Beauty Beauty of Joseon Beauty talk Etude House Isntree Jumiso Mary & May Review Skin Care Sunscreen Tocobo ZoelieWho

Review| How & What Are The Best Korean Sunscreen For You

The content in this blog post is based on authentic and genuine personal experience and it is written with full honesty. The items mentioned in this blog post are sponsored and this review is not monetarily compensated. As usual, all of my reviews, verdicts and opinions are truthful and will not be influenced by the sponsors/collaborators.

This blog post will start with a product and brand introduction with a first-look review, then it will end with the final verdict.

Sunscreen

Sunscreen, a.k.a sun cream (the term sunblock is discouraged), is a product that can be applied to the skin to absorb or reflect some of the sun’s UV (ultraviolet) rays/radiations with its photoprotective capabilities. It is used to mainly protect skin from sunburns and skin cancer(s). It comes in different forms and works well with complementing items such as sun hats, UV protectant jackets, etc.

Understand the health and environmental impacts of safe sunscreen agents, ingredient toxicity, history, and benefits of the sunscreen here.

Getting the right sunscreen is indeed important and with the latest discoveries and innovations, sunscreen products these days are now more than just protecting our skin from UV rays. Multi-functional sunscreens are one of the largest market in South Korea and we have got some of the popular Korean sunscreens here to help you discover which is the best for you.

Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics

Review

Instead of being just a regular sunscreen, Beauty of Joseon decided to incorporate a lot of goodness into it. Based on the ingredient list, we know that this is a chemical sunscreen. We can also see Niacinamide, Rice Germ Extract, Camellia Sinses Leaf Extract, Soybean Ferment Extract, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, and more. These antioxidant-rich ingredients allow your skin to feel moisturized and youthful while the sunscreen filters protect it from UV rays. There isn’t any fragrance or alcohol listed as well!

This sunscreen is almost like lotion to me because the consistency is not exactly cream but slightly thicker than regular lotion. It doesn’t smell like sunscreen too. It smelled like lotion with a pleasant grainy smell, and it settles on the skin like lotion too. It takes little to no time to be absorbed into the skin and dries down nicely. The smell and the texture is really on par with the branding, which, to me, feels minimalistically luxurious. Aside from the luxurious feel that I love, it also does not create any white cast (very important). After wearing it for long hours, it does give me some glowiness rather than oiliness. 

Etude Sunprise Mild Airy Finish

Review

Firstly, this is a physical sunscreen. Based on the ingredient list, Etude uses nano-particles of zinc oxide and titanium oxide. This means that you should shake the bottle before use! (But it also means you should be aware of the particle size if you are about to visit a beach/ocean with it!)

While there are alcohol and fragrance in this product, using physical sunscreen filters like zinc oxide and titanium oxide is meant to be anti-irritating. It’s a little bit conflicting but the product itself actually also has a lot of soothing ingredients such as CICA Extract, Mistletoe Leaf Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, and Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Sunflower Seed Oil, and Prickly Pear Extract. It also has quite a handful of preservative and viscosity-controlling agents. They are not entirely bad but it depends on both (a.) how you see it, and/or (b) how your skin reacts to these ingredients. However, like I had mentioned earlier, you should be mindful if you are using this sunscreen on the beach or in the ocean.

The content is very predictably white due to the presence of titanium dioxide. It smells like (light) sunscreen, alcohol, and some flowery scent. The texture is watery-light and it can be easily spread across. While the physical sunscreen agents can cause a white cast, because Etude is using nano-particles instead, the white cast quickly dissipates. This means that the white cast is just temporary and will be gone in a quick while. The finishing is okay too, noting that the alcohol helps to dry the sunscreen down quicker. 

Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel

Review

I had talked about this sunscreen before and I honestly still like it a lot. It can be easily spread across the skin and leaves no white casts at all. Though, I don’t mind reintroducing this sunscreen with a different mindset now.

This is a chemical sunscreen that includes a lot of sensitive skin-friendly ingredients. You have Astaxanthin and Pinus Pinaster Bark Extract for skin elasticity care. Then, you have CICA extract and Fig Fruit Extract for soothing care. You also have Niacinamide, Ceramide NP, and Hydrogenated Lecithin that are great for the skin barrier, along with Adenosine for wrinkle-care. The best part? It has EIGHT (8) types of Hyaluronic Acid, namely: Sodium Hyaluronate, Hyaluronic Acid, Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer, Ascorbyl Propyl Hyaluronate, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Hydroxypropyltrimonium Hyaluronate, Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate, and Hydrolyzed Sodium Hyaluronate. It does not have fragrance or alcohol!

It smells a bit of sunscreen but is not unpleasant at all. As most of the ingredients seem to have no scents, there isn’t much to expect from the smell of this sunscreen. It has a very watery-lotion-like texture that is superbly easy to spread across the face. I have been using this for quite a while and while my skin does have a layer of sebum at the end of the day, it’s not greasy at all! It’s just a layer of glow and my skin feels like velvet when rubbing my hands across my face. 

Jumiso Waterfull Hyaluronic Acid Sunscreen

Review

I had reviewed some of their Waterfull Hyaluronic items before but this is the first time I try their sunscreen so I was quite excited. This is a chemical sunscreen that somehow has titanium dioxide as a colorant (it is also a physical sunscreen agent). I will leave the thinking to you if you want to use it on the beach or in the ocean (reef-safe issues). 

Compared to Isntree’s, I can only count 3 types of hyaluronic acids. It also has niacinamide, hydroxy acetophenone (antioxidant), and aluminum hydroxide. It does have quite a handful of viscosity controlling, emollient, and emulsifying ingredients. Take note that it has alcohol in it, namely T-Butyl, and Behenyl. However, these two are mainly acting as solvents instead.

As there are no fragrances or ingredients with an obvious smell, this product just smells like sunscreen but with a lighter scent and slightly more bitter smell than Isntree’s. The texture is also watery-lotion-like and it dries down a lot quicker than the previous sunscreens. 

Mary & May CICA Soothing Sun Cream

Review

I always have a good impression of Mary & May and this sunscreen doesn’t disappoint too! It is a physical sunscreen with just zinc oxide. This means that, with the absence of titanium0 dioxide, it would only create a smaller amount of white cast (or none). This product has fewer ingredients than Etude, Isntree, and Jumiso, which can be good as it can be very suitable for people with sensitive skin, albeit there are two types of perfuming: fragrance and Asiaticoside. 

There is quite an amount of goodies in this sunscreen too. You have antioxidants/soothing ingredients like Tocopherol, CICA extract, CICA leaf extract, Asiaticoside, and Madcassoside. I can also see Sodium Hyaluronate in it. There are more solvents in it than viscosity-controlling ingredients and emollients combined.

You know the soothing smell when the facial specialist put their expensive and luxurious on you? This sunscreen smells almost just like one! It is honestly a pleasant smell with a hint of that sunscreen scent but it is never unpleasant. I love that it really has no white cast at all and it settles onto the skin quite quickly. There isn’t any sticky feeling as well. It also doesn’t feel sticky or oily at all!

TOBOCO Cotton Soft Sun Stick

Review

Amongst all the sunscreens here, this is the most interesting one to me. It looks like a bar of soap and it smells like a bar of soap, but it is actually a sunscreen. Such a peculiar thing!

This chemical sunscreen has quite a large range of ingredient lists. It has Niacinamide, Phellodendron Amurense Bark Extract, and Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract as well as Sodium Hyaluronate. It also has antioxidants like Sophora Flavescens Root Extract and Tocopherol.  Apparently, the Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract acts as a lot of things, such as Antioxidant, Soothing, Antomicrobial, and Moisturizer. This sunscreen does have fragrance!

This sunscreen, it really gets me thinking a lot. First of all, when your skin looks oily, rubbing this across your face will help to mattify your skin. However, it does that by leaving a layer on your skin. It also smells and looks extremely like a bar of bar soap. The packaging and its texture are so different from what I have experienced before. 

Also, I was thinking about hygiene issues. Although it has an antimicrobial ingredient, I still want to be skeptical and separate it from indoor-use and outdoor-use (that is, if I have two of these). I wouldn’t want to use it outdoors and then use it indoors too, especially with Ms. Rona Bo Nana around and now I’m a clean freak.

It did work tho! Just that I think after a while, it would still turn back to the same oiliness. 

Verdict

Sunscreen is not a one-size-fits-all. I think it’s important to choose one that fits you the most with the right coverage and the best skincare functionality. Comparing all the products, below is a list of what these sunscreens have in common:

Broad-spectrum: Yes to all
Reef-safe (free from octinoxate & oxybenzone): Yes to all
(except Etude Sunprise Mild Airy Finish is using nano-particles of the physical sunscreen agents.)
SPA: 50+ for all
PA +++: Etude Sunprise Mild Airy Finish
PA ++++: Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics, Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel, Jumiso Waterfull Hyaluronic Acid Sunscreen, Mary & May CICA Soothing Sun Cream, and Tocobo Cotton Soft Sun Stick.
Finishing: Not sticky, not tacky, not draggy.

Texture and Oil Absoption

To be fair, all of the sunscreen except for the stick one has a very similar texture and the difference is not that significant. One can be more watery while the other can be more creamier. The time taken to absorb and settle aren’t too far off from each other as well.

The three photos below are from 10:43am, 12:52pm, and 8:21pm with the same sorting arrangement as the photo above.

I have used oil absorbent films from Clean & Clear and oil absorbent papers from Watson’s in different colors. This help to see the oil absorption better in different lighting.

You can tell that some of the sunscreen has a more drastic result compared to the others. Etude has the most oiliest sunscreen whilst Tocobo is just because the application area is large, still it can be oily as well. Joseon is best for all skin type, especially when we take the ingredient list into consideration. Isntree is best for combination skin but more to the drying side. Jumiso and Mary & May are suitable for combination skin but more to the oily side. Here are the summary comparison amongst all the six sunscreens:

Name

Type

SPF/PA

Texture

Best for

Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics

Chemical

SPF 50+ PA++++

Moist. Cream

All Skin Type

Etude Sunprise Mild Airy Finish

Physical

SPF 50+ PA+++

Non-sticky Milk

Dry Skin, Sensitive Skin (Mineral Sunscreen)

Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel

Chemical

SPF 50+ PA++++

Water-based

Combination, Dry Skin, Sensitive Skin

Jumiso Waterfull Hyaluronic Acid Sunscreen

Chemical (One Physical filter)

SPF 50+ PA++++

Water-based

Combination, Oily Skin

Mary & May CICA Soothing Sun Cream

Physical

SPF 50+ PA++++

Moist. Cream

Combination, Oily Skin

(Mineral Sunscreen), Sensitive Skin

Tocobo Cotton Soft Sun Stick

Chemical

SPF 50+ PA++++

Matte Stick

Combination, Oily Skin

As you’ve learned that physical/mineral sunscreens can create a white cast, albeit the two options here created little white cast, it is still interesting to see that Etude’s sunscreen creates a whiter cast than Mary & May. Even though Etude uses nano-particles in their sunscreen filters, the difference between these two is the existence of titanium dioxide in Etude’s sunscreen. This ingredient is also a regular white colorant of natural soaps to create white color or lighter color with its whiteness.

If you have a darker skin tone, it is best to choose a sunscreen that doesn’t create any white casts as it would make your overall skin tone looks very imbalanced. So, that also means avoiding most of the physical/mineral sunscreens, especially those that have titanium dioxide.

Another thing about physical/mineral sunscreen is that they are physical filters, which means they get washed away very easily. So, if you get into the water a lot, it is best to use chemical sunscreens that will be absorbed into your skin, absorbs the UV ray, turn the rays into heat, and then release them from the body.

To conclude this review, my best choice of sunscreen is Beauty of Joseon Relief: Rice and Probiotics. The second bests are Mary & May CICA Soothing Sun Cream and Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel.

The reason for picking these three sunscreens is because of how my skin reacted to them with a large additional bonus point for the skin boosters inside of them. The others are great on their own too, I just prefer to use the above three for my face. I hope this review gives you a great perspective on how to pick the right sunscreen for you.

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