Japanese Sunscreen Comparison Review
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| credit do smabssputzer for the banana photo |
Japanese sunscreens are my favourite sunscreens. Even after having used a lot of different Korean and Western ones over the past few years, their Japanese counterparts have won hands down. I am not even afraid to just randomly and blindly buy Japanese sun products anymore, since every single one I have used is quite excellent indeed.
So I thought I would present to you a comparison of all the ones I currently have in my house to make choosing easier. To be honest though I would recommend all of these. They are also written in order of absorption speed, from fastest to slowest.
Biore Watery Gel SPF50 PA++++
Biore Watery Gel is my favourite of the bunch. I got it after my previous favorite the Biore Watery Mousse was just too small of a size for me and the gel comes in the more convenient 90ml size.
It is super easy to apply since it has a watery milky consistency.
It smells citrusy fresh and you can faintly detect the scent of alcohol as well. There is no white cast on my current NC30 skin and it absorbs practically instantly. It can't be felt at all on the skin, something that is very important to me, yet it is not drying either. I am really happy with this sunscreen since it not only works excellently, but has a good price to size ratio.
It smells citrusy fresh and you can faintly detect the scent of alcohol as well. There is no white cast on my current NC30 skin and it absorbs practically instantly. It can't be felt at all on the skin, something that is very important to me, yet it is not drying either. I am really happy with this sunscreen since it not only works excellently, but has a good price to size ratio.
Sun bears Sensitive SPF35 PA++
I got this one for the little monster since it is waterproof and came recommended from the internet.
I know the SPF isn't the highest but I wanted to give an alcohol free sunscreen, targeted at sensitive skin, a try. I like this one a lot as well, but as I said before I like them all! The bottle looks teeny tiny, and I suppose it would get used up quite fast if I would to use it on me daily, but since the monster has a little body and only the exposed areas would get sunscreened, it is an OK size. The scent is basically non existent but if I would have to say anything I would say it smells very faintly like citrus. It has the same watery milky consistency as the Biore gel and absorbs very fast but a little slower than the former.
You can't really feel it on your skin either but I would say it is a smidgen more moisturising.
It also has no white cast, so all in all this one is also a success!
You can't really feel it on your skin either but I would say it is a smidgen more moisturising.
It also has no white cast, so all in all this one is also a success!
Sunkiller Perfect Strong Plus SPF50+ PA++++
This one is my least favorite of the bunch but it is still quite good. The reason I like it less, is a mixture of a few things. First off I am not fond of the alcohol smell it has. It isn't too strong but I can do without that. It also has this weird oily layer while it dries down. It absorbs relatively fast (around one minute) but during that time, if you would touch your skin it would be oily.
That oiliness practically disappears completely once it's absorbed, but if you would compare that part of your skin to one without it, it would feel slightly less moisturised and a little rougher. But I am really splitting hairs here.
I can imagine that people with oily skin would notice this the most though. It has the same texture as the others and also no white cast. Another downside is that the bottle is also very small but it is a great size to use when up and about.
That oiliness practically disappears completely once it's absorbed, but if you would compare that part of your skin to one without it, it would feel slightly less moisturised and a little rougher. But I am really splitting hairs here.
I can imagine that people with oily skin would notice this the most though. It has the same texture as the others and also no white cast. Another downside is that the bottle is also very small but it is a great size to use when up and about.
50 Megumi Morning UV Protection Cream
This one I bought to see if a Japanese moisturizer/sunscreen combo would be better than its European equivalents. The thing is it is not the most moisturising cream there is, but it feels like the sun protection is reliable (unlike the western ones where I feel like they threw the SPF in there as a marketing ploy, yet it doesn't do much at all). Even though it isn't the most potent cream it is enough even for my super dry skin as long as it is;
A: summer time
B: I have a good hydrating routine before hand.
I don't know why I was under the impression that this was a gel type lotion but to my surprise it turned out to be a thicker cream type texture. It is still easy to apply though and looks thicker on a first glance than it actually is. It takes the longest to fully absorb but that is only about a minute and a half until it dried down completely.
At first I thought it had a white cast but thankfully it disappeared once absorbed to the skin, so don't panic if you think it will make you look ghosty (tested on NC45 skin and no white cast either).
It is the most moisturising of the bunch as well, but possibly not any more than the Hada-Senka Q10 BG Mineral Water UV Essence Gel (reviewed here). I don't have that one anymore so I can't compare but they are in a similar ball park. It doesn't smell very strongly but if I would have to describe it I would go with a slightly vintage scent. I also like that it is quite a large size just like the Biore which doesn't make me feel like I have to repurchase sunscreen all the time.
A: summer time
B: I have a good hydrating routine before hand.
I don't know why I was under the impression that this was a gel type lotion but to my surprise it turned out to be a thicker cream type texture. It is still easy to apply though and looks thicker on a first glance than it actually is. It takes the longest to fully absorb but that is only about a minute and a half until it dried down completely.
At first I thought it had a white cast but thankfully it disappeared once absorbed to the skin, so don't panic if you think it will make you look ghosty (tested on NC45 skin and no white cast either).
It is the most moisturising of the bunch as well, but possibly not any more than the Hada-Senka Q10 BG Mineral Water UV Essence Gel (reviewed here). I don't have that one anymore so I can't compare but they are in a similar ball park. It doesn't smell very strongly but if I would have to describe it I would go with a slightly vintage scent. I also like that it is quite a large size just like the Biore which doesn't make me feel like I have to repurchase sunscreen all the time.
I think this one is really great for lazy or busy people since you can definitely skip moisturiser on top of it. It would also work as a more hydrating sunscreen on top of the regular cream in the wintertime.
