Sunscreen is for lazy people, too: Review of Kinesys Performance Sunscreen in SPF 50 Fragrance-Free and SPF 30 Mango

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Earlier this year I panicked because I thought that my favorite facial sunscreen, the one I'd been using for years, had been abruptly discontinued. My short post about it ended up being one of my most visited posts ever, so I clearly wasn't alone. Eventually Lisa from Kinesys sent me a message to reassure me that the sunscreen would be back soon, to my great relief. Once it was restocked, she also generously sent two free bottles of varieties I had never used before to test and review: Kinesys Performance Sunscreen Fragrance Free in SPF 50 and Performance Sunscreen Mango Scent in SPF 30. In the past, I'd always stuck with the Fragrance-Free SPF 30 (reviewed here), and it never let me down.

Kinesys is all about gearing their sunscreens toward active, energetic, athletic people, as you can see from their sunscreen (and the fact that it has Performance in the name). But I want to suggest to you that it's just as good an option for the lazy, clumsy, and slow, like me--especially those of us who are looking for a lightweight facial sunscreen to wear under our makeup. You normally don't think of sprays as an ideal facial sunscreen formula (this isn't a facial mist/setting spray, after all), but the thin, non-greasy texture that makes it work for outdoorsy types is the same thing that makes it ideal as a facial sunscreen for us painted ladies.

If you've read my previous Kinesys review (or really, any of my sunscreen reviews), you'll know what I'm looking for: no smearing, no burning, no stinging my eyes, minimal greasy feeling, can apply makeup on top of it. Both of the two sunscreens pictured above fit the bill, along with the unscented SPF 30 I'd previously used. As I said, it's not a facial mist, so don't spray it directly on your face, or you're not going to be happy. Spray it into the palm of your hand and apply it just like you would any other sunscreen. It's a clear, thin liquid.

The formula is silicone-based, so if your skin can't tolerate 'cones, you might want to skip this one. I've also found that water-based skincare products can cause this sunscreen to pill/get chunky, but that can be avoided by patting on the sunscreen instead of rubbing it, or just not using the two products at the same time. Personally, there are lots of serums and moisturizers that work for me, but not a lot of sunscreens that I like, so I am more willing to switch around other parts of my routine while holding on to a sunscreen that I know I will apply on a daily basis.

This stuff can feel a little slick immediately after you apply it, and the SPF 50 is slightly heavier, not surprisingly, than the SPF 30. I usually apply my sunscreen, wait about 10 minutes, and then put my makeup on top. Even without makeup, it won't smear after it soaks in a bit, though your skin will feel a little moist. If that bothers you, a light dusting of translucent powder will fix it.

One possible downside of this type of sunscreen is that I'm not sure what is the optimal amount to use in oder to to get the desired SPF. It seems like tests that determine you should use 1/4 tsp for your face and neck are usually based on lotion or cream formulas. I tend to dispense one and a half sprays into the palm of my hand, apply it to my face and neck, and then add another small spray especially around my eyes and hairline, which I might have missed with the first application. That amount seems to cover my skin in a nice, even, complete layer, which is the goal. (By the way, if you haven't watched Lab Muffin's video about how to wear sunscreen with makeup, you really should. It goes over everything about how sunscreens work and what can or cannot interfere with their effectiveness. Fascinating!)

Of the three varieties of Kinesys sunscreen I've now tried, I still prefer the unscented SPF 30, but these two are good alternatives. The SPF 50 is still quite comfortable to wear, and the fragrance in the Mango version is pretty mild--the tropical scent you'd expect, but I can't smell it anymore a few minutes after application.

These sunscreens are around $18-20 for 4 ounces, which might seem a little high, but since a bottle lasts me almost a year using it daily on my face and neck, it's a good value for me. I'd use something cheaper on my body, personally, but I'm pickier with what I use on my face. You can get them on Kinesys's website, where they offer a free sunscreen stick with your purchase (which I've never tried) or on Amazon. Their own site seems to be the only place that the 4 oz. Mango SPF 30 is available at the moment, fyi.

All in all, I'm very happy to be reunited with my favorite sunscreen, even if I won't be doing any parasailing any time soon! Or ever.

You're sciencing wrong: Sunscreen does not cause cancer (from I Fucking Love Science)

You might have seen an article going around Facebook and other places claiming that a recent major study has shown that wearing sunscreen can give you cancer. You might have been thinking, "Oh shit." Calm yourself. I had a moment of apprehension myself, before I took a closer look. (Or you might have been thinking from the beginning, "That's bullshit," in which case, yes, very good, you're very smart and special.)

This post from I Fucking Love Science (brilliant blog name, obviously) debunks the scaremongering anti-sunscreen bullshit. There's lots of good stuff in there, but this is one of the most important parts, I think:

"The claim that more people who use sunscreen develop melanoma is based on a study that tracked sun exposure and sunscreen use in nearly 1500 people over a span of two years. The results did show that those who used sunscreen were more likely to develop melanoma, but there was a massive caveat left out of RF’s article. The median sun protection factor (SPF) was 6 (the CDC recommends SPF 15 or higher) and those who used sunscreen the most spent considerably more time in the sun than those who rarely use sunscreen.
RF’s implication that sunscreen is causing the melanoma is dead wrong; the paper itself states “sunscreen use, by permitting more time sunbathing, is associated with melanoma occurrence,” particularly when using sunscreen with a low SPF that isn’t as protective." 

Correlation is not causation and all that. People wore low SPF sunscreen, felt like that meant they could sunbathe longer, and ended up with melanoma. The sunscreen did not cause the melanoma. Sigh. It's a typical misreading of what some scientific study actually says.

Yes, you need Vitamin D. You can get that from the sun. You can also get it in your diet. If you want to get it from the sun, you don't need to spend a ton of time baking to get what you need. The epidemiologist in this article says that pale people (like me) only need a few minutes of sun exposure a day, tan/medium skin tones could use 15-20 minutes, and people with dark skin tones need quite a bit more, maybe 6 times as much as the pale people (6 x "a few" = 18 to 24 minutes?). It all depends on how much clothing you're wearing, what time of day it is, etc. Still, that does not mean never wear sunscreen. I mean, if you don't want to, it's your call. Not everyone has the same risk for skin cancer, and not everyone cares about their skin showing the ominous "signs of aging", and that's cool. But don't avoid sunscreen because you think it's cancerous. Personally, I always wear it on my face and neck, because if I'm going to be pasty anyway, I might as well try to avoid skin damage. But I don't wear it on other parts of my body on a regular basis - only when I'm going to be in the sun for more than 20 minutes at a time. I'll get my Vitamin D walking to the market or whatever.

Anyway, you're all smart people and you didn't need me to tell you all this, but sometimes it's nice to have a link like this IFLS one to paste into the comments of your annoying cousin's Facebook status about how he's been right all along not to wear sunscreen because all the rest of you are going to get cancer and he's not, see? SHEEPLE.

Review: Coppertone Clearly Sheer Sunscreens (SPF 30 lotion and SPF 50 spray)

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I know what I like when it comes to sunscreen for my face, and I'm pretty devoted to the one I use. It's pretty pricy, though, so I prefer to use more affordable options on other parts of my body, so that I don't find myself skimping. I'm much less picky about what sunscreen goes below my neck, so long as it works, but there are definitely better and worse options out there.

When the most recent BzzAgent campaign I got into was for sunscreen, and I got a couple of bottles to test for free, I was pretty happy to try them. I'd been using this junk that I bought last year, just to get rid of it, and it's so terrible that even light friction from bra straps or other parts of my clothing are enough to rub it completely off and cause me to burn in certain areas. Ugh. Since I burn really easily, and I pretty much don't tan, I just slather on the sunscreen whenever I'm going to spend any time outside. There's no point hoping to get any color - and that's not important to me anyway. Besides, my freckles will pop out even with sunscreen, and isn't that really what matters?

BzzAgent sent me two new Coppertone sunscreens. One is the SPF 30 Clearly Sheer For Sunny Days lotion, and the other is the SPF 50 Clearly Sheer For Beach & Pool aerosol spray. Both contain a combination of avobenzone and other chemical sunscreen ingredients, so if you're sensitive to those, these won't be right for you - but I personally prefer them. They have the advantage of not creating a white tint on your skin or reflecting in flash photography, and they also don't clog my pores like mineral/physical sunscreens do (though I know the latter problem is a rare one). These sunscreens are quite affordable, in the $8-10 range, depending on where you find them.

I tried the SPF 30 lotion first. Even though I prefer a liquid on my face, I was curious how this would work as an everyday facial sunscreen. They sell another option that is labeled for use on the face (in a smaller bottle), but the marketing copy on the BzzAgent website says that the one they sent is "face friendly," "won't clog pores," and that its "matte finish is perfect under makeup." Sounds good.

Boohoo

I'm still really bummed about my favorite sunscreen being discontinued. It was like my religion. Now what? I have to worship some other false god? They all smear into my eyes and burn or make me break out in cystic acne.

When I emailed Paula's Choice to ask about the disappearance of this product from their line, this was the response I received:

"Thanks for your questions regarding our Weightless Finish SPF 30 Spray. We never want to be the bearer of disappointing news for our customers, but yes, this formula has been discontinued.  

Please know our decision to discontinue a product is never done impulsively and involve Paula’s entire team. Many different factors are taken into account, including customer preferences, purchasing patterns as well as well as the availability of new ingredients and more advanced formulations.

With the expansion of our line (including a large sunscreen offering), we have been reassessing all of our sunscreens based on customer feedback and, surprisingly, the SPF 30 spray was among the least favorite.  We do apologize for the shorter than typical notice, we normally have more time in advance to notify customers but that wasn’t possible in this instance due to supply/order timelines.

While there are no plans to create a new SPF spray at this time, our Product Development team is continually looking at alternatives and even more innovative options such as our RESIST SPF 25 and Hydralight SPF 30 formulas for oily skin due in 2013."

I do wish I had known sooner so that I could have stocked up! And I don't know why people didn't like it. I'm hoping that one of their new products works for me. The problem I usually have with lotion-type sunscreens if that, even when they claim to dry to a non-greasy finish, they always end up places I don't want them, like in my eyes. The liquid spray never did.

Anyway, I've started looking for alternatives. I recently bought a bottle of Cetaphil Dermacontrol Oil Control Moisturizer SPF 30, and I'll post a review of that soon. Meanwhile, I am nursing the last 1/4 bottle of my precious, which is set to expire next month. Boohoo. 

Apologies for the lull in posting!

After a long day working in the sun here, it’s all I can do to remember to eat. I’ll try to get a couple of things in the queue, but will get back to regularly scheduled posts at the beginning of July.

Here are two things I’ve noticed on this trip, though. My Paula’s Choice sunscreen has held up really well to hours and hours in direct sunlight. I haven’t been burned yet. And covering my eyelid and under-eye with eyeshadow primer (I brought a sample size of Benefit Stay Don’t Stray) helps a lot with preventing my mascara from smearing all over the place when I’m sweating (and blinking like crazy from the dust). 

More soon!