I don’t know about you, but I think there’s a lot of confusion surrounding the difference between tinted moisturizers, BB creams, and CC creams. Truth be told, they’re actually all pretty similar with a few unique traits each. A tinted moisturizer can also act as a CC cream with the right ingredients, but the main thing that I’m going to clear up here is what a CC cream is versus a BB cream. Celebrity makeup artist Allison Kaye breaks it down for us. “A BB cream is a beauty balm or blemish balm,” she says. “This product is going to provide more of a sheer coverage and will have ingredients like moisturizer, SPF, and brighteners. The goal is to brighten and hydrate your face while providing very light coverage. CC cream stands for color corrector or complexion corrector and is meant to help with redness, dullness, uneven skin tone, and dark under-eye circles. CC creams usually have a matte texture and finish, whereas BB creams are going to be more glowy due to the hydrating/moisturizing properties in them.”
That being said, BB creams are great for dry or mature skin types because they add another layer of hydration to the skin and can camouflage the look of sun spots or other skin damage. You can also go in with a foundation or concealer to add more coverage if desired. For the absolute best BB creams for mature skin, keep scrolling! We’ve rounded up a few below.
“My favorite BB cream is the BareMinerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Cream. I’ve used this product on myself for years, and it has always left my skin so hydrated and glowy!”
Jane Iredale’s formula is mineral based and water-resistant and contains nourishing ingredients like vitamin E, aloe-leaf juice, and sunflower-seed oil that soothe drier skin types. Grapefruit extract also promotes extra luminosity, and apple extract lightly exfoliates to reveal younger-looking skin.
If you need a BB cream that also does a bit of color-correcting, L’Oréal’s is the option for you. It contains encapsulated color-transforming pigments that counteract redness while also providing serious hydration.
This BB cream is infused with powerful antioxidants, SPF 30, and hydrating ingredients to provide a dewy finish and improved tone and texture. It also smooths, blurs blemishes, and can even provide the perfect base for foundation if you’d like a bit more coverage.
The Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream is an eight-in-one skin perfector that brightens, smooths, hydrates, and protects with SPF. It also minimizes the look of pores, reduces redness, and is hydrating. It’s totally oil-free, so it’s a great option for drier skin types that are prone to breakouts now and then.
Clinique’s Age Defense offers everything dry, mature skin might need: antioxidant protection, smooth coverage, and hydration. It can also double as a primer and is designed to work well for sensitive skin types.
Missha M’s BB cream offers a dewier finish with powerful hydrating ingredients like ceramides, hyaluronic acid, and Gatuline RC. It also contains emollient plant oils, botanical essences, and nutrient-rich marine extracts to fully rejuvenate the skin and leave it looking incredibly refreshed.
This Physicians Formula cream is designed to help simplify your morning routine. It’s ultra-blendable, infuses the skin with moisture, and is incredibly versatile. It can be applied in a light layer to help smooth, firm, prime, conceal, and brighten.
This multitasker from Pacifica primes and hydrates with ingredients like coconut water, hyaluronic acid, and plant stem cells. It helps diffuse the look of pores, uneven tone, and fine lines all in one.
