Feeling Fresh with Our Best BB Creams
Embracing your natural skin is *always* in, and nothing lets your complexion shine like a BB cream. With a much lighter formula than foundation, BB creams add moisture, protection, and correction to your skin - what’s not to love about nourishing ingredients that still let your freckles peak through? BB creams help every skin type to feel their best: providing light coverage without blocking pores for oily skin, much needed hydration and emollient texture for dry skin, and less irritation for acne-prone skin. Want to add one to your routine ASAP? We’ve listed out the BB creams that we can rely on all year round for ALL skin types so you can find your new favourite.
What is the difference between BB Cream and CC Cream?
If you’re baffled by what is BB cream? It stands for beauty balm, or blemish balm, and provides lightweight coverage while delivering skincare benefits. BB cream is our holy grail for a no-makeup makeup look, as the sheer coverage gives the ultimate second-skin finish. CC cream stands for colour correcting and is a great option to reduce redness, revive the complexion, and even the skin tone. If you’re comparing a BB cream vs a CC cream, the biggest difference is that CC cream often has thicker coverage and a matte finish. If, like us, you can’t pick a side, then you can always mix-and-match to get the benefits of both formulas.
By Sephora UK Editorial Team
Writers and experts
Updated: 12 January 2024
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ERBORIAN
Ginseng BB Crème Makeup Care Face Cream Baby Skin Effect
Best for an even complexion
The ultimate makeup/skincare hybrid. Packed full of Korean skin-saving ingredients like White Ginseng and Liquorice Root Extract, this is the best BB cream for a smooth, snatched complexion. We love the buildable formula and texture that feels like nothing but is doing everything for your skin. Did we mention it also has SPF 20? This hardworking hero is the only thing you need in your makeup bag to protect your skin and project your radiance - especially if you have combination skin.
Perfect match product: The best match since butter met bread, we would pair with YSL Touche Eclat Illuminating Pen to perfect the lit-from-within look.
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NARS
Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser
Best for brightening
If you like the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer, then you’ll fall head over heels for their beauty balm with the same brightening finish. There really is nothing that this BB cream doesn’t do. It’s packed full of Antioxidants, Vitamin C and SPF 30 to protect from the sun, environmental aggressors, and dullness - all at once! One for the oily-skin types, this oil-free formula looks radiant on the skin and provides the perfect balance between a barely-there and skin-smoothing finish.
Perfect match product: A match made in beauty heaven, keep this look lasting even longer with Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray.
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Shiseido
Sports BB Cream SPF50
Best for active beauty lovers
One for the outdoor mavens, this is *the* ideal product to wear whilst going to get an iced latte (can rush-hour Pret be classed as an extreme sport?). Filled with SPF 50, this is one of the best BB creams to offer high protection alongside radiant coverage. With Quick Dry and WetForce technology it’s sweat-proof, water-proof, and party-proof - meaning your healthiest-looking skin is just a swipe away.
Perfect match product: Top up your sun protection on-the-go with La Roche Posay Anthelois XL SPF stick.
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bareMinerals
Complexion Rescue Tinted Moisturiser
Best for a moisture surge
If you have dry skin and find that foundation dries out your complexion even more, then you need to add this to your wishlist. We’re obsessed with the gel-like formula and hydrating ingredient list, which makes our skin-barrier rejoice and moisture levels surge by 215% after just one week of use. This beauty balm also contains mineral-based SPF 30 to reduce breakouts and protect the skin from sun damage. Add this to your everyday routine to send your skin some serious TLC.
Perfect match product: Move over Ant and Dec, this duo is even more iconic. Mattify your finish without clogging pores with bareMinerals Original Loose Mineral Foundation.
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Clinique
Dramatically Different Hydrating BB Gel
Best for a barely-there tint
Dare to bare it all with this beauty balm. With the same beloved formula as the Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion, this BB gel is packed full of hydrating ingredients and provides the dewy finish of dreams. It contains colour adjusting technology that starts as a grey gel and changes on application like magic to suit your skin tone. We love the customisable colour and eight hours of oil-free hydration.
Perfect match product: Keep your skin safe and pair with an SPF, our current crush is Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun.
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Bioderma
Sensibio Anti-Redness Tinted Moisturiser with SPF
Best for reducing redness
A saviour for sensitive skin, this beauty balm contains SPF 30 and skin-soothing ingredients to keep skin cool, calm and protected. Rosacea sufferers, this is a staple for your SOS skincare kit as it neutralises redness instantly while improving your tolerance long term. Get a sun-kissed glow without triggering any sensitivity and build the coverage for an effortless day-to-night look.
Perfect match product: Keep redness at bay with BIODERMA Sensibo Anti-Redness Moisturiser.
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DR.JART+
Premium Beauty Balm
Best for a barrier boost
Touted as the next generation in BB creams, this fan favourite has become a must in our makeup routines. Combining barrier-boosting skincare, a light veil of coverage and your daily hit of SPF50, we love how smooth the application is. By warming a pea sized amount between our fingers, we can transform the cream into a silky texture that glides on with ease and adapts to our skin tone as it dries down.
Perfect match product: Bringing you the calm before the glow, Dr. Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Calming Gel Cream is our perfect base for soothed, even skin.
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