Hello beautyholics, and welcome to the 7th episode of BB Creamology!

I hope I haven’t driven you to boredom with so many BB creams yet :P. I know, barely a year ago it was when Western brands started to flood the market with BB creams and now it’s like “BBs are so last season, dahlink. Bring on the CCs!”

I have 3 BB creams to show you today that are from Western brands: one drugstore, one mid-range and one high-end. I was quite hesitant in showing you these BB creams because while they’re all right, they didn’t perform as well as I expected. Still, it’s honesty as always at casa Beautyholics so here goes nothing. 🙂

Face of Australia BB Cream 6-in-1

Shade: Light/Medium has cool undertones. Also available in Medium/Dark. The Light/Medium suits my skintone to a T.
Texture: Thick and creamy
Fragrance: Smells a bit like lime and cola. It’s a very refreshing scent, which I really like.
Wet-To-Dry Time: Dries fairly quickly on the skin. It leaves a semi-dewy finish on the skin.
Coverage: Light to medium coverage (you’ll need good skin for this)
Sun Protection Factor: N/A
Price: $8.95
Availibility: Priceline, Kmart, Big W and selected pharmacies nationwide.

The Body Shop Vitamin E Cool BB Cream

Shade: “Glowing” shade (in what you’d call a natural beige with cool undertones). It’s only available in one shade.
Texture: Thick and creamy, but not as thick as the Face of Australia BB cream.
Fragrance: Smells just like the Body Shop Vitamin E skincare range. There’s no added fragrance to the BB cream.
Wet-To-Dry Time: Takes a while to dry and leaves a dewy finish on the skin.
Coverage: Light to medium coverage (again, you’ll also need good skin for this)
Sun Protection Factor: N/A
Price: $21.95
Availibility: The Body Shop stores nationwide.

Diorskin Nude Tan BB Creme

Shade: 001 with warm undertones. Also available in a darker shade 002.
Texture: Light and creamy. There’s a high water content so you’ll need to shake the tube prior to application or else you’ll be squeezing water out of the tube.
Fragrance: Strong floral fragrance
Wet-To-Dry Time: Dries fairly quickly on the skin to a semi-matte finish.
Coverage: Medium coverage
Sun Protection Factor: SPF 15
Price: $70
Availibility: Dior counters at major departmental stores (MYER, David Jones) and selected pharmacies nationwide.

Conclusion:

The Face of Australia BB cream has the thick texture and consistency very much like a lot of Asian BB creams I know. However, the coverage doesn’t match up. It’s more a tinted moisturiser than a BB cream, to be honest and you’ll need good skin for this as it won’t be enough to cover redness and blemishes. I’m not sure if it’s my skin or the BB cream, but this flaked on me. When I applied it on my skin, the more I buff it in, the more it flaked and pilled on my skin (I looked like I had skin “dandruff”!). I’ve not read this occurence in other reviews so it could just be me. Having said that, I do like how accurately this matches my skin tone and the scent is just simply delicious.

I purchased the Body Shop’s Vitamin E Cooling BB cream on a whim. I was told by the sales assistant that it has a cooling effect that leaves the skin feeling refreshed upon application. I’ve not encountered such BB creams before so I thought I’d give this a go. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel any cooling effect. It just felt like any other regular face makeup. Like the Face of Australia BB cream, this is more of a tinted moisturiser than BB cream. It’s something you’d use on a lazy weekend where you want your skin tone to look even but without the heaviness of makeup.

As for the Diorskin Nude Tan BB creme, unfortunately, the Light shade is too dark for me. I expected it will be darker because it is part of the Nude Tan range but I took a chance with it anyway and wore it out. Sadly, I was very self-conscious with it on because I looked sunburned. As the colour didn’t suit my skin tone and I’m not a fan of wearing darker colours in summer, this isn’t for me. ‘Tis a real pity because it is a beautiful BB cream. I’m very tempted to get a regular Diorskin BB cream (not the Diorsnow) because if it’s exactly this consistency and texture but in a lighter shade, I know I’m going to love it.

This month’s BB Creamology is particularly difficult for me to conclude which BB cream I like the best. Out of the three, one flaked on my skin, one didn’t perform as suggested and one’s just too dark for me. I’m not keen on the fact that 2 out of 3 didn’t have SPF either. They’re good but they’re not great.

For texture, consistency, finish and coverage, I’ll say that the Diorskin one outperformed the rest, but only to be brought back down several notches because of the shade. Then again, I already knew that it would be too dark for me so I guess it isn’t fair to say it didn’t work for me because I knew the shade wouldn’t. If it had the shade of the Face of Australia’s BB cream, I’d say it’s a top notch BB cream.

What about you? Have you tried any of these BB creams before? What did you think? Oh and have you tried the regular Diorskin BB Creme? Does it work as well as mentioned in so many positive reviews?

Note: Products marked with * were provided for editorial consideration.