Broad spectrum and moderately priced, with a natural finish and no white-cast, this is just shy of being the ideal everyday sunscreen!
Where to buy:
Description: Shiseido Senka Mineral UV Gel SPF50 PA+++ is a UV gel which pursued a strong ultraviolet rays prevention effect and protect skin from damage such as drying by ultraviolet rays.
It is fresh in texture which is easily spread through the skin and does not stay white. By baby powder combination, the touch such as the skin of the baby who said that it is smooth continues quickly. (from sasa.com)
Ingredients: I am unable to find the ingredients anywhere online, but I believe that it uses these as the active ingredients used for the actual sunblocking aspect: Octinoxate, Octocrylene, Parsol SLX, Zinc Oxide, Ensulizole, Uvinul A Plus. Thus, it's basically a chemical sunscreen which can be bad for sensitive skins! :o If you have sensitive skin you might be better off skipping this, or trying it out before buying! I do believe there is a fair amount of alcohol in this sunscreen as well, which accounts for its 'matte'ness and powdery finish.
Scent: It has a mild alcohol/sunblock smell. Not pleasant but it dissipates fairly quickly. Meh.
Packaging: Such a small bottle!! A reasonably priced small bottle, but still so small! Not particularly cute, but it gets the job done. This has a screw-on top, and it's secure but easy to unscrew. I never have an issue with accidentally pressing too much out, so no complaints here!
Swatch: It's a runny gel more than a cream. It's not completely liquid, but not completely gel either. It spreads easily- initially is dries a bit greasy, but after about 5 minutes or so I can blend it in/pat it a bit and it looks natural and semi-matte. I can apply makeup over it without a problem! One of the best parts about this is that there is absolutely no white cast!
You can see that it's slightly shiny right after rubbing it in, but this is only for the first 5 minutes or so.
Results: I really, really like this sunscreen. It's not quite HG but for the price it's pretty damn great; significantly better than most Western drugstore sunscreens for sure. The only real complaint I have is the initial grease. That took me a few times to figure out how to deal with. If I didn't wait for it to sink in, or if I didn't blend/pat it in a bit more after then my skin would look a bit shiny after applying makeup. Having figured out the 'trick' to making it look natural, I'm very happy with this! :) It's great for an every day sunscreen, given the fact that it has pretty high protection from both UVA and UVB rays (broad spectrum!) and is reasonably priced. The only other potential issue is... the fact that it's sold out everywhere I looked online. People seem to really be liking this sunscreen!
Conclusion: Final Score: 4.8/5
Pros:
- good price
- broad spectrum
- great for everyday
- dries to a natural finish
- no white cast at all!
Cons:
- alcohol-y scent
- I wish it came in larger bottles
- can be a bit greasy at first
- can be hard to find online
Have you tried it? What do you think? :)
Japanese sunscreens are my preferred sunscreen of choice, and my HG is the Biore Aqua UV Watery Essence sunscreen. I will have to look into this!
ReplyDeleteI just got that one! I like both a lot, I think this one has less alcohol in it though!
DeleteCheck your messages on the forums ^^
ReplyDeleteI really like shiseido sunscreens, this is next on my wishlist =)
ReplyDeleteI'm from Japan and I love this sun screen! It's so amazing. I hope it'll be more available in the world outside of Japan.
ReplyDeleteI just did my new wearable dusty smokey eyes tutorial on my blog and it would mean the world to me if you could check it out and please let me know what you think <3
Here is the link to the post :)
http://mayumi1992.blogspot.jp/2014/03/wearable-dusty-smokey-eyes-using.html
Much love,
Mayumi