CC Cream by Chanel: Worth The Hype?

Chanel CC Cream

Last week, I gave you an introduction to CC creams, what they are and what they can do for you. To recap, they’re a refined version of the very popular BB creams which offers better colour control/colour correction to the skin.

Chanel CC Cream

Today I’m going to review a CC cream by Chanel. Now Chanel did not jump onto the BB cream bandwagon like Dior did. It didn’t really occur to me why until Paris B commented in the introduction post that maybe Chanel wanted to properly utilise the term CC creams to match their famous double interlocking Cs. I have no idea if that’s true but damn, that was a good hypothesis. 😛

Chanel CC Cream

Chanel CC Cream Description

Chanel CC Cream Ingredients

The CC cream is quite thick in texture, which reminds me of a lot of Asian BB creams. It spreads like butter on the skin and has a semi-matte finish. The wet-to-dry time is quite short with this CC cream. The shade I have is 20 Beige, which has cool undertones. I’m still trying to find out exactly how many shades there are for the CC creams. I’ll update the post when I do.

In terms of coverage, I’d say it’s a medium. It’s enough to even out the skintone, especially the redness around my nose, but not enough to conceal other blemishes. It’s a my-skin-but-better product. This looks better on as the hours go by.

Chanel CC Cream

Another good thing about Chanel’s CC cream is that it has SPF 30. Most Western BB creams and foundations I know don’t have high SPF numbers so I’m glad the Chanel one does.

The jury is still out on how the proclaimed skincare benefits of the CC cream work on the skin. It’s still early days as I haven’t been using this for at least 6 weeks yet. But as makeup, I’d say it’s pretty all right.

Chanel CC Cream Swatch

Shade in 20 Beige

The only thing I’m not keen on the CC cream is the heavy floral fragrance. It hits you once you apply the cream on your skin. It doesn’t smell like the musky Chanel No.5 but it is very strong. If they had knocked the fragrance down a notch or two, it would have been good. The fragrance isn’t bad but too much is not a good thing. If you’re not keen on fragrance in your makeup, then you might want to skip this one because it can bowl you over.

Is this a must have? To be honest, not really. If you are a fan of Chanel makeup and BB creams, then it is an interesting item to add to your collection because the face makeup is not bad. The Chanel CC cream is good but it’s not any better than a lot of good Asian BB creams out there, which are cheaper alternatives.

Chanel CC Cream On Skin Before and After

The description of the CC cream will easily tell BB cream aficionados that this is no different from what BB creams already do. I’ve been using the CC cream for weeks and I do agree with them; it’s pretty much another BB cream. I’m not saying the Chanel CC cream is a bad one; it’s just not any different. This leads me to believe that the term “CC cream” used by Chanel doesn’t give that refined colour control as CC creams are supposed to do, but as they called it, “Complete Correction”, just like the many-in-one benefits of BB creams. Does that make sense?

Chanel CC Cream

Chanel CC creams aren’t available in Western countries, at least, not yet. Chanel catered the CC creams to the Asian market. To date, the CC cream is only available in Taiwan, China and Malaysia (the product is still made in France). I only managed to get a tube of this with Tina‘s help. It retails at NT$1880 (approximately AU$62) for 30ml. It’s pricey for a BB/CC cream but I did not expect any less because, well, it’s Chanel. There’s no talk about whether Chanel will bring this to Australia yet, but even if it does, I reckon it will be a very, very late one (at least 2014). If you want to get your hands on one online, it’s currently available on Amazon by a 3rd party seller.

What I like about it: High SPF for makeup, gives a natural finish to the skin

What I do not like about it: The heavy floral fragrance is not my cup of tea

Is the Chanel CC cream something you’d like to give a go? Perhaps you’ve already tried it out? What did you think of the CC cream?

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27 comments… add one
  1. LeGeeque

    Thanks for letting me babysit this overnight and give it a go. I agree with you – it looks good as the day wears on. It’s still a little heavy for me but that is the nature of BB creams, I suppose. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to buy it simply because I’m a cynical freak. I do think Chanel deliberately do this to “start a new trend” and not to be seen as part of the BB cream bandwagon. And, I do think PB has a point in calling them out CC – Double C, Coco Chanel. 😛 Also, I’m not a fan of the scent.

    Still, an interesting product to play with. I’m so lucky I can pinch products from you to satisfy my curiosity. Wheeeee 😀
    LeGeeque recently posted..3/31: Guerlain Kiss Kiss Gloss in 867My Profile

    1. Tine

      I’m with PB on this; I think they jumped on the CC thing because of their name. Yes it does offer a bit of colour control, but then again, most BB creams do. They called this Complete Correction and it really is no different from all the 8-in-1 BB creams out there.

      You’re very welcome to come and pinch more stuff 😛

  2. Angela @ The Unprofessional Beauty Blog

    I’m so glad you did a review on this as I have been hearing a lot of CC Cream. After reading your review, I’m not that excited for it anymore. I think I’ll just stick to my bb cream.
    Angela @ The Unprofessional Beauty Blog recently posted..My Favorite Beauty Products of 2012 Part 1: SkincareMy Profile

    1. Tine

      There’s another CC cream I’m more keen on, so do stay tuned to that review in a couple of weeks. But yeah, I don’t see any difference to a lot of BB creams out there.

  3. Rainy Days & Lattes

    Thanks for the review 🙂 Interesting concept for Chanel but I think their foundations are enough =D
    Rainy Days & Lattes recently posted..Smokey Bronze Eyes for the HolidaysMy Profile

    1. Tine

      Hahaha yeah if you prefer more coverage, then I’d say stick to their foundations. In terms of coverage, this one’s just so so 🙂

  4. Sue

    According to RAEview 20 Beige is the only colour available which is a bit disappointing. It’s my shade in Chanel foundations anyway but for others with darker or lighter skin tones it could be a bit annoying, however I assume it is still meant to be adaptable to your skin tone. I have a friend in Taiwan at the moment.. wondering if I should ask her to get one for me.. doesn’t seem worth it to be honest!
    Sue recently posted..December Food PostMy Profile

    1. Tine

      Well, it’s good, but it’s not great. Truth be told, there are many BB creams out there that outperforms this CC cream. In Chanel’s case, as their target market are Asians, I reckon that’s why they followed the footsteps of many BB cream brands and only came up with one shade. It’s disappointing. Like you said, the ones with darker or lighter skin tones miss out (well, in this case, I don’t really think they’re missing out on anything, but it doesn’t even give them the opportunity to try).

      The reason I assumed there might be more shades to this CC cream was the fact that they labelled it as 20 Beige, like they do their foundations. Aww it sucks if there’s just only one shade.

  5. Paris B

    Haha my hypothesis made it to your blog! 😀 Incidentally I just got a mailer telling me to go and check out the new CC Cream at the Chanel counter and to get a sample, so for once, I just might to satisfy my curiosity. I’m not much of a fan of Chanel base makeup – none have worked for me, with their shades all being a little off and too warm. Still, will grab a sample and we’ll see! 😀
    Paris B recently posted..Laura Mercier Laque Rouge: Something this good should be made permanent, Laura!My Profile

    1. Tine

      Hahaha I’d say go check it out but don’t hold your breath. It’s good but it’s not great.
      As for me, I still like the Garnier cheapie more 😛

  6. plue

    Malaysia has it now, but not sure what’s the pricing, might be around Taiwan’s price or a bit cheaper.

    am totally skipping this, the price is way too high for a so-so performance.

    Chanel, you really need to justify your price, not just telling people that you need to pay for your brand name and a new CC cream, which is just another BB cream in fact.
    plue recently posted..Goodbye 2012, Hello 2013!My Profile

    1. Tine

      Call me cynical, but I really do think that Chanel played the CC cream card just to get a legs up in breaking into the BB/CC cream market. If you read the description even without actually trying the product on, you won’t notice it being any different from most BB creams. This makes me conclude that this is just another BB cream. As for the price, well, I didn’t expect anything less from Chanel since their makeup is already so pricey, which is why I didn’t actually “did not like it”, if you know what I mean 😛

  7. emmabovary

    While I think the idea of this is very interesting, for that price I’d rather buy a Chanel foundation or blush with the cash. It does sound quite similar to a BB cream, and I haven’t really hopped on that bandwagon either as my skin is not nice enough to warrant such light coverage ;P
    emmabovary recently posted..Confetti Conga in Zurich!My Profile

    1. Tine

      My sentiments exactly. For the price, I’d say stick to foundations that give you better coverage. As for everything else like skincare benefits, SPF, etc, you always put on your skincare first and then a separate sunscreen anyway. To be honest, it’s just another BB cream in the sea of BB creams.

  8. Nikki

    Hmm..the effect is indeed BB-cream like but I do see some redness disappeared on your after photo which does mean it COLOR Corrects but hey, some BB creams or most BB creams have that same benefit too!

    I haven’t tried any CC creams for now and I don’t even know if we’ll have any down here for the year 2013! But once they’re here, I’m willing to grab one to try too!
    Nikki recently posted..AMW Reviews: Face of Australia Face Base PrimerMy Profile

    1. Tine

      Hahahaha sharp eye, you noticed! I was thinking of adding that bit about colour-correcting the redness around my nose in to the review but I went through the photos I took for my previous BB cream reviews and there wasn’t any difference. So yes, it did remove some redness but so did all of the BB creams I’ve used.

      At the end of the day, the Chanel CC cream is just another BB cream. Although I’ll have to say, unlike other CC creams that harp on colour control, Chanel labelled their CC as Complete Correction, which does what BB creams do. So if you look at the tube from a distance, the mind automatically associates it with the new hype of CC creams but in fact, nah, it’s just another BB cream 🙂

  9. Karen C

    Appreciated your (as usual) very honest review of Chanel’s CC Cream.

    It was all sounding good until “the heavy floral fragrance”! Why do they think we need fragrance? I’m extremely sensitive to aromas and avoid face moisturisers/creams that have them.

    I do like that it is SPF 30 but at around $62, I’d prefer to buy a product because it works, rather than buying it for the brand name!

    Think I’ll stick with my Garnier BB Cream – affordable, good coverage and easily available!

    1. Tine

      Thanks Karen. If you’re sensitive to fragrances, stay well away from this one. I’m usually pretty tolerant to scents but even this one smacked me in the face. If it’s not that strong, it actually smells quite nice but because there’s so much of it, I just couldn’t enjoy it.

      To be honest, I like the Garnier BB cream (the Asian version for me) more than this. Taking the price point aside, I just think it works better for me. Putting the price point back in, well, I can buy 5 Garniers to 1 Chanel! 😛

  10. Beauty Box

    Thanks for the review, Tine. Like most things Chanel — they feel like they lend a spark to your life but not a must-have. I’ll still get one to try. I just hope it comes in my shade…
    Beauty Box recently posted..My Top 10 Japanese Beauty Products In 2012My Profile

    1. Tine

      No worries lovely. Yeah it really isn’t a must-have. It’s a decent BB cream but I didn’t find it any better than a lot of cheaper alternatives out there. Then again, it IS Chanel 😉
      I think it only comes in one shade. In case it does, I hope it suits you. Do let me know when you see it in Japan, and I’ll amend the post accordingly 🙂

  11. Hanna

    Can you recommend any BB cream that’s really good? I’ve heard many Asian ones are good but I don’t know the names of them…

    1. Tine

      There are a lot of good Asian ones. Here are a few I like:
      1. Freshel Mineral BB Cream UV
      2. Skinfood Red Orange Jelly BB
      3. Garnier BB cream (Asian version)
      4. ZA Total Hydration BB cream

      These are just a few to try in the myriad of BB creams out there. These are, so far, my favourites 🙂

  12. Lynn

    Hi,
    I have a combination skin like yours. I do like the Chanel brand and their products, however, this one has Talc in it, while the Rachel K doesn’t and Rachel K is also mineral-rich.
    So i’m really confused.. I prefer Chanel one but I’m worried if I use it over a long period of time, my skin would be degrading.
    Anyone thinks so?

    1. Tine

      Hi Lynn,

      Talc isn’t bad for your skin, so don’t worry, it will not affect your skin in the long run 🙂
      Do check out these posts from these two bloggers whom I highly respect in the beauty blogging world who talked about talc:
      http://www.futurederm.com/2011/06/26/is-talc-bad-for-your-skin/
      http://thebeautybrains.com/2010/06/26/is-talc-bad-for-you-2/

  13. Jenna

    Hi there,

    Thanks so much for the review. Im from Melbourne, Australia and am actually a huge fan of the product but to my knowledge they have changed the formula. Do you know if this is the case where you are? Also, do you know of a product that is very similer?
    I would appreciate your help
    Thank You

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