Review: Holika Holika Face 2 Change CC Cream

I remember spewing some pseudo-philosophical ramble some time ago about how good things begin with the alphabet C, with the prime example being me Cheryl (yes, shamelessly plugging myself as usual heh), Chanel, Cartier, Chomp Chomp (a local food joint in Serangoon Gardens Singapore) and now, CC creams have joined the rank of awesome Cs.

As you know, I go into insane phases with every trip to Korea. First it was eyeliners, then highlighters, and on my recent trip to HK, it was double eyelid tape. No prizes for guessing what I bought numerous pieces of during my April trip to Korea heh.

I hereby present to you the first of my budding CC cream army -sweeps hands into a grand flourish and curtsey and bow and all the frivolous Brit thangs they do-

Holika Holika Face 2 Change CC Cream – KRW16,000

A pump tube dispenses a white cream

After spreading it out and blending it into the skin, the micro-colour capsules starting changing to beige…

… and voila! You can barely see the difference between bare skin and CC creamed skin

A glowy finish from the Holika Holika Face 2 Change CC Cream

and it’s time for the usual horror picture of the day – le sans-makeup face 😀

And if that weren’t enough, here’s a close-up. Haha. Note the natural finish – it’s not so heavy so some pores can still be seen.

How the CC cream fares in indoor lighting – not bad indeed

I say…

This is a surprisingly decent CC cream. Can anyone say “hello-ka” instead? Ok lame, I know.

• It totally appeals to my inner cheapskate with its affordable price tag. At KRW16,000, it’s only SGD17.99. ZOMG.
• It comes in a (yet again) surprisingly classy and chic packaging – black matte with uv lamination.
• The cream dispensed is a good consistency – not too runny and not too thick.
• It’s supposed to come with micro capsules but I can barely feel them (which is good, I suppose, since I’ve already done my daily exfoliation during the shower). I admit that I’ve got thick skin, but I don’t need to thin it out just yet heh.
• You don’t have to blend/rub too much for the CC cream to start changing colour from white to beige. In fact, just apply it to your face as you would normally do – the action itself should be sufficient enough to change the colour.
• The coverage is pretty decent – not as strong as the Hera HD Fix Foundation or the Sulwhasoo Evenfair Smoothing Foundation, but more than the Kiehl’s BB and the Body Shop White Shiso BB. This is comparable with the Innisfree Air Skin Fit BB Cream – basically, enough to cover most of your blemishes and uneven skintone, but not enough to conceal the dark eye circles.
• It gives a glowy finish – just enough to highlight the contours of my face (cheekbones, nose bridge, forehead). The glow is subtle enough for me to not have a panic attack if I forget to apply my highlighters.
• In terms of staying power – it does stay a decent 4-6 hours before starting to disappear. But! Since the coverage wasn’t strong in the first place (the same goes for most CC creams – they aren’t known for coverage, but more for skincare benefits), I’d recommend that you wear this on days when you have nothing much to conceal.
• My skin doesn’t feel particularly moisturised upon using this, but neither does it feel dried out. So much for its skincare benefits hurhurhur.

Overall, it’s worth a try. This Holika Holika Face 2 Change CC Cream is one of the CC creams with more coverage, and with a good dewy finish and relatively good stay power as well.

I’ll be doing a few more CC cream reviews in the upcoming weeks, so stay tuned. In fact, if I have a burst of energy, I may even do a comparison piece between all my CC creams (as what I did with my BB cushions – but that takes a truckload of effort, so I’ll have to recharge a bit).