've tried before, well most of them, i think the pink one is just another bb cream. I think that CC Cream is not a big step away from BB Cream. But they are better than BB Cream, especially on coverage, oil control and staying power departments.
If you have some money to splurge on, i do recommend Chanel CC Cream, it's worth to try on.
But if you're on budget, go for Rachel K. It has good quality too! Not to mention the black one has a very beautiful dewy finish :)

Last but not least here are some FOTD of me wearing CC Creams

Chanel CC Cream with flash

Chanel CC Cream

Rachel K CC Cream Pink with flash

Rachel K CC Cream Pink

Rachel K CC Cream Black with flash

Rachel K CC Cream Black

So what do you think about CC Cream?

Would you give it a try?