Trying Out Mineral Sunscreens…

I’m trying out mineral sunscreens again! I picked up some mineral sunscreens I used in the past to test once again. They are Cetaphil Sheer Mineral Face Liquid Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 50 and Vanicream Mineral Facial Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 30. I’ve been using chemical-based sunscreens for some time now consistently. I’ve been getting really bad migraines from them. My eyes would burn constantly even though I’d only applied the sunscreen to my face. It would seep into my eyes somehow. I even wash my hands before applying mineral sunscreen on the skin around the eyes. Still, my eyes would end up burning no matter what. Reapplying chemical-based sunscreens was terrible. It’s just so irritating. I’d have teary eyes all day. I’m over chemical-based sunscreens. I have a few more bottles of chemical-based sunscreens left. I will use them up eventually. I’m just not interested in using them right now. I think it’s time to switch back to using mineral sunscreens. So let’s begin with Cetaphil Sheer Mineral Face Liquid Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 50…

I picked Cetaphil Sheer Mineral Face Liquid Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 50 because it’s a thin liquid. I wanted a sunscreen that’s lightweight. I’m getting tired of thick sunscreens. I’ve used it before, but I wanted to see if it’s going to be different this time. My skin is pretty good right now, and it’s easy to detect if a product is working or not fast.

Cetaphil Sheer Mineral Face Liquid Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 50 contains 12% zinc oxide. It has a SPF of 50. How? This sunscreen isn’t a true mineral sunscreen. On the ingredient list, it lists Butyloctyl Salicylate as the third ingredient. I’ve noticed that mineral sunscreens with high SPF that doesn’t feel heavy or doesn’t give off too much of a white cast contain this ingredient to boost the SPF.

This sunscreen is truly lightweight on the skin. That’s one of the main reasons why I chose it. When dispensed from the bottle, the sunscreen is a liquid. It’s white. It smooths over the skin nicely. It smells like plastic though. I hated the smell of it. Once applied to the skin, the white cast somewhat fades away, lol. It’s not too bad. It’s pretty easy to blend into the skin. The sunscreen is silky and smooth. As I said before, it’s truly lightweight.

As for irritation and breakouts, I noticed both. The sunscreen feels like silicones. It ended up irritating my skin. It made my skin extremely itchy, especially the neck area. I can’t recall this sunscreen giving me a rash in the past. I also noticed some clogged pores. Even though it feels lightweight on the skin, it does feel like plastic wrap on the face. I stopped using this sunscreen on my face immediately after noticing irritation and breakouts. I’m quite disappointed in the outcome when used as a face sunscreen. But, as a body sunscreen (on my arms), it works pretty well. It’s lightweight, doesn’t have a white cast, and absorbs quickly. It doesn’t stain my clothes either. Unfortunately, I’m not going to purchase it again for these reasons. It’s not a true mineral sunscreen. It irritated my skin and caused breakouts. The size of the sunscreen is too small for a body sunscreen. I know it’s not a body sunscreen. I’m currently using it as a body sunscreen but will not repurchase to use as a body sunscreen. I would rather go for a larger sized sunscreen bottle for the bottle to save money.

Vanicream Mineral Facial Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 30 was another mineral sunscreen I chose. I picked it for its moisturizing properties. This sunscreen is a true mineral sunscreen with 19.5% zinc oxide! I remember this sunscreen being thick and heavy. It’s thick but absorbs into the skin very nicely this time. I actually like it. It feels very gentle on the skin. I didn’t experience skin burning, eyes burning, itchy skin. It’s soothing. It has a white cast that fades into the skin. My experience with the Vanicream Mineral Facial Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 30 has been good. I haven’t noticed any breakouts. Just moisturized skin. This sunscreen is definitely for sensitive skin. We’ll see how it goes in the next week or so. Hopefully no new breakouts from this sunscreen! I think this might be my to-go-to sunscreen if it works out!

Those are my thoughts on Cetaphil Sheer Mineral Face Liquid Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 50 and Vanicream Mineral Facial Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 30! I’ll make an update soon. 🙂

Review: Sun Bum Kids Clear Face Stick SPF 50

I’ve been trying a bunch of different sunscreen products. I’ve already finished Sun Bum Kids Clear Face Stick SPF 50. The outer layer (packaging) peeled off all of a sudden.

• Glides on clear
• Water-resistant formula
• Can be applied on wet or dry skin
• Broad spectrum protection
• Cruelty-free
• Vegan
• Paraben-free
• Gluten-free
• Water-resistant (80 minutes)
• Hawaii Act 104 Reef Compliant
• Oxybenzone-free
• Octinoxate-free
• No synthetic fragrance

This sunscreen is 0.53 oz (15 g). It’s really small for the price. I thought I would give it a try anyways. I love clear sunscreen sticks. They work very well for re-applications. They’re convienent and easy to carry around and use. This sunscreen was just that. It’s easy to toss it in my bag and easy to re-apply. I can use it anywhere without hassle.

I first started using this sunscreen on my body, especially my neck and hands. I didn’t want to risk using it on my face at first. The sunscreen feels nice on the skin. It smells like bananas. I actually like the smell of the sunscreen product. It’s truly clear. It doesn’t leave the skin feeling extremely sticky. It goes on well. I haven’t had any big issues with this sunscreen. I just wish it would absorb a little faster. Otherwise, it works for me.

After testing it on my body, I decided to try it on my face. I liked that it’s a sunscreen stick. It wasn’t as messy compared to a lotion. With the Sun Bum Kids Clear Face Stick SPF 50, it felt moisturizing on the skin, but it felt a bit drying after it sets on the skin. I didn’t like the feeling of it on my face. Also, it burned my eyes. It’s a chemical sunscreen, by the way.

Here are the ingredients:

Active Ingredients:

Homosalate 10%, Octocrylene 10%, Octisalate 5%, Avobenzone 3%

Inactive Ingredients:

octyldodecanol, caprylic/capric triglyceride, butyloctyl salicylate, dibutyl ethylhexanoyl glutamide, dibutyl lauroyl glutamide, trimethylpentanediol/adipic acid/glycerin crosspolymer, tocopheryl acetate, fragrance, pongamol

I love that it’s a sunscreen stick that smells good. It works well on the body. I haven’t used it at the beach or anything. I haven’t used it when my skin is wet. I’ve only used for everyday use. I can’t comment if it works in extremely high UV cases. It worked for everyday use. As for my face, I don’t like it that much. I prefer to use it on my body. But, as a last resort, I would use it on my face. I didn’t experience breakouts while using it. Shocker! I was surprised by this. Maybe I’ll repurchase in the near future. Just not right now.

2 Months Experience!

Here’s my update for the week. I have a little bit of ‘free time’ to talk about my experience before it gets busy again. Here we go! Here’s my 2 MONTHS EXPERIENCE! 🙂

It’s been 2 months trying to figure out what works for my skin. I stopped using taz. It didn’t do much for my acne. Maybe I’ll return to using it sometime in the future. For now, I’m just using benzoyl peroxide. This week, I tried using it in the morning and night. My skin wasn’t that dry from using it twice a day. Just a little bit. It wasn’t too bad. I’ve only been applying a thin layer of product over my skin and letting it dry. It dries very quick since it’s a thin layer of product. It seems to work well under my morning SPF too. It works pretty well because using sunscreen alone makes my skin appear and feel so oily and greasy. I’m still using La Roche-Posay Anthelios Melt-in Milk Face & Body Sunscreen Lotion SPF 100 for outdoors and Neutrogena Visibly Even Daily Moisturizer SPF 30 indoors (until I finish it). The benzoyl peroxide helps to keep my oily skin under control during the day. But, I plan to use benzoyl peroxide twice a day on and off. Only when I feel like it, haha.

My results from using benzoyl peroxide this week has been really good. My acne has definitely lessened. My skin is finally clearing up. FINALLY. Benzoyl peroxide seems to be the answer. I’m thinking about switching my face wash to something that contains benzoyl peroxide too. Just try it out again and see if it works better this time. So I stopped using benzoyl peroxide once at night this week. My skin started to freak out and developed pimples. I guess I can’t go a day without using benzoyl peroxide just yet. I skipped an application because I was dead tired, lol. But, now I’m back. I’m trying my best to keep applying it regularly. It seems to help cut down the oil, and my skin looks better when I use it. If this is what keeps my skin clear, this is what I’m going to use.

Don’t forget to check out my previous posts!

Restarting Tret & My First Week Experience

My Week 2 Results With Tret. Changes I’ve Made.

My Week 3 BP Results!

1 MONTH Results with BP!

1 Month + 1 Week Using BP & Some Changes I Made This Week!

1 Month + 2 Weeks Experience!

1 Month + 3 Weeks Experience!

1 Month + 2 Weeks Experience!

My Experience with Taz 🙂

I’m officially back to using taz!! I started off the first week using taz twice a week. The next week (which is this week), I tried using it every single day. I skipped a day. I’ve used taz for a total of 8 times already. For the first 2 days this week using taz, I noticed more breakouts popping up in my breakout-prone areas. These pimples were not tiny. They were large deep under the skin pimples that could not be popped! I couldn’t do anything about them but leave them alone until they were ready to POP! They popped on their own too. D*mn! They were painful! And they all left an acne mark behind. Ugh! After this week, I’m left with acne marks and smoother skin. Yesssss, smoother skin. My skin actually does look clearer. I’m guessing this is the purging process I’m going through. My skin does look considerably better than before. It looks less bumpy and less textured. It sucks that I’m left with acne marks, but they’ll eventually go away as the months go by. I hope. I’m going to stick it out, hold on, and hope all gets better. And, by the way, there was a slight burning sensation to my skin after 5 days of application (for this week). I’m still going to push it through because it’s not too bad. I didn’t skip a day of taz because of this. The reason why is to incorporate benzoyl peroxide into my routine (not as a spot treatment, as an all-over acne treatment). I used benzoyl peroxide last night and a lot of my pimples decreased in size. It still seems like my skin still needs benzoyl peroxide to be clear. It helps to kill the bacteria and keeps my skin from exploding with more acne. Taz is working, I guess, but I’m getting a feeling a combination of benzoyl peroxide and taz is where it’s at for my skin.

Back to Sunscreens…

As for sunscreen, I know I did an update on sunscreens last week. I mentioned using La Roche-Posay Anthelios Melt-in Milk Face & Body Sunscreen Lotion SPF 100 and Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV SPF 50+ PA++++. Well, one part of that changed. I’m still using La-Roche Posay SPF 100. I stopped using Canmake. My skin just didn’t like Canmake. The texture of the sunscreen is soft, smooth, and dries on the skin nicely. But, I noticed my nose clogging up, and it made my skin feel gross by the end of the day. It just didn’t work for me. As for La Roche-Posay SPF 100, this is slowly becoming my main sunscreen. It can feel greasy on the skin sometimes, but I’m not having any breakout issues with it as of late. Hmmm! This one may work out. Honestly, I’m just looking for a sunscreen that doesn’t break me out. Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 40 causes breakouts (the last time I used it). Neutrogena Visibly Even Daily Moisturizer SPF 30 is OK. I noticed some pimples from it last time, but those breakouts could be from something else. I tried it again, and it was decent. Maybe I’ll use what I have left indoors. I don’t really need SPF 100 indoors. I’m trying to use up all of the sunscreens I have too before purchasing more/new ones. La Roche-Posay Anthelios Body & Face Mineral Sunscreen Gentle Lotion SPF 50 looks awful on my skin. Yuck! It’s so thick, too much of a white cast, and dries the crap out of my skin. I can go on and on about the sunscreens I have, but those are a few thoughts that popped up in my mind, lol.

That’s it for this week! My skin care routine is minimal, which makes my life so much easier. Hopefully all goes well next week! See everyone there! 🙂

Did you miss out?? 👇🏻

Restarting Tret & My First Week Experience

My Week 2 Results With Tret. Changes I’ve Made.

My Week 3 BP Results!

1 MONTH Results with BP!

1 Month + 1 Week Using BP & Some Changes I Made This Week!

February Skin Care Empties

Here’s my list of February empties! The list is pretty short this month. I slowed down on using my skin care products. I’ll try my best to pick it back up next month!

Cosrx Ultimate Nourishing Rice Overnight Spa Mask:

I finished my last bottle of Cosrx Ultimate Nourishing Rice Overnight Spa Mask. I tried using this moisturizer on my face so many times, but it never worked completely. I noticed that it would brighten my skin up at times (contains niacinamide and rice extract). The brightening effect did not last. My skin would revert back to what it was before. It never helped with acne marks either. My skin ended up breaking out due to the oils (sunflower seed oil, palm oil, palm kernel oil) in the product. It didn’t work for me in the end. I used several bottles too. I used the rest of what I have left on my body and hands. I’m glad I’m done with it.

Neutrogena Visibly Even Daily Moisturizer SPF 30:

I finished one of the two bottles of Neutrogena Visibly Even Daily Moisturizer SPF 30 this month. Yay! This used to be my HG sunscreen (or moisturizer with SPF). It was the only moisturizer/sunscreen product that didn’t break me out. It’s not the best. I noticed some burning and freckles while using it. Whatever. I couldn’t use anything else due to breakouts. This was my only choice. My experience with it this time was not like it used to be. It used to be decent. Now, I’m just not impressed anymore. I find it to be too moisturizing (makes my skin oily) and burns my eyes. I tried applying the product a little bit away from my eyes, but it seems to get in my eyes regardless. Since this sunscreen isn’t reliable or that effective, I don’t care much for it anymore. I experimented with it indoors (not outdoors). It is what is it. I have one bottle left and won’t repurchase again. I can’t anyways, haha. It’s been discontinued. I wonder why…lol.

RoC Multi Correxion Hydrate + Plump Eye Cream:

No more RoC Multi Correxion Hydrate + Plump Eye Cream! I’m done with it. I’m happy to be done with it. I used the rest of the product on my body, especially my feet. This eye cream was OK at first until my eyes started burning from it (new formula?). It irritated the crap out of my eyes and gave me an allergic reaction. My eyes were so swollen and puffy.

Purito Centella Green Level Buffet Serum:

I was able to finish a bottle of Purito Centella Green Level Buffet Serum this month. I didn’t even realize I was running low until I finished it. So with this serum, I haven’t been using it on my face. It’s not a good facial serum for me. I remember getting blackheads and other breakouts from it, which is surprising because it absorbs quickly and feels very lightweight on the skin. I guess my skin just doesn’t like facial serums or maybe it’s just this one. I’ve been using this serum after my showers on my body. Honestly, I can’t tell if it’s making a difference, but I love how weightless and how fast it absorbs into the skin. Well, I have to use it for something. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’m about to open a new bottle, haha.

For more skin care empties…

August Skin Care Empties! 

September Skin Care Empties 

November Skin Care Empties 

December Skin Care Empties 

More December Skin Care Empties!

January Skin Care Empties!