If I was asked to pick a product and have a lifetime supply of it, I would probably say sunscreen.
Yes, you heard me right. Not orange lipsticks, not blushers, not Johnson and Johnson baby wipes (which would be second on the list by the way!), but just bottles or tubes of a good sunscreen.
Surprised? Well, meet my skin, the reason behind this decision.
My skin is horribly dry, like I’ve mentioned in most of my post. It has a mind of its own, a voice of its own and is sensitive beyond words. The icing on the cake would be the curious case of tanning as soon I step out. Hello! Where is the joy of soaking up the sun, enjoying the warmth?
Naaayy… My skin and I are frenemies and we decide how to make each other’s life hell at times. So this is how my skin makes my life hell-a-licious, by tanning quickly. But it doesn’t stop there. It is so hard to remove the freakin’ tan! So the best alternative was to use a good sunscreen. Prevention is always better than cure ain’t it?
Out o a hope that it might do good for me, I bought the Lakme Sun Expert UV Lotion. Was it a win-win situation? Read on!
What is it?: A sunscreen with SPF 50 and PA+++ (Read more on what PA+++ means here.)
Suitable for: Normal to dry skin
Price and Quantity: 125 INR for 15 ml
Ingredients:
What the company claims:
- High performance sunscreen that gives complete UV protection and no matter how strong the rays are
- SPF 50 gives 97 percent skin protection from UVB rays
- PA +++ keeps skin completely safe from harmful UVA rays
- Cucumber and lemon grass extracts moisturize the skin and make it glow even more
- Dermatologist tested
Packaging: There are various quantities of this sunscreen available in the market (15 ml, 30 ml and 100 ml). I have the 15 ml one which is a sleek yellow tube enclosed in a yellow cardboard box and is travel friendly. The nozzle is really small and so there is a control over the quantity that comes out.
How it works: I use this particular sunscreen on my hands and legs only over a moisturizer. I avoid using this one on my face for the fear of a ghostly whitish cast (which I’ll talk about in detail in sometime). It does protect my hands from tanning and considering Chennai’s extreme heat conditions it does a pretty good job.
Texture/Finish: This particular sunscreen which is supposedly suitable for dry skin, is thick in terms of consistency and really difficult to blend.
Compared to the 9 to 5 sunscreen by Lakme (for dry skin) this is unbelievably thick. While the latter is easy to blend, this one, oh well, lets just say it is mighty time consuming. Despite the blending, it leaves a whitish cast and I’m assuming it happens only on dry skin. I tried applying it after using a moisturizer and it was slightly easier to blend but the problem of the whitish cast wasn’t solved.
Once applied and blended (after a lot of effort, mind you!) , my skin does not feel hydrated. It is more of a matte finish and my skin seems dry post application as well. A thumbs down for that!
The sunscreen as such when applied feels very sticky and that is probably one of the reasons why it is so difficult to blend. It does its job well (in terms of protection) but unfortunately application seems to be a pain. Application of this would definitely be easier on oily skin since (duh) the skin wouldn’t be as dry as mine is. Then again, the sunscreen says dry to normal skin.
Maybe they ought to give the consistency and texture of the sunscreen a second thought if it is really meant for dry skin. #justsaying
How is it best used?: The sunscreen is best used over a moisturizer. I wouldn’t recommend it to those of you with dry skin though. If you use it on your hands and legs, this tube would last you a month. You need a little product and a lot of energy to blend. đ
Pros:
- Protects the skin from tanning
- Price is justified for the quantity given
- The small nozzle which helps minimize wastage
Cons:
- The whitish cast that refuses to disappear despite blending
- Blending the sunscreen is difficult since the product is thick and sticky
- Does not moisturize the skin and the skin feels dry
Rating: 2.5/5 (-1 for the whitish cast and -1 for the efforts needed to blend, -0.5 for the drying effect!)
Final Word: Girls with oily skin, do not get decieved by the fact that this sunscreen has dry to normal skin written on it. Who knows, this might be the sunscreen for you considering it is matte and might blend much more effortlessly on you! Girls with dry skin, skip this one. There are better sunscreens out there for us! For those of you with normal skin, well, its your call! đ
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