Ah yes, one of my favourite things to review.  A CC cream.  Or BB cream… but in this case, we are working down the alphabet.

If you are a easy-going gal, you may know of BB or CC creams.  Those one-size-fits-all 10-things-in-one miracle workers that you wear all over your face instead of foundation.  If you’re a reader of my blog, you will know that I love me some full-coverage foundation, but for the days where I’m lazy or just want to take it easy, I’ll slap on one of these genies in a bottle and be on my way.

I have many of these beauty balms and colour control creams and I have to admit that some work better than others.  My favourite beauty balm (BB cream) is hands-down Dior’s DiorSkin BB, but at $50, it’s quite the investment.  If you want something cheaper, I’ve been loving Olay’s Total Effects7 CC Cream, which launched last year.  It gives you great coverage, sun protection, and moisturizes.  Yes, yes, and yes!

I guess Olay’s CC cream was sick of being an only child, so the brand gave birth to a sister to the original, Olay Total Effects7 Pore Minimizing CC Cream, which is a multi-tasking moisturizer with CC coverage that minimizes the look of pores.  Available in two shades, light to medium and medium to deep.

Olay’s new CC cream is designed to reduce the look of pores and uneven skin tone to reveal flawlessly beautiful skin in one simple step.  With continued use, you’ll see smoother, younger-looking skin and smaller-looking pores.  In addition, it also provides the seven benefits of a CC cream:

• Even skin tone appearance
• Minimize the look of pores
• Enhance brightness
• Visibly smooth fine lines and wrinkles
• Reduce the look of spots
• Hydrate for a firm look
• Replenish moisture

This one, unlike its predecessor though, doesn’t seem to have an SPF in it (the original has SPF 15, which to me is a benefit, especially in the summertime).

So how does it actually perform?

I would say that this CC cream does it’s job.  As per the photos above, my pores do look minimized.  With that being said though, I would imagine that any coverage you put on your face would reduce the look of pores.  I haven’t been using this product for weeks, so I can’t say if it will reduce the look of pores over time, and to be honest, I don’t have a big pores problem, but overall it works.

With that being said, if I had to choose between the original formula and the pore minimizing one, I have to say that I like the original better.  I feel that it gives better coverage and I do like the fact that it has an SPF in it.

I don’t think that Olay has discontinued the original CC cream, but if you do have a problem with big pores, I would give this new one a try.  If you are like me and that’s not an issue for you, stick with the original.

Do you use CC creams?  What’s your favourite?

Disclosure: I am a #BeautyUnited blogger. As part of my affiliation with this group I receive products and special access to P&G events. The opinions on this blog are my own.

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