TonyMoly Luminous Pure Aura CC Cream Review

Hello guys!

Today I have my very first CC cream review =D I just used some of the pics from an old post... too lazy to snap new photos XD


CC cream stands for "Color Correcting" cream, or "Color Control" cream. Honestly to me, it's just a marketing thing... the whole thing about it treating skin discoloration/unevenness is all whatever to me... Not that I think it doesn't work, but it's just nothing new. For me, it is no different than what BB cream is already doing-- most Korean BB creams contain whitening properties, so they already serve the purpose of correcting discoloration in my opinion. Anyway, that's just my opinion from my very limited exposure to CC creams. From my research though, it looks like CC creams have less coverage and are generally lighter than BB creams. A lot of people say it's more like a primer than anything.


I'm not sure if all CC creams come out white, but the TonyMoly one does.


It changes color while blending.


It adjusts to fit my skin tone really well. Although I'm not sure if it's going to be too light for dark-skinned people. From some reviews I read they state that it is indeed too light and gives a white cast.

Naked face action

Lol one of those days when you just wake up with super red face -_- what are you gonna do about it ╮(￣▽￣)╭ Thank god for makeup ahahaha.


After 5 minutes the redness of my skin kind of subsided lol. I think it's because that first pic was taken right after I applied my moisturizer/sun screen???

Application in process~

I usually prefer using my fingers for BB/CC cream application. Excuse my freak show face haha


Half face blended out.


1. THE GLOW 2. makes skin look a bit smoother.

Full face blended out





It does even out the skin tone to some extent... but as you can tell the coverage is really sheer. It's not that noticeable in these pics but there's still some redness peaking through.

Full face effect:

I made the mistake of choosing a red lip color when just wearing this CC cream... I feel like because the redness in my complexion isn't completely evened out, adding more red color to my face isn't flattering... despite it kind of evening out/brightening my complexion, I still look quite tired. You will also notice this CC cream has no effect/coverage on my under eye dark circles.



From afar:

You can definitely see this CC cream does not improve the looks of my dark circles at all.


looks better in this pic but it's just the angle.


Under bright sunlight. Honestly everything looks good in bright sunlight so this pic counts for nothing XD


This was the CC cream plus a very light layer of powder foundation. Shame you guys can't really tell the difference from the pics -_-a...

My final thoughts on this CC cream:

I prefer to wear this with my powder foundation (very sheer layer of CC cream plus very little powder foundation). I know you guys can't really tell from these pics, but redness being my personal biggest insecurity, I really don't like it when any kind of redness shows through. For that reason, this CC cream when used alone is simply not enough for me. But I do love the effect of it when it's combined with powder foundation. The combination is surprisingly very long-lasting... and I don't look oily at all at the end of the day (this CC cream does NOT make me extra oily. Definitely a plus!)

The coverage of this CC cream is truly sheer, therefore if you have problematic skin (or even if you just have redness), be prepared that you will need to use some other products for more coverage. I agree with others saying that this CC cream feels more like a primer. But honestly I think you can achieve the same effect with a very sheer layer of BB cream+ powder....

So my final verdict is, I do like it when it's used with powder foundation. However, it's not something I will run out to buy. I am glad I've tried it but I will not be paying full price for it (nor do I have any desire to own the full bottle). As for the skincare benefits... I honestly haven't used it consistently enough to tell any difference. If I do I will come back and update it.


Hope this review helped someone out there! What are your thoughts on CC creams?
PS: I thought Google reader was supposed to stop working in July?? Why is mine still working O_o


<3 Frances