I Ditched Foundation for This K-Beauty Redness-Correcting Cream with 5 Stars

If you prefer to skip heavy foundation during spring and summer but don’t want to go completely bare-skinned, this CC cream covered my redness and evened skin tone instantly. The Erborian CC Red Correct Colour Correcting Cream has quickly become my favourite product to keep in my beauty bag this season.

Why I Ditched Foundation

I’m a big believer in switching up your makeup routine depending on the seasons and the weather. Spring and summer is the time where I typically try to avoid wearing heavier foundation. The sun and humidity make me sweat, which in turn makes a full face of foundation feel sticky, cakey and slip down my face, needing constant touch ups. But as much as I enjoy the feeling of being bare-faced – especially when I’m on holiday – my skin tone has a lot of redness and unevenness, which I prefer to keep covered.

What Makes Erborian CC Red Correct Special

The Erborian CC Red Correct Colour Correcting Cream corrects redness, soothes sensitive skin, protects skin from environmental aggressors, and contains SPF30. It also has a subtle blurring effect. It contains panthenol and 2% centella asiatica which boost its skincare benefits and have a long-lasting soothing effect as well as protecting your skin from environmental aggressors. The SPF30 helps protect against sun damage, although it’s always a good idea to wear additional SPF after your skincare routine and before makeup for extra protection.

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Whilst all this is great (and I could feel a noticeable difference in my skin after using it), it’s the visual impact that makes the CC Red Correct a true winner. My skin has a red undertone to it that’s exacerbated by eczema, hayfever and sensitivities, and it often shows through under foundation, especially lightweight ones like skin tints or tinted moisturisers.

How It Performed

I didn’t expect a dramatic difference when trying the CC Red Correct; I just wanted something to neutralise the redness enough to make other foundations apply more evenly. As it turns out, not only did it completely mask my red and uneven skin tone, but it actually negated the need for foundation altogether. You can use it just on certain areas like around your nose or cheeks, or apply it to your whole face (my preferred method) to create an even finish. As well as neutralising my redness altogether, it created a soft blurred effect which made my skin look pretty flawless, and it feels like wearing nothing at all. You can use it as a primer and put your favourite foundation, skin tint, or CC cream over the top if you want fuller coverage, but it’s not necessary.

The CC Red Correct is easy to blend using just your fingers. However, if you have dry skin (my downfall) you’ll need some good hydrating skin prep before you apply it. Although it’s lightly moisturising, I found that it would emphasise dry patches if I didn’t do a thorough hydrating skincare routine beforehand.

Pros and Cons

Pros: Corrects redness, soothes sensitive skin, SPF30, subtle blurring effect, lightweight feel.
Cons: May emphasise texture on dry skin, can leave skin looking paler, some users with cystic acne reported breakouts.

It currently has a solid 5-star rating at Sephora, but some shoppers at Cult Beauty marked it down for emphasising existing texture and leaving their skin looking a little paler. For deeper skin tones, you may need to use a darker tint over the top to help it match your shade for a more natural finish. One shopper who struggles with cystic acne also said it exacerbated their breakouts, so it's worth taking care when trying it out if you have underlying skin issues.

That being said, for me this checked all the boxes and didn't flare up my eczema or sensitive skin. It did give me a slightly paler undertone, but this was easily balanced with a bit of bronzer and blusher. It's definitely something that’s going to live in my makeup bag - I love it so much I even got a travel sized one to take on holiday with me.