Hello my dear ones,
How are you all doing? Remember as you’re reading this post I’ll be moving around Kyoto or heading over to Seoul so answers to any comments will be a lot later than usual! Should be back around the 23rd August 🙂
Today I want to share with you an amazing product that I found & tested and you all deserve to know about it especially now that we are in the midst of summer! I was having a talk with my beloved Filomena from Filosophie! and she asked me about sunscreen lotions and powders since Japan has a huge market when it comes to harming UV rays. I was not really interested in sunscreen before but somehow our conversations sparked an interest in me and while I was looking for products for her I was picking up some for myself. And boy, am I excited for this review!
What I am going to talk about it today is the UV Base Make Keep with SPF 50+ amd PA++++ (that’s a lot of + you can get out there!) Of course, the packaging kind of cought my eye and especially the magic number of „50+“. As you all may know I am extremely pale with having the palest shade in almost every foundation (MAC NC15) so my skin is very very sensitive when it comes to getting harmed by the sun and I burn extremely easy if I don’t engage in counter measures.
I already talked it in my latest blog post about cultural differences and beauty ideals; In Europe and especially in Germany the general beauty ideal is to have tanned skin because it is associated with health. I have always been the „black sheep“ and always liked my pale skin tone, I never really cared about getting a tan (Also, my skin does not tan. It just refuses to, so I won’t force it.) I personally know a lot about how harmful the sun can be to our skin exposed on a daily basis and I think one of the main causes for Europeans looking a lot older than Asians from certain years on is tanning and taking no precautions when it comes to that.
Seriously, taking care of your skin and making sure that it is not damaged should be common knowledge but only a few people in Germany take that seriously, at least from the people I have met. (I don’t know how often I tried to convince my cousin that her heavy tanning is not healthy when on vacation… yes Jacky, I am talking about you and you know it! 😛 )
So cute yet kind of elegant packaging and no matter what everyone tells you: Packaging. Is. Important.
So this is a highly sun-protective make-up base that, as the name indicates, is used before applying make-up. I had my doubts about this but my curiosity won above all doubts. As you all know I have blemished & acne-prone skin and usually sunscreen is so rich that it breaks me out even more. (BTW, I highly recommend to only use sunscreen that is suitable for face use, especially if you plan to put make-up on top of that.) It turned so incredibly hot these last days and the sun is burning down that I am very happy I got this in advance!
Ingredients: Please see this post from Ratzillacosme for the product’s ingredients, I unfortunately threw away the package as I was moving between countries, my apologies. This sunscreen also ranks in the Top 6 of Japanese sunscreens from her 2013 ranking.
Upon application this looks tinted but actually the beige color is dissolving pretty soon leaving nothing but your skin. It does not make your face any whiter or leave a white cast; it dries very fast (less than 30 seconds) and leaves the skin with a very nice finish that looks natural and not even the tiniest greasy (which was my main concern.) Application example:
Sorry for the bad lighting, I hate the light in my dorm room 🙁 Hope the next one is better!
As you can see, the cream appears to have a white/beige/pinkish color but it completely dissolves, leaving just a white cast for some 10-20 seconds until it is completely dried up. After application my face feels very even and smooth and doesn’t look the tiniest bit greasy which of course is great for a make-up base 🙂
The texture of the base is not light and not thick; somewhere in between. It is a bit more thick than a regular moisturizer which is due to the heavy sunscreen I think. However, this doesn’t feel heavy on my skin at all, I love the feeling it gives me. It also has a very unique, sweet smell which is not too overwhelming. As a plus, I used this base for 1-2 weeks now whenever I went out and didn’t experience any breakouts so this might be safe for acne! (Of course, this can -as always- differ individually)
Would I repurchase again? Definite YES. I love this make-up base and highly recommend this product, so far only good experiences. Love that is has high SPF and PA which is not true with every product. I feel a lot safer with this going outside and feel very well protected. It also works like a charm as a make-up base and dries quickly. Love everything about it.
Do you always protect your skin from the sun? How about your country? If you know any other good products I always gladly take recommendations 🙂
Have a nice day & take care!
Sam
