Adventures in Sunscreen

Along with never really having a particular skincare routine, I’ve also never been a big sunscreen person.  I know my mother made me wear it when I was young, but as far as I can recall I’ve been sunburned only three times in my life, and I barely tan.  So it never really placed on my priorities list until I started looking into skincare, at which point I was informed that if I didn’t start wearing sunscreen immediately and constantly, one day my entire face would fall off and land on the side of the road somewhere all wrinkled and frightening.

Fine, I thought. That’s a really nasty image, so I’ll put some of this crap on my face. Whatever.

Then began the dilemma: what kind of sunscreen? What strength? And how horribly is this going to work for me?

Well, I figured, might as well go for at least 30 SPF, since while BB creams and a lot of foundation-y type products have some SPF in it, I’m generally way too lazy to wear them and I am not yet used to the feeling of having ‘stuff’ on my face all day long, so their protection is negligible at best.  And now there’s this PA thing.  What on Earth is that?

Well.  Let me tell you.  The PA rating system is used, primarily in Asia as far as I’m aware, to measure in counterpart with SPF.  SPF measures protection against UV-B, while the PA system measures protection against UV-A.  The PA system goes from PA+ to PA++++.  PA++++ is a recent addition to the ranking system.  I figure I better get some PA stuff or something.  At least that way I’m not going to get all irradiated and grow mutant powers on my face or anything, anyway.

I ended up investing in three different sun protection products.  Here are my mini reviews on them.

1. ElishaCoy Water Drop Sun Cream SPF 33 PA++

I purchased this one next, figuring if I had to buy another sunscreen, I’d a) not go for one called a cream, because apparently I do learn sometimes, and b) get one with more protection on the off chance that I ever encountered anything having anything to do with nature, or the outside.  Theoretically, it could happen.  Urban Outfitters carries some Korean products now, including Mizon, so that’s where I picked this up.  Unless they’re having a sale, though, I don’t know that I’d bother buying from them again – and in case it matters, they fulfill their orders through Peach and Lily.

Anyway, while this worked better than the sun cream, it still fell a little short for me.  Firstly, I was still oilier than I wanted to be at lunchtime, and secondly, the spray for this mist is not particularly precise, so I either ended up feeling like I didn’t get enough sunscreen on my face, or that I was covered in about two inches of it.

Another thing to mention is that this goes on all weird and goopy feeling for about a minute, and then sinks into the skin and feels normal (with no white cast).  It freaked me out really badly the first time I tried it on.

So… third time’s the charm?

3. Biore Sarasara UV Rich Watery Essence SPF 50+, PA+++

This product is Japanese, unlike the first two products (which were Korean, if it matters).  I’ve actually only used this sunscreen for one day, so I can’t really give a comprehensive review about it.  I know that some people have commented that it can be drying, and that it may not be suitable for anything but oily skin – and frankly that’s what drew me to it.  And while I did need to use a blotting sheet at lunchtime today, it was nowhere near as bad as it was with the first two sunscreens, so I think this might be a keeper!