Review on Sunscreens
Let’s talk about Sunscreen.
over the years I’ve used expensive sunscreen brands LaRoche-Posay, Elta MD, and Supergoop Play Every Day and Unseen, some I still use others I don’t. I’ve also used many different and less expensive store brands from companies such as Trader Joe’s, Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, Amazon and Target, but do your due diligence and do the research and read through the reviews on each of those store brands, as they aren’t all the same.
Now here’s the thing, I’ve never turned up my nose at using dupes, especially if they hold up to the real deal. Dupes are usually the same formula as the originals. How? It’s simple, it’s because the patent has expired.
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Product- Trader Joe’s Daily Facial and Body Sunscreen - invisible gel formula
Retail Price $8.99 and $12.99
Size- Face 1.7 oz tube and Body 5 oz tube
Stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pros- the cost is very reasonable, but get the big tube unless you need a travel sized tube, the ingredients are exactly the same. It leaves a matte finish and is fragrance free and it doesn’t smell like chemicals. We used this brand on our Bermuda cruise and we both loved it. It didn’t leave a white cast and it gilded on your skin leaving it silky to the touch. This sunscreen has jojoba, shea butter and vitamin e, it’s the dimethicone that makes it glide on your skin and absorb so easily.
My husband really likes this one even though it requires a more frequent reapplication when swimming.
Cons- I need a Trader Joe’s store closer to my home. You need to reapply every 40 minutes of sweating or swimming.
Eucerin Face Clear Skin for acne prone and oily skin SPF 50 Sunscreen
Size- 2.5 oz pump bottle
Retail price $18.00
Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pros- pump dispenses extracts the amount you need. I have my husband use this one when he’s working in the garden in the heat and humidity. My husband likes this one a lot and it doesn’t make his skin break out when he’s sweating excessively.
Cons- he says there’s none.
Eucerin Age Defense spf 50
Size- 2.5 oz pump bottle
Retail Price $18.00
Stars ⭐️⭐️
Pros- pumps out exactly what you need. It’s got good coverage but read the label and reapply it when you’re supposed to!
Cons- I felt that it left my skin looking oily after reapplying it. After reapplying it a third time, my face was looking like an out and out oil slick. Perhaps that is a ‘me issue’ from being in the sun all day long. But I just didn’t like how I looked at the end of the day.
La Roche-Posay Anthelios light fluid spf 60
Size- 1.7 oz bottle
Retail price $35.99
Stars⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pros- works wonderfully
Cons- cost prohibitive. You need to shake shake shake that bottle every single time before applying it because it does separate. It left my face and décolletagè looking very shiny and when you sweat it tends to suddenly leave a white cast. It’s because of the mineral content.
Elta MD- clear face sunscreen
Size1.7 oz bottle
Retail price $45.00
Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pros- It works but don’t think you can skip or skimp on how much you need to apply to your face, you’ll use this up quickly.
Cons- cost point prohibitive.
Neutrogena Invisible Daily SPF 60
Size-1.7 oz pump bottle
Retail Price $20.00
Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pros- this had been my go to facial sunscreen for winter for the past 10 years. It works well underneath foundation makeup without pilling.
Cons- the price just keeps going up and up. I don’t like how I have to take the pump off and beat the bottle against the countertop to get the last third of the contents out. The straw needs to be a tad longer in the bottle.
Cera Ve mineral sunscreen sheer tint 1.7
Retail price $16.00
Stars ⭐️
Pros- there aren’t any from me
Cons- It made my face look eerily artificial and caked with a foundation color that doesn’t match my skin tone. It really looked as if I had glued a plastic mask on my face. I reapplied it after 2 hours and it looked even worse. It was a hassle washing off my face, all of that extra scrubbing left my skin feeling raw and my skin barrier was compromised.
La Roche Posay Anthelios mineral tinted sunscreen 1.7 oz
Retail price $40.00
Stars ⭐️
Pros- there weren’t any for me
Cons-cost prohibitive. Shake that bottle and shake it a lot to mix up the ingredients, you’ll know if you didn’t mix it enough. The tint left my face looking like I was wearing a strange eerie mask. Oh, and you can forget about reapplying it and looking normal.
Mineral sunscreens are touted as the end all be all but not in my book. And the amount of scrubbing you need to do to get this off of your skin is unreal.
Supergoop Unseen 1.7 oz
Retail Price $38.00
Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pros- glides on, feels silky smooth. Fantastic coverage.
Cons- cost point prohibitive. At this price point you won’t want to share it with your friends at the pool or beach.
Supergoop Play All Day SPF 50
Retail price $58
Size- 18 oz pump bottle
Stars⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pros- Super great coverage, dries well and I never got a sunburn using it, probably because I followed the instructions. I love the fact that I don’t smell like a piña colada. We also used this on our faces and no adverse reactions whatsoever.
Cons- The cost can be prohibitive. Washing your hands after applying this sunscreen to your body will leave them feeling gummy and sticky. The only stuff I’ve found that gets rid of the gummy sticky residue is dawn dishwashing liquid as the hand soap on our cruise just didn’t cut it. Now it was fine to wash off your body in the shower after hours of fun in the sun, it was only hard to remove from my hands after applying to my body (it’s really water resistant). I should have been patient and let it dry thoroughly before trying to wash it off my hands but I didn’t want to risk accidentally rubbing my eyes. Also you’ll feel as if you have to hide it in your beach bag because it’s expensive and it could mysteriously disappear.
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My summation:
Sunscreen is an essential to this reviewer as I wear it year round, and yes, some of it is extremely expensive. I admit that I’ve paid $40 for the small 1.7 ounce bottle of La Roche-Posay sunscreen for just my face. But does it work better than another brand?Ultimately the answer is No, it’s doesn’t. It’s about what you’re willing to pay and if brand names are worth more to you than store brands.
We really liked the coverage of Supergoop Play All Day spf 50 sunscreen. My husband and I applied it before we left our stateroom and reapplied it after 80 minutes of being in the Bermuda sun and playing in the North Atlantic Ocean. It worked extremely well and neither of us got sunburns. I did tan, gradually and without skin dryness. The fact that it comes in a pump bottle was quite nice, no tube squeezing!
The rest of our trip we used Trader Joe’s daily facial and body SPF 50 Invisible Gel Formula sunscreen. We liked how it glided on our skin and dried quickly. I could never use any brand of sunscreen including Supergoop near my eyes, the Trader Joe’s invisible sunscreen brand I could. No burning or stinging feeling on my skin nor the ever irritating nonstop watering eyes.
Trader Joe’s has a lot of skincare dupes that hold up to well to name brands, and their invisible gel sunscreen is getting high marks from this user/reviewer. The formulation in the smaller tube of facial and the larger tube of Trader Joe’s invisible gel formula sun screen are the exact same thing, so for the better value get the larger tube. This is a dupe of Supergoop unseen sunscreen and it works wonderfully. I love the way it glides on my skin and doesn’t leave a gummy feeling, plus it’s fragrance free so I don’t have to walk around smelling like a piña colada.
These two brands and types are what is known as chemical sunscreens, they absorb into the skin, unlike mineral sunscreens that can and often do leave a white residue on your skin and on the surface of anything and everything you touch. Ask me about the mess I once left on the black leather interior of my husband’s convertible on a drive to Kennebunkport while wearing a mineral sunscreen. We had to have it professionally cleaned. I swore off mineral sunscreen there and then.
I can’t stress this next part enough; always, always, always check the list of ingredients to make sure there’s nothing you’re allergic to! Some people will experience stinging with certain brands of sunscreen, that could mean your skin barrier has been compromised or it’s an allergic reaction or it’s a reaction to other products that are on your skin. Stop using that sunscreen and wash your face immediately! If that happens- start using a non-foaming creamy face wash and moisturizer for sensitive skin before applying sunscreen for your face. VaniCream is an excellent brand to use every day and is highly recommended by dermatologists for sensitive skin.
When using sunscreen on your face, the recommended amount is 1/4 teaspoon, that’s a nickel sized dollop. Keep in mind that’s just your face, you’ll need another 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon for your neck, ears and décolletagè (that’s the area of your chest above your breasts). Don’t forget your noggin! The part in your hair, your husband’s bald spot, those need sunscreen too! Reapply every two hours, that’s if you’re not getting wet or sweaty, reapply after 40 minutes of swimming or sweating - that’s for the Trader Joe’s invisible gel and reapply every 80 minutes for Supergoop Play All Day.
It is highly important to read the instructions on your bottle for that particular brands reapply guidelines. No one wants skin cancer, so let’s take the time to properly apply our sunscreen. And as always, Reapply immediately after towel drying.
