Sunscreen fails of 2017 - what did not work out for me and why

Now that I finally got time and energy to talk about my favorite and/or most used skincare products of 2017, I'd like to briefly discuss what did not work out for me and why. I don't intend to do any product-bashing, but I believe that it's important to talk not only about lucky finds that work great on my skin, but also about ones that did not; it's trial and error, after all. As usual, I purchased all the products myself, and all opinions are my own; it's all about my personal experience, so YMMV. If I happen to dislike a product that you love, please don't get offended; I'm sorry, but I guess our skins have different opinions about what's good for them, and mine is rather finicky.

Sunscreen fails of 2017: 1. Blanc Doux Pinot Noir UV Shield & Tone-up, 2. The YEON All Day Sun cream, 3. Innisfree Eco Safety No Sebum sunblock, 4. Shiseido Senka Mineral Water UV gel,  and 5. A'Pieu Pure Block Natural Sun cream.

Sunscreens are very important for me; I burn easily, and I don't really get tanned. To put it mildly, my skin dislikes sun, and it never misses a chance to remind me that I should reapply sunscreen on time. I start to burn after about 10 minutes exposure, and it might appear as a regular redness, or eczema-like rush on top of red areas; last year I got my first sunspot. I started using sunscreen daily in college, decades ago, and for a long time I was alternating between french pharmacy sunscreens and Clinique City Block. At some point I realized that I can't go lower than SPF40+ and broad protection (PA++ min, PA+++ would be better); that ruled out City Block. When I started moving on to K-beauty products, I started experimenting with Japanese and Korean sunscreens; I found a few that worked perfectly, and I had my share of disappointing products as well.

Let me start with the one that I consider the biggest fail so far. A'Pieu Pure Block Natural Sun cream SPF 45/PA+++ (full ingredients list on cosdna here) was the only sunscreen that I was using when I got my first (and so far the only) sunspot. It was hyped to high heaven; every blogger and You Tuber praised it in their reviews; what's more, it was mentioned on Get It Beauty in top 5 sunscreens (it beat SK-II and Lancome sunscreens, but lost to Shiseido Anissa in blind test; link here). If you factor in just how affordable it is (it was selling for around $15 when it just came out; right now you can get it on Amazon for $8 with Prime shipping), it sounds like an obvious choice, right? Well, unfortunately, it did not work out for me in the long run.

It's a pure chemical sunscreen (active ingredients are octinoxate, octisalate, ensulizole and avobenzone); it's very lightweight, has no white cast and absorbs easily, so it's easy to see why so many people, myself included, liked it. Texture-wise, it's very liquid-y, so it was getting in my eyes every now and then; but in a few minutes after application I did not feel it on my skin at all, just like I did not feel it when it got wiped off. It's not waterproof, and since usually I didn't apply any makeup on top of it, it was getting removed easily with sweat and sebum. Every time I touched my face with my phone or sunglasses, I run a chance to remove this sunscreen without noticing it; and that's exactly what happened to me. It was the only sunscreen that I was using in summer of 2016; I was very happy with it until I noticed a huge sunspot developing on right side of my face. The placement of it was consistent with the way my hand moves when I put on or adjust my sunglasses, so it was immediately obvious how my sunscreen got wiped off. It never happened to me before; considering that I'm using my phone minimally and don't touch my face too often, my sunscreens never had any issues staying put. However, A'Pieu was lighter in texture most of sunscreens I ever used, and as it was so watery, it probably moved easier than other sunscreens that I was using (and liking) before it. 

That experience made me re-evaluate the whole AM skincare routine. I used to pick moisturizer and sunscreen that had similar medium-light to very light consistency, especially in summer, and I never used anything on top of sunscreen. After considering my options I moved on to slightly different routine; I got back to gel creams instead of regular moisturizer creams, and in hot weather I started skipping creams completely, applying toner by 7-skin method and following it with serum or ampoule and emulsion only, so I can use heavier, creamier sunscreens without having too many heavy layers of skincare. Also, I started using primers and finishers on top my sunscreens to prevent wiping them off accidentally. 

I had rather bad luck with another sunscreen with similarly light texture -  Shiseido Senka Mineral Water UV gel. I know it's cult favorite for many people, but it did not work out for me at all. It has a lot of good features like low price, easy availability, small bottle that is easy to carry around for reapplying during the day, and decent ingredients (cosdna here), but for me, its texture counterbalanced all its good features. It's a combination sunscreen (chemical filters are octinoxate/Parsol MCX, octocrylene, polysilicone-15, phenylbenzimidazole sulfonic acid/Ensulizole, and Uvinil A Plus, and physical filter is zinc oxide) that leaves no white cast; it is very liquid-y and it has to be shaken properly before application to prevent separation. It was so runny and watery in texture that it was literally impossible not to get it in my eyes when applying, no matter how hard I was trying not to; and OMG it burned my eyes so bad! It has alcohol in top 5 ingredients to help with absorption, and my sensitive eye area wasn't able to survive it. Most of the time I had to take my contacts out to rinse them and wait for 10-15min for pain and itching in my eyes to go down so I can put the contacts back in; I have no time for that in the morning when I'm rushing to get ready for work... Plus, just like A'Pieu, it was moving around too freely for comfort; it's not waterproof either. While I'm sure it can be a perfect sunscreen for someone with non-reactive skin,  who does not wear contacts and does not mind reapplying sunscreen all the time, it was a fail for me; I use it on my hands and arms every now and then, but since it's not waterproof, there are better options for that as well.

Dr. G Brightening Up Sun - original and upgraded versions

I had one failed sunscreen that is missing from the picture above; it did not work out for me and I passed it to someone else shortly after opening. Dr. G Brightening Up Sun SPF42/PA+++ was another high rated Korean sunscreen that got all bloggers excited shortly after its release. On Get It Beauty blind test in 2015 it beat the previous winner, Shiseido Anessa (link here); it's been updated not too long ago, and the new version has SPF50 instead of SPF42. It's slightly more expensive than A'Pieu and Senka, selling for about $20; it's easy to find online, since it's still popular. It's a combination sunscreen (cosdna here); it has both physical (zinc oxide and titanium dioxide) and chemical (octinoxate) filters. I love it that its packaging prompts you to mark up the date when you opened it, so you'll never apply expired sunscreen by mistake. It claims to help with sebum control while brightening skin tone; it also doubles as a makeup primer. I rather liked Dr.G Bling Bling BB cream that I got in one of the old mystery Memeboxes, so I had high expectations for this sunscreen.

It's peachy pink in color strait out of the tube; it's not glow-y or shimmery, unlike some other brightening sunscreens that I've tried, and I appreciate that. Because it has  physical filters, I was expecting some white cast, but the peachy tint helps. I was pleased enough with application process; it's much heavier and creamier in texture than Senka and A'Pieu, but it blended easily enough, and it evened and brightened my skin right away. It felt like it stayed on my skin without sliding. Unfortunately, it broke me out right away. It has talc, dimethicone and artificial fragrance, as well as some preservatives, so I should've expected it. A person with combination non-reactive skin enjoyed it and actually liked it well enough to repurchase it herself when she finished the tube that I gave her, but for me it was a fail.

Innisfree Eco Safety No Sebum sunblock SPF 35/PA +++ was another sunscreen that promised to deal with sebum production. I suppose I got spoiled rotten when for two summers in a row I was able to find a very good and inexpensive sunscreens from K-beauty road shops that worked beautifully on sebum control. In 2015 or 2016, can't remember exactly when, I discovered The Face Shop Sebum Control Moisture Sun SPF 40/PA+++ (cosdna here); it was almost always sold out both online and in store. I loved it; I would never expect them to discontinue such popular product, but they did. It's kind of ironic that I was forced to switch to it when my previous favorite, The First sun liquid (cosdna here), a bestseller from The Nature Republic, got discontinued just as suddenly. There is something about Korean road shops; they have to have new products every season, and old favorites often fall prey to that marketing tactics. I suppose I have to start hoarding products I like, since they might be gone with no warning and no apparent reason. As it seems that The Face Shop reformulated and repackaged Sebum Control recently, I better hurry up to buy before it's gone again; hopefully they did not change the formula too much.

Eco Safety turned out to be completely different from The Face Shop sunscreen; while Sebum Control Moisture Sun was a chemical sunscreen (with octinoxate, phenylbenzimidazole sulfonic acid/Ensulizole, and avobenzone as active ingredients), Eco Safety (cosdna here) is physical, with all the white cast and heavy texture that 100% physical sunscreen implies. Just like The First sun liquid, Eco Safety had Saccharomyces ferment lysate and some natural oils and plant extracts, but that's where their similarities end; their textures are very different. Eco Safety was very hard to blend in, and for some reason instead of counteracting my sebum production it was making my skin a greasy mess in less than an hour after application. It was absolutely impossible to use it in hot summer weather; it was a bit more tolerable, but not enjoyable, in autumn and winter, since I have less sebum production in colder weather, but as a summer sunscreen it was a complete fail.

Blanc Doux Pinot Noir UV Shield & Tone-up - brand PR

I got Blanc Doux Pinot Noir UV Shield & Tone-up from one of the mystery boxes from Memebox; I rather liked those, they were fun and sometimes I would get a nice products that I'd never purchase myself. My first thought when I saw it was "wow, I got a Korean version of Caudalie sunscreen"; I've been considering Caudalie Soleil Divin (cosdna here) for a while now; while I do like French pharmacy sunscreens in general, I've been cautious about buying it, since it has five different added fragrances that are potential irritants, and quite a few preservatives as well. Many Korean brands reinterpret Western skincare bestsellers with less, or even completely without, harmful ingredients and irritants, and I was hoping that Blanc Doux would turn out one of those. Soleil Divin has no aloe vera or Centella asiatica in it, so that should've been an improvement, right? Well...

Blanc Doux Pinot Noir UV Shield & Tone-up - brand PR and ingredients info

I don't remember if I got a full ingredients list from Memebox, but Blanc Doux certainly feels like a physical sunscreen; it has white cast, even though it's less pronounced than Innisfree's, and it requires a few minutes of blending up to start disappearing into my skin. It was very moisturizing, almost too moisturizing for me, but it wasn't too bad. What got me was a perfume, I think. Despite being marketed as a hypoallergenic sunscreen formulated specifically for sensitive skin, Blanc Doux has so much added fragrance that it lingers for a long time after application. This combination of rich and heavy moisturizer with added perfume broke me out on first application. I tried to talk my husband into using it, since he was out of sunscreen back then and his skin is not just non-reactive, it can tolerate almost everything; initially he got interested in wine-based sunscreen (they're not making whiskey-based one, yet, so wine would have to do), but the perfume was too strong and too girly for him. He wasn't using it without multiple reminders, even though his skin seemed to like it just fine, and I ended up tossing it in a drawer where it expired peacefully...

Sunscreen fails of 2017: 1. Blanc Doux Pinot Noir UV Shield & Tone-up, 2. The YEON All Day Sun cream, 3. Innisfree Eco Safety No Sebum sunblock, 4. Shiseido Senka Mineral Water UV gel,  and 5. A'Pieu Pure Block Natural Sun cream.

The Yeon has a store in Koreatown in Flushing, Queens, and their salespeople are hardcore even for asian beauty counters. I got literally half-pressed/half-shamed into buying The YEON All Day Sun cream (brand info here) without checking a full ingredients list, even after I mentioned multiple times that I've very sensitive skin. To my defense, I tried and liked The YEON face mist from the same Jeju Hallabong line (cosdna here) before, and the sunscreen felt fine when I swatched it on my hand; plus, it wasn't that expensive to start with. Actually, I like The YEON overall (link to their website here) - the brand concept is holistic and nature-oriented, their products are rather reasonably priced, especially if you buy online (physical store has a noticeable mark-up, but I suppose they have to pay their rent somehow), and they seem to use a lot of natural, plant-based ingredients. All Day sun cream (cosdna here) has a nice texture - it's not too thick, not too thin, and it's not moving too much after application. It's a combination sunscreen; it has both chemical (octinoxate, phenylbenzimidazole sulfonic acid/Ensulizole, and Tinosorb S) and physical (titanium dioxide) filters. It blends without too much effort and does not leave any noticeable white cast. While it does have some perfume added, the smell is really mild and does not linger; it smells like a fruit salad, which is what anyone would expect from citrus-based product. Unfortunately, it made my face itchy and red every time I tried to apply it; it does have a lot of alcohol in various forms. It burns quite a lot if I apply it after using AHA/BHA, which I happen to use fairly often. It also has dimethicone, that my skin seems to dislike lately, as well as PEGs and preservatives. I can still use it on my body: hands, arms, ankle area that is not covered by either pants or shoes; but using it on my face is out of question. Let me put it this way: this is the least disliked of all sunscreens that I've been talking about today; but still, it's a fail, since I purchased it as a face sunscreen, and it only works for the body.

TL;DR

A'Pieu Pure Block Natural Sun cream SPF 45/PA+++: Chemical sunscreen that gave me no adverse reactions at first; however, it's not waterproof, so I got my first sunspot when it got removed without me noticing it.

Shiseido Senka Mineral Water UV gel SPF50/PA+++: combination physical and chemical sunscreen; it's not waterproof either, so it has to be reapplied every time I touch my face in hot weather, which is too difficult; it has alcohol in top 5 ingredients; it's too liquid-y in texture to avoid getting it in my eyes, which is very painful experience; it burns my eyes so badly I can't make myself use it.

Dr. G Brightening Up Sun SPF42/PA++: combination physical and chemical sunscreen; broke me out.

Innisfree Eco Safety No Sebum sunblock SPF 35/PA +++: pure physical sunscreen; the least cosmetically elegant of all sunscreens I've mentioned today; pronounced white cast and very heavy texture; made my skin greasy mess instead of controlling sebum production.

Blanc Doux Pinot Noir UV Shield & Tone-up SPF35/PA++: pure physical sunscreen; heavily perfumed; broke me out.

The YEON All Day Sun cream:  combination physical and chemical sunscreen; contains too much alcohol; burns my face, makes my skin red and itchy, but works as a body sunscreen; the least disliked of all sunscreens mentioned.