A few years back, the mere mention of BB cream was met with wonder or confusion. These days, almost every beauty brand—from high-end labels to drugstore stalwarts—has at least one in its line-up. It's safe to say that most women (and even men!) have finally gotten accustomed to this multi-tasking cream.

But if you've been doing your homework, you would already have heard of another initial-bearing beauty item that's being touted as the new BB cream. Ladies, meet the CC cream. What, you may ask. What is it this time?

While CC creams boast of the same qualities as your run-of-the-mill BB cream (moisturizing, brightening, priming, and so forth), they go a step further.

CC stands for "color correction," so one nifty tube can actually even out your skin tone, and mask dark spots and discoloration. CC creams tend to be lighter than BB creams, while providing more coverage—perfect for those with less-than-perfect skin. Throw in some SPF, antioxidants, and even anti-aging benefits, and you have one hard-working product that could dethrone the BB cream as today's prettifying must-have. An added bonus? CC creams are oil-free, a blessing for us Filipinas living in the humid tropics.

While CC creams aren't yet as widely available as BB creams, various brands have come out or are coming out with their versions abroad. Soon enough, they'll be a fixture in local counters and shelves. Until then, well, there's the ever-reliable BB cream to do the job for us.

(Photo by Paolo Pineda)