The Face Shop Aura CC Cream – Review And Swatch

A couple of weeks ago, I won a giveaway that Shayoni of sweetandbitterblog.com had hosted to celebrate her blog’s 2nd anniversary. The prize I won was an Etude House “Minne In the Nails” nail polish but imagine my surprise when I received the package and found these…..

Besides the nail polish, there was also an Innisfree Green Tea sheet mask and The Face Shop’s Aura CC Cream. Apparently the ebay seller from whom she had bought the polish had goofed up and sent the CC cream instead and the sweet girl that she is, she sent that as well as the polish to me! While I have tried quite a few BB creams, I haven’t yet used a CC (Color Control) cream since I felt that this alphabet soup of BB, CC, DD was just a marketing gimmick. But I wont deny that I was eager to try it out especially since it was from the Korean brand, The Face Shop….

Unlike most BB and CC creams that come in tubes, The Face Shop Aura CC Cream comes in a compact with it’s own puff for application. The method of dispensing the product is also very unique and hygienic coz you have to press a tab and a small quantity of product comes out from the center of the compact. No wastage, no contamination. Super like!

It is also a refillable compact so once you run out, all you need to do is remove the center and replace it with a refill. However, there is no way of knowing how much product is left since the whole thing is opaque and there’s no way of opening it to check the quantity.

Face It CC Cream is a color controlling cream that brightens your complexion and keeps your morning makeup intact without any darkening. 

The colour I got is 01 Radiant Beige which is very light for my skin tone. I was hoping that like BB creams, it wouldn’t be too pigmented and that I could get away with a lighter colour. However, the texture and pigmentation of this CC cream is comparable to that of a medium-coverage foundation. However, I used a very small amount on my face and it did indeed make my skin tone appear a bit brighter. There was also no grey effect or mask-y effect that comes when you wear a foundation that’s too light a shade.

The puff, which is really a thin sponge, comes quite handy in blending the product on the face. Because I used a very little amount, the CC cream didnt help in covering any marks, though it did make my skin tone appear more even and uniform. As you can see from the swatches, the shade really is too light for my skin tone. I use half the quantity shown in the swatch on my entire face and make sure to blend it well and then, it works well for me. If I use too much, I end up looking like I’m auditioning for a role of a geisha!

The Aura CC Cream keeps my skin looking fresh and matte for about 3-4 hours in Bombay’s hot and humid climate after which my skin starts looking shiny. If I’m indoors in the AC all the time, then it’s good for 5-6 hours. The cream has a pleasant fragrance that is quite faint and vanishes once you apply it. The best part, it doesn’t break me out. And SPF 30 PA++!

While this CC cream is loaded with silicones and it also has phenoxyethanol, it doesn’t have any parabens. If your skin is sensitive to silicones, then you should avoid this cream. It seems to be available in only two shades, 01 and 02, and you have seen how light 01 is.

Overall, I am really glad I got to try out this CC cream, which normally wouldn’t have been in my “to buy” list and I like how it feels on my skin. I just have to be careful in how much I apply.

Have you tried The Face Shop Aura CC cream? Which is your favourite BB/CC cream?