Serum-like texture, mineral SPF wizardry
The media could not be loaded. How is it that more people don’t know about this?! Short version: The bottle isn’t huge, but if you want/need mineral over chemical sunscreen but have an hard time with the weird mineral texture, have very sensitive skin, and/or are acne-prone, it’s VERY worth it (and it’s on sale right now, so I might get a couple more bottles while I can…). I am what you might call a “skincare junkie,” but having been on Accutane for 8mo now, there’s not much leeway skincare-product-wise. Everything I use needs to be gentle, simple, and very moisturizing, but I will not use the most-recommended CV cream as it has a very comedogenic ingredient combo, so it did take a bit to find alternative products that work for me. I’ve been using a different (chemical) SPF on my face, but a recent dose increase has caused extreme sensitization to the point that basically anything besides petroleum jelly makes my face burn like crazy until I have to wash it off. Sunblock seems to sting the most severely, which is super frustrating, considering SPF is the most crucial bit of skincare (especially with intensified photosensitivity). I found this searching Amazon specifically for a Korean mineral face sunscreen. I ran the ingredient list through INCIDecoder to check for irritating & comedogenic ingredients, and it looked great (pics included). I cracked it open as soon as it arrived — I braced for impact, but it did not sting at all :,) The texture is like a lightweight, liquidy serum with a natural-glowy finish. It takes zero effort to rub in and has very little to no white cast. While I am extremely pale and can’t reasonably speak to how this would do on darker skin, I can confidently say it definitely did not leave behind any visible zinc-y white streaks or blobs, and it doesn’t “soap” (get whiter) the more you rub it in, so I imagine it would do better than most mineral sunscreens on a wide array of skin tones. It’s not that thick white peanut butter textured crud we had to use as kids, by a long shot — not thick, slimy, greasy, difficult to spread/blend, etc., and does not pill. As previously stated, it does have a glowier finish, which could end up looking a little ~sweaty~, especially on oilier skin, but it’s grippy enough that I imagine it would hang onto setting powder very nicely if that’s a concern. I layered this on top of serum & moisturizer, as my skin is drier-leaning (regardless of Accutane), and it feels great, not actively drying me out or melting off etc. I’m overall really pleased with this stuff, and still amazed that it’s not a known quantity. Not gonna lie, just ordered 3 more tubes of it as it’s currently on sale for $16.50 — not like I’m going to stop needing SPF, after all, and mineral is best if you can find some that works for you. Highly recommend!! Personally very glad I stumbled on it. Read more
