Here’s a review of another reformulated sunscreen this year, unfortunately not a successful one. 

This formula just as the previous one is a mix of chemical filters and titanium dioxide. It is water resistant and suitable for all skin types, intended for both face and body. It also contains hydrating ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, glycerine, and royal jelly extract.  

I am going to be honest up front – I don’t like the new formula. The sunscreen is much denser than the previous version. With the old version, when you shook the bottle, you could hear a sound of splashing liquid, with this one you hear nothing. When you pour out the product instead of watery gel, you get a gel-like cream, quite dense. When it comes to application, it isn’t terrible with the first layer; it applies smoothly, leaves a bit of a white finish. It is supposed to give a brightening effect, not a white cast, which looks acceptable with one layer on my fair skin but wouldn’t look appealing on darker complexions. It is quite difficult to wash the product off hands; you need to soap for quite some time for it to remove. This would seem like a positive feature as it creates a strong film. However, it is not at all. 

The sunscreen turns into wax on your skin, you don’t feel it, and it sort of prevents you from sweating for some time. Though, you notice the waxy layer when you want to reapply the sunscreen. Reapplying this sunscreen is the weirdest experience that I’ve ever had with any sunscreen product. It feels like you spread cream on a waxed surface, not your face. The sunscreen slides around doesn’t absorb for a long time, and you have the impression that you used too much product. And then comes the ‘brightening effect’, which with a second layer could literally be called a white cast, because it’s very prominent. Also, the product doesn’t control oils too well, so you need to blot. The worst part for me was that the sunscreen moves on my face.  It doesn’t necessarily seep down to my mouth (have you ever had a bitter taste in your mouth while wearing sunscreen?), but it gathers in the creases of my eyelids which gives me a ridiculous look. I mean, I’ve been using sunscreen for years, but this product makes me look like it is my first time applying a sunscreen product ever. Naturally, I cannot recommend this product to anyone. It’s a terrible reformulation; the old version was just fine. If I had to pick between this one and the Shaka fluid, I would go for Shaka as it just makes my skin look shiny, not ridiculously white. 

Ingredients: COSDNA

Biore’s UV Aqua Rich Watery Gel SPF 50+ PA++++ retails for about €10, but I wouldn’t bother.