I Tried The Cream Going Viral For Erasing Redness & Making Skin Glow

From Maybelline's Sky High Mascara to CeraVe's Hydrating Cleanser, TikTok is responsible for propelling under-the-radar beauty products to internet stardom. This month, the online beauty community can't get enough of one clever skincare-meets-makeup product in particular.

Enter: Dr. Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Color Correcting Treatment.

Makeup artists and skincare obsessives swear by colour correctors for blanketing dark circles and hyperpigmentation but Cicapair's key feature is treating redness and soothing inflammation with star ingredient, tiger grass, otherwise known as cica. The formula is ever so slightly green in colour, which cancels out red tones in the skin, tucking away everything from acne scars to rosacea flare-ups.

Cicapair is different from most colour correctors as it's meant to be applied with your fingertips, just like moisturiser. When blended into the skin, the formula slowly turns to beige and is said to adapt to your skin tone. While the product has been available on Cult Beauty, Beautybay and Selfridges for some time, it just landed on the high street at Boots, at £37 for 50ml. TikTokers can't get enough and everyone from beauty editors to influencers is putting the product to the test.

But is it really worth the hype? I had to try it.

At first glance, the green-tinged colour correcting cream looks quite thick and chalky but it's actually pretty lightweight and blends just like a face lotion or primer. I have light, olive-toned skin and my main gripes are redness on my cheeks and red skin staining left behind by acne breakouts, so I welcome anything that takes the chore out of putting on makeup.

I applied Cicapair after my moisturiser, when I would usually follow with SPF, but there's no reason why you couldn't skip your moisturiser and just use this. The texture was the first thing I noticed. It was super hydrating and gave my current moisturiser (The Inkey List Symbright Moisturiser, £10.99, in case you were wondering) a dewy boost. But my face was white. I really wanted this to work so I massaged the product in a bit more, taking it up to my hairline and down my neck. I found that the more I worked it in, the easier it was for the product to adapt to my skin tone.

After there were no green or white streaks left on my skin, I stepped into natural light to see if it had made a difference and I was impressed! The redness on my cheeks had been erased, my acne scars were minimised and my skin was nice and glowy. I applied the product expecting to follow with a little concealer or foundation but there was no need. In fact, I skipped both for a light layer of Cicapair. The best part is that it doesn't break me out like most face products.

Throughout the day, Cicapair did collect in the creases on my eyelids and the fine lines underneath my eyes but this is the case with foundation and concealer, too. I just used my finger to quickly blend out any gathered product. As the hours went by, the product continued to adjust to my skin tone but at the end of the day, I noticed it had acquired a slightly pink tinge. I can only assume it oxidised a little. Still, my skin was nice and radiant and the redness on my cheeks didn't peek through at all.

One downside is that Cicapair isn't suited to all skin tones if you're wearing it on its own. It would work well under your chosen foundation, though, to cloak redness further. If you're solely looking for a colour correcting treatment, there are other brands which work for a wider range of people. Try IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream, £32, which boasts a handful of deep colour correcting tones. This is more of a foundation-concealer hybrid. A little goes a very long way to achieve a natural finish. Niod's Photography Fluid Opacity 12%, £20, has an airbrush effect on skin and when applied under foundation, makes makeup appear flawless. Stila One Step Correct Colour Corrector, £26, is also a great moisturising primer which sits seamlessly under foundation and concealer.

Overall, Cicapair is a product I'll reach for when I want a quick fix for uneven skin tone and skin gripes like redness and spots. It's excellent for impromptu Zoom calls. You only need a small dab, which makes it worth the price tag, but with TikTok stars championing it as the next best thing in beauty, it's looking to become a sell-out. My advice? Get in there, quick.