Makeup
My New Favorite Foundation
03 • 04 • 2018
I have discovered a foundation I love even more than my Holy Grail It Cosmetics CC Cream! The new It Cosmetics Bye Bye Foundation is very similar to the cult-favorite CC Cream, yet there is not a lot of analysis on the internets comparing the two. Today I don my investigative journalist hat and suss out the difference between It Cosmetics Bye Bye Foundation vs CC Cream:
What Is the Difference?
Let’s call a spade a spade: both Bye Bye Foundation and the CC Cream are heavy duty, full coverage foundations. But they go beyond traditional foundations to provide major skincare benefits in terms of superior physical SPF protection and hydration.
On their website, this how It Cosmetics officially answered the internet’s burning question, what is the difference between Bye Bye Foundation and the CC Cream:
Bye Bye Foundation is a clinically advanced full coverage moisturizer! IT features 3D Skin Flex Technology to prevent creasing and cracking. We’ve packed BBF with 7 key fermented skin-loving and anti-aging ingredients to visibly plump the look of lines and wrinkles, intensely moisturize, and deliver powerful nutrients to your skin. CC+ Cream starts as an anti-aging serum & contains concentrated color correcting pigments to neutralize redness and discoloration, while delivering 7 products in 1!
But there is no analysis of both products’ ingredients, how they apply differently or have a different finish or coverage. Nor is there information about what skin type would benefit from Bye Bye Foundation vs. the CC Cream. Even It Cosmetics’ answer above is confusing- Bye Bye Foundation has 7 anti-aging ingredients and [by contrast??] the CC Cream has an anti-aging serum that delivers 7 products in 1! What?!?
Has Bye Bye Foundation Been Reformulated?
The internet doesn’t have the answer either. When you google the “difference between Bye Bye Foundation and CC Cream,” the only reviews are from the previous version of Bye Bye Foundation that was sold in 2016-17 on a Gunthy Renker website (sort of like a QVC/HSN). The previous version of Bye Bye Foundation was never sold at Ulta, and it was a whopping $65 (versus the CC Cream is $38). I wanted to try it back then, but the price tag kept me from pulling the trigger. Then I got an email from It Cosmetics in February 2018 announcing their new product, Bye Bye Foundation, and shortly thereafter it was available online at Ulta. Now the Bye Bye Foundation is only $39.50, so roughly the same price as the CC Cream. I have reached out to It Cosmetics to find out if the Bye Bye Foundation was changed or reformulated for the February 2018 release versus the 2016 version, and I will update this post if/when I hear back.
(UPDATE 3/6/2018: I heard back from It Cosmetics- this is definitely a new version of Bye Bye Foundation that is reformulated from the prior release. It Cosmetics says that the price reduction “is because we are now bringing the product directly to you instead of through an infomercial.” As far as the reformulation of Bye Bye Foundation, It Cosmetics says: “We are consistently improving our products based on the latest innovation. We’ve now infused 7 key fermented skin-loving and anti-aging ingredients to visibly plump the look of lines and wrinkles, intensely moisturize, and deliver powerful antioxidants and concentrated nutrients to your skin. In addition, BBF is formulated with bioluminescence and diamond powder plus 3D skin flex technology which allows the flexible pigments to float on the surface of your skin after the moisturizer has been absorbed.”
Analysis of Ingredients
The first 31 ingredients are identical between the CC Cream and the Bye Bye Foundation. Importantly both products contain the same percentages of Titanium Dioxide (9%) and Zinc Oxide (6.3%). They also both list “Snail Secretion Filtrate” as the second ingredient (you can read about the benefits of snail trail goo here). But following the Orange Peel Oil and the Lime Oil (which both have), the ingredients diverge. The Bye Bye Foundation then contains Niacinamide (a soothing ingredient that helps fade red marks left by pimples), followed by Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid (to help skin absorb and retain moisture), Kelp Ferment Filtrate and Rice Ferment Filtrate (similar to the ferment that is in the SK-II Facial Treatment Essence, although that is fermented from sake). The CC Cream also contains Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, but much lower down in the ingredients.
It Cosmetics does not reveal the concentrations of each ingredient, but because they are listed in descending order of concentration, we can conclude that Bye Bye Foundation has more hyaluronic acid, ferment filtrate, and niacinamide than the CC Cream. That leads me to believe the Bye Bye Foundation is more moisturizing than the CC Cream, and may also even skin tone better than the CC Cream because of the niacinamide and ferment.
The Bye Bye Foundation also contains Diamond Powder (“to add radiance without glitter”), which is not in the CC Cream. A representative from It Cosmetics did report that the CC Cream contains “our highest concentration of color correcting pigments.”
My Impressions
The ‘Light’ shades of the Bye Bye Foundation and the CC Cream Illumination vary slightly. (That is also the case with the Light shade of the original CC Cream versus the Illumination version, so if the “Light” of one formulation does not blend with your skin tone, you might try the other one). To get the best match for my skin tone, I usually blend one pump of the CC Cream Illumination in Light with a dot of the regular CC Cream in Fair. As you can see in the swatches above, the Bye Bye Foundation in Light is slightly lighter than the CC Cream Illumination, so the Bye Bye Foundation matches my particular skin tone better. I like the glowiness that the CC Cream Illumination gives me, but when I set my Bye Bye Foundation with Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Ethereal Light, the effect is about the same.
It is a close call, but I think I like the Bye Bye Foundation better than my longtime fave CC Cream. When I first applied the Bye Bye Foundation, I was like, these are EXACTLY the same. They have the same creamy, thick consistency, feel the same on the skin, and have the same great coverage and radiant, glowy finish. However I noticed that the Bye Bye Foundation looked slightly more “real” on the skin, even though the product itself seemed to have the same thickness/consistency. When I apply the CC Cream, for the first few minutes, I feel like it is pretty thick and “fakey” looking. But after a few minutes it seems to settle in and not look so cakey. To me, the Bye Bye Foundation never has that cakey look, and seems to minimize pores a bit more than the CC Cream. I assume this is due to the vaunted “3D Skin Flex Technology to prevent creasing and cracking.” However I think the Bye Bye Foundation and CC Cream crease equally (just set it with powder to avoid creasing), and I have never noticed “cracking” with either product. Once set with powder, both look the same to me on the skin in terms of finish and coverage.
I also felt like the weartime of the Bye Bye Foundation was better than the CC Cream. In their marketing content, It Cosmetics claims that Bye Bye Foundation has “long-lasting coverage,” which is not a claim made about the CC Cream. In fact one of the shortcomings of the CC Cream is that it is not the best-lasting, but I find the weartime is greatly extended by setting it with powder, and then spraying Urban Decay All Nighter setting spray. (I would recommend doing the same with the Bye Bye Foundation too.)
By no means am I going to throw out my just-opened tube of CC Cream Illumination. Both products are fantastic and almost identical in my opinion. But because of the better color match, pore minimization, and increased weartime, I think I will purchase the Bye Bye Foundation going forward. But I will keep the CC Cream Illumination for when I want a glowier look. That said, a kind reader and fellow CC Cream devotee purchased the Bye Bye Foundation and did not prefer it: “I think [the Bye Bye Foundation] did a good job at pore minimizing but I just found that I feel more hydrated and glowy with the CC Illumination. Maybe I will wear a thin layer of the Bye Bye to the gym?” She continued: “I think the Bye Bye has a more powdery finish and for me I did not see a difference in wear time. I feel like the CC Cream gives my skin more of an oomph/glow.” This is interesting considering the ingredients in the Bye Bye Foundation should technically be more hydrating than the CC Cream. For me, I thought they hydrated equally well.
Bye Bye Foundation vs CC Cream
Bottom line difference of Bye Bye Foundation vs CC Cream: Bye Bye Foundation has a slight edge over the CC Cream, but they are nearly identical products, and I think anyone with normal or dry skin should wear one of them daily. If you have tried both products, please let me know your impressions in the Comments below!
In the photos above I’m wearing It Cosmetics Bye Bye Foundation in Light, It Cosmetics Superhero mascara (loving this lengthening mascara!), and NYX Powder Puff Lippie in Puppy Love (loving this as well!)
xoxo,
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