E.l.f Cosmetics has been launching more new products than ever in the last couple of years. At a certain point, I noticed that e.l.f. hadn’t launched a new foundation in a very long time. The only ones I’d heard much about were the Flawless Finish Foundation and BB Cream. I tried the BB Cream a year or so ago but couldn’t continue to use it because it smelled so strongly of chemical sunscreen. Fortunately, e.l.f. now has a new foundation for us! E.l.f. Camo CC Cream launched late 2020 or very early 2021.

I’m a little late to the game trying this foundation, but I’m hesitant to buy too many since I don’t wear makeup every single day. After watching review after review and hearing so many mixed opinions, I had to try it for myself! Fans of this CC Cream often compare it to the much more expensive IT Cosmetics CC Cream which has been popular for many years. I’ve never tried that one since IT Cosmetics is owned by L’Oréal (and therefore not cruelty-free by IntegriBeauty standards), but it’s supposed to be a good product.

Once I finished testing a Pacifica foundation last month, I was very excited to start using e.l.f. Camo CC Cream so I could write this review. Please keep reading for my final thoughts on this foundation after many uses!

e.l.f. Camo CC Cream product claims directly from ElfCosmetics.com

Ditch your basic foundation! This skin color correcting cream is the only product you need to achieve a natural looking complexion but with full coverage. A multitasking dream cream with peptides and niacinamide known to plump, hydrate and smooth the appearance of your skin while protecting with SPF.

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Other product details

• Price: $14.00
• Net weight: 1.05 oz. | 30 g
• Made in China
• Cruelty-free
• Vegan
• Shelf life: 6 months once opened
  • Be sure to check the date on the bottom of the box to verify that the sunscreen ingredients haven’t expired.
• Special ingredients: 
  • Tocopheryl Acetate (type of vitamin E) strengthens skin and is an antioxidant
  • Sodium hyaluronate (sodium form of hyaluronic acid) is a humectant
  • Niacinamide improves appearance of enlarged pores, uneven skin tone, and fine lines, and also regulates oil secretion
  • Ascorbyl Palmitate (stable form of vitamin C) is an antioxidant
  • Soluble collagen acts as a humectant and moisturizer
  • Glycerin is a moisturizer
  • Carrot root extract is a potent antioxidant with skin-regenerative abilities
  • Sunflower seed oil improves damaged or irritated skin barrier
  • Peptides reduce wrinkles and increase collagen
• 20 shades ranging from fair to rich
• Where to buy: ElfCosmetics.com 
  • E.l.f. Camo CC Cream is not currently for sale internationally (hopefully this will change, but I’m guessing it has something to do with the sunscreen ingredients in this product).
• Overall rating: 8.2/10
  • Inclusivity: 8/10
  • Packaging/ease of application: 9/10
  • Hydration: 6/10
  • Staying power: 9/10
  • Price: 9/10

Please note that I am not a makeup artist. The opinions expressed in this review are my own, as a regular person that loves makeup.

Inclusivity

E.l.f.’s classic foundation, Flawless Finish Foundation is available in 40 shades. The recent predecessors to e.l.f. Camo CC Cream, Hydrating Camo Concealer and 16HR Camo Concealer, come in 25+ shades each. Because of that, I expected the CC cream to come in at least 25 shades. Surprisingly, e.l.f. Camo CC Cream is currently only available in 20 shades. 

These shades range from fair to rich. I looked at each of the 20 shades and they are distributed as follows:

• Fair: 3 (1 warm; 1 neutral; 1 cool)
• Light: 3 (1 warm; 2 neutral)
• Medium: 4 (2 warm; 1 neutral; 1 cool)
• Tan: 3 (2 neutral; 1 cool)
• Deep: 4 (1 warm; 1 neutral; 2 cool)
• Rich: 3 (2 warm; 1 neutral)

I appreciate that e.l.f. included shades for so many categories of skin tones. However, as a fair-skinned person, I think there should also be at least one “very fair” shade. I have the lightest shade, Fair 120N, and I know there are people with lighter skin than mine! 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, it looks as though the shades go quite deep, which is great! A lot of foundations have very limited shade ranges with mainly light and medium shades.

Looking at the specific shades within each skin tone category, I noticed some odd things. For example, there are no light shades with a cool undertone. Also, there are no tan shades with a warm undertone. That’s especially strange to me because in my mind, people with tan skin are more likely to have a warm undertone than neutral or cool (I could be wrong about this). Lastly, there isn’t a rich shade with a cool undertone. E.l.f. could’ve added just three more shades to cover these bases.

While I do think e.l.f. should consider adding some additional shades as I mentioned above, this is a reasonably inclusive shade range. I think the majority of people will be able to find a shade that works for them. For those that struggle to find the correct shade, e.l.f. does offer a shade match guarantee for this CC cream. That means they will provide a refund within 30 days if you’re unhappy with the shade purchased.

Packaging/ease of application

E.l.f. Camo CC Cream is packaged very similarly to IT Cosmetics CC Cream. It comes in a plastic tube with a nice pump. There’s a cap to protect the pump since it doesn’t lock. I wouldn’t have minded if they’d made this a simple squeeze tube, but the pump is nice because it makes it a bit easier to get the right amount of product. One full pump is usually just right to get solid medium coverage on my skin.

This CC cream is thicker than a lot of liquid foundations I’ve used. It truly is a cream with sort of a moussey texture. When I pump out the product, it doesn’t run, which makes it easy to control when using a mixing palette.

E.l.f. recommends applying this CC cream with the e.l.f. Complexion Duo Brush. I don’t own that particular brush, but I do often use other e.l.f. face brushes to apply foundation. While I usually like to use brushes to apply foundation, I actually prefer to use a sponge with this one. It’s very quick and easy to blend this CC cream seamlessly into the skin with a sponge. I find that I get a much smoother finish with a sponge vs. brush. A brush will work in a pinch, but it doesn’t look nearly as good that way on my skin.

If you read my last foundation review on Pacifica Alight Clean Foundation, e.l.f. Camo CC Cream behaves very similarly to that product around my eyes. It unfortunately settles into those fine lines very badly. I try to avoid the eye area with this foundation or apply it only very lightly around my eyes, and add concealer as needed.

Hydration

There are a couple of things that made me expect this CC cream to be very hydrating. 1. Under “How to use” on the product page, e.l.f. states this product can be worn as a moisturizer. 2. There are at least three ingredients in this product that act as moisturizers. 

I was pretty shocked to see how matte this CC cream was the first time I applied it. I actually don’t find it to be very hydrating on my skin and it can almost look dry at times. Since I have combination skin with an oily t-zone, my natural oils eventually do break through somewhat to make the finished look appear more natural.

Don’t fret, I found a great way to make this CC cream more hydrating! I put one pump on my e.l.f. Artist Mixing Palette and add a drop of facial oil. Any type of facial oil will work for this purpose but I like to use the e.l.f. All the Feels Facial Oil. Once I’ve mixed those together, I dot the CC cream all over my face and it blends like a dream. That one drop of oil goes a long way in making the CC cream feel more hydrating!

Those with oily skin might love that this CC cream isn’t very hydrating. Those with normal to dry skin probably don’t, though! I’m glad I found a solution to this problem, but it would be nice if it wasn’t necessary.

Staying power

I’m excited to discuss the staying power of e.l.f. Camo CC Cream because it is excellent! The best way to explain this is to walk you through my wear test that I did yesterday.

I did an 8-hour wear test without primer because most days I don’t use primer. I applied the CC cream with a sponge all over my face including up under my eyes. I wanted to show how it settles into those fine lines throughout the day. I applied a light dusting of powder all over my face since, again, that’s what I normally do. Foundation won’t last as long on my skin without powder since my t-zone is oily.

In the first four hours, there was very little change. Foundations always break up on my chin, but there was barely a noticeable change in that area! Same for my nose, which is another common problem area. At that point, I also noticed that only a minimal amount of the CC cream had settled into fine lines on my face. Under my eyes was a different story; those lines were very obvious! 

At the 8-hour mark, my under-eyes looked very dry and cracked because of how much product had settled into those lines. My skin was also looking a bit oily at that point. Otherwise, my skin still looked great!

I honestly think this might be the best staying power I’ve ever seen from a coverage product! It looks almost flawless from morning to night, with the one exception of the under-eye area. Since there’s an easy solution for that problem, I don’t mind it too much.

Just for fun (because there was a beautiful rainbow), I took another photo last night after about 12 hours of wear. This was after copious amounts of sweating and eating greasy fair food! Even after all that I was still happy with how my makeup looked. 🙂

I have just one more comment on the staying power of e.l.f. Camo CC Cream. It might be my imagination, but I think the longevity of this product may be even better when adding a drop of facial oil. If I’m right, I suppose it would be because flexible coverage is less likely to “crack.”

Price

When e.l.f. Camo CC Cream first launched, a lot of people were very surprised by its price. Since e.l.f. is one of the most affordable beauty brands on the market, $14.00 does seem a bit high for its CC cream. Looking at other e.l.f. foundations and their BB cream, they are priced at only $6.00, so the jump to $14.00 is significant.

Looking a little deeper, you’ll see that e.l.f. Camo CC Cream is a much higher quality product than the older coverage products. The CC cream beats the other foundations and BB cream on packaging, ingredients, and sun protection (the BB cream has SPF 20 protection, but the CC cream is better with SPF 30)! I also prefer the performance of the CC cream vs. the BB cream, though I can’t comment on the foundations since I haven’t tried those.

If those comparing e.l.f. Camo CC Cream to the IT Cosmetics CC Cream (which is $39.50) are correct that it’s a dupe, that means you save $25.50 by choosing e.l.f.! All things considered, I think $14.00 is a very good value for e.l.f. Camo CC Cream.

e.l.f. Camo CC Cream sun protection

Before I wrap up this review, I wanted to add a quick note about the sun protection provided by e.l.f. Camo CC Cream. It offers broad spectrum SPF 30 sun protection with active ingredients octinoxate 7.5%, titanium dioxide 4.45%, and zinc oxide 13.72%. Since the majority of the sunscreen in this product is mineral instead of chemical, there’s no sunscreen smell!

The problem is that to get that full SPF 30 protection, you have to use a large amount of product, more than most people would want to use. If you use a standard amount of CC cream, you’re only getting a fraction of that coverage. For that reason, I wouldn’t recommend relying on this product alone for sun protection on your face. I always apply sunscreen liberally to my face and let it set before applying foundation. That way, I have a solid layer of sun protection that I can count on to prevent sun damage.

While the sunscreen in this CC cream isn’t enough to fully protect you, I think it’s great that e.l.f. included it! It’s never a bad idea to have an extra layer of protection from the sun.

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The only regret I have about e.l.f. Camo CC Cream is that I didn’t get it sooner! I haven’t been using it for very long, but I already know it’s going to be a product that I reach for often. I really enjoy using it, especially now that I’ve discovered it works so well paired with facial oil!

I like to go back and look at product claims before I complete product reviews. For e.l.f. Camo CC Cream, the primary claims are that it has medium to full coverage with a natural finish and that it includes skincare ingredients that plump, hydrate, and smooth skin.

I think this foundation could be built up to be full coverage or close to it, but I consider it to be more of a medium coverage product. I disagree with the claim that it has a natural finish, as I find it to look very matte on my skin. There are several fantastic skincare ingredients in this CC cream, but I’m not sure if they plump, hydrate, or smooth my skin. I care more about the long-term benefits those ingredients provide, anyway.

After trying e.l.f. Camo CC Cream for myself, I see why so many people have been raving about it! I think it’s a great choice for just about anyone looking for medium coverage that includes skincare benefits and bonus sun protection. The one thing to keep in mind is that a lot of people might find it necessary to add a bit of facial oil for hydration. It really makes a big difference!

After reading this review, do you think you might give e.l.f. Camo CC Cream a try? What is most interesting about it, to you? I like that it’s a multi-tasker and stays put all day long!

Please share your thoughts with me in the comments below. 🙂

Lauren

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