[unpaid/sample/affiliate/ad] Every year I’m marvelling at how much facial sunscreens have progressed. I can’t stand feeling ‘layered’ so the lightness of the fluid is everything for me unless I am literally going to the beach, in which case, I don’t really mind how it feels. I’m not an SPF evangelist – I don’t wear it every day come rain, come shine, come snow, come sleet and so on. I like to think I wear it sensibly – on the odd day here and there I forget to wear it at all and I don’t berate myself. Of course I don’t want skin cancer but neither do I want this oddly even and waxy looking facial skin that has no personality, no points of interest and no marks at all. It’s a bit Madam Tussauds for me and I’d far rather not judge beauty on the paleness and even-ness of the complexion.
One of the newer ones to cross my path is the Suqqu SPF50 Protecting Day Cream. It’s looking a bit scruffy in the picture because there was a label over the SPF50 (that said SPF50!) and I picked it off which I clearly should not have done.
It might be obvious, with the exception of Malin + Goetz, that my heart lies with Japanese or Korean sunscreens. Somehow, they’ve just got the consistency right in terms of decent protection that feels lightweight on the skin. Countries that have heavy humidity to deal with are advanced in formulas that don’t slide off the face and that don’t feel sticky or weighty. Suqqu has done a great job of both explaining the formula by using the term ‘scatterers’ when it comes to the composition of ingredients so I’ll briefly take you through it. The Lubricant Coat Scattering Agent is a powder surface with silicone oil that reduces the feeling of being powdery, the HD Scattering Agent is highly effective in cutting UVB waves without any grey/white casting on the skin and ADVAN, which stands for anti-Damaging UVA Network, again blocks UVA rays. I’m somewhat lost. Each of the three scattering agents demonstrates their respective strengths to provide both high UV protection and a comfortable feel. The upshot is a very comfortable cream that won’t give you sweaty skin although it is lightly fragranced. It’s in the luxury bracket at £48 for 30ml HERE.
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Next up is Japanese brand, Althetia, whose sunscreen I discovered last year. One of the great things about this SPF30 base is that it doesn’t interact with your base causing those annoying little squirls which can come from silicones working against each other. Again, it’s super light feeling on the skin thanks to the water based gel (rather than cream) formula and creates a translucent barrier that will keep more than the sun at bay. It uses plenty of Japanese ingredients such as uji green tea, rice extracts and pearl proteins and you don’t get that giveaway sunscreen sheen with it either. There is an SPF50 option as well, and costs £33 for 30g HERE. It’s fragranced, so not for you if you avoid that.
The only one of today’s picks that isn’t Japanese or Korean. However, Malin + Goetz SPF30 Sunscreen behaves very much as though it is. That same light feeling, gel consistency that blends like a dream into the complexion. It achieves that with Microsperse (R) technology (and here’s where the formulators show their faces in creating trends in beauty) that acts as an alternative to conventional ways of creating oil-in-water emulsions using a particle size that is much smaller than regular sunscreens use. The result is an SPF that’s smoother, lighter and more comfortable in texture. It contains Vitamin B3 (niacinamide), Vitamin E to add a skin caring element and contains non-nano zinc oxides. It’s £33 for 50ml HERE. There are no artificial fragrances in this.
The IsNtree (Korean Brand) Hyaluronic Watery Sun Gel SPF50 is the lightest feeling of all. It’s worth exploring the lesser known Japanese and Korean SPF brands because they are just as good quality as the names we know and recognise but because they’re seen as a daily staple in those countries, they tend not to be priced quite as highly. I found the 5ml version on Amazon for £14.94 HERE. It’s nicely hydrating, non-instrusive, works with make-up and is fragrance free. There is a skin care element in the form of 8 weights of hyaluronic and feels fresh on the complexion thanks to centella. For day to day, this is the one I’d pick out – I bought this sample at a Korean beauty shop along with Beauty of Joseon which is another name you might not recognise but I would recommend in a heart beat. I am only not showing you that one because I gave it away – I extolled about it so much that I was really keen for my friend to try it so had to let it go :-).
I’m not all that keen on the over-sell of SPF and all the terrible things that might befall you if you don’t religiously apply it – we are all adults here, able to make our own decisions and there is enough education around SPF and the dangers of the sun that the beauty industry and beauty content creators don’t need to continuously SPF shame. How, if and why you use sunscreen is up to you – you don’t need any lectures from me :-).
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