I’ve been using a lot of BB creams for the past year. In fact, I was going through all of my makeup and found this amount of BB creams in a corner (including the ones I bought in Japan).

Jeepers creepers! Did I really amass that many tubes of BB creams? Oh boy. One face, not even skin 😛

To review all of this in individual posts would take yonks (plus it’s too much work and I’m a lazy bugger), so I’ll be doing grouped reviews on a new segment I’d like to call BB Creamology! *applause*

Ahem. Right. Back to work. 😉

Today’s episode of BB Creamology features three BB creams I’ve been using: Rimmel London’s BB Cream 9-in-1 Skin Perfecting Super Makeup, Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula Eventone BB Cream and ZA’s Total Hydration BB Cream UV.

Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula Eventone BB Cream*

• Shade: Light. Cool undertones. This colour is one shade lighter than my skintone.
• Texture: Thick and creamy
• Fragrance: Strong soapy scent, typical of Palmer’s Cocoa Butter products. Too strong for my liking.
• Wet-To-Dry Time: The BB cream is quick to dry on application. Dries to a semi-matte finish.
• Coverage: Light to medium (reminds me more of a tinted moisturiser)
• Sun Protection Factor: SPF 15
• Price: AU$9.99 for 30ml
• Availability: Currently only available at My Chemist and Chemist Warehouse stores. This BB cream will be available selected pharmacies and supermarkets nationwide from January 2013.

Rimmel London BB Cream 9-in-1 Skin Perfecting Super Makeup*

• Shade: Light. Cool undertones. This colour matches my skintone perfectly
• Texture: Thick and creamy (but not as thick as Palmer’s)
• Fragrance: Subtle floral scent.
• Wet-To-Dry Time: Out of the three BB creams, Rimmel’s took the longest to dry on the skin. Dries to a dewy finish.
• Coverage: Medium, buildable
• Sun Protection Factor: SPF 25
• Price: AU$12.95 for 30ml
• Availability: Priceline, Big W, Kmart, Target, selected pharmacies and supermarkets nationwide.

ZA Total Hydration BB Cream UV

• Shade: There’s no shade name or number with this BB cream, leading me to believe that it only comes in one shade. Cool undertones. It’s also just a tad darker than my skintone.
• Texture: Creamy but light. The consistency is similar to Garnier’s Miracle Skin Perfector BB Cream for Oily to Combination skin.
• Fragrance: Floral scent. It’s not as subtle as Rimmel’s but it’s not bad.
• Wet-To-Dry Time: The BB cream is quick to dry on application. Dries to a semi-matte finish.
• Coverage: Medium, buildable
• Sun Protection Factor: SPF 43 PA+++
• Price: NT$290 (AU$9.50) for 20g
• Availability: Unfortunately this isn’t available in Australia. I requested Tina to buy this for me from Taiwan. However, this is available in most Asian countries and eBay.

Conclusion:

I’m glad that Palmer’s has finally ventured into makeup after focusing just on skincare for so many years. Even though I found the BB cream to be more like tinted moisturiser than the BB creams I’m used to, it’s a good start. It’s a decent product to use when you want a bit of coverage without having that heavy, sticky feeling on your face. The scent is strong though, and it might be something you’d want to consider when trying it out in stores.

Before Rimmel’s BB cream came along, the ZA BB cream was one of my favourites (along with Garnier’s). I didn’t expect much out of Rimmel’s BB cream before I gave it a go (on the whole, Asian brands do make better BB creams). When I did, well whaddyaknow, I like it even more than ZA’s! The shade and coverage worked better for me. I just wished the SPF was as high as ZA’s though. Oh well, it’s still the same lesson learned: never judge a BB cream by its brand 😉

I’ll be reviewing another 3 more BB creams soon. One day, I’ll get through all of them. Fingers crossed.

Have you tried any of these BB creams before? What did you think of them?

Note: These products were provided for editorial consideration.