Ingredients:
Water, Cetyl Ethylhexanoate, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, Dipropylene Glycol, Zinc Oxide, Silica, 1,2-Hexanediol, Niacinamide, Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Water, Titanium Dioxide(CI 77891), Sodium Polyacryloyldimethyl Taurate, Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate, Stearic Acid, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil, Lauroyl Lysine, Disodium EDTA, Acrylates/C10-30 lkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Adenosine, Centella Asiatica Extract, Artemisia Vulgaris Extract, Caprylyl Glycol, Madecassoside, Asiaticoside, Asiatic Acid, Madecassic Acid
As per COSDNA, there are 3 ingredients that may cause acne:
- Butylene Glycol (1)
- Stearic Acid (2)
- Zinc Oxide (1)
Other than those, everything seems ok for use. Of course, these are textbook facts. I will discuss further how my skin reacted to these ingredients.
Trial Duration: 2 days
Price: 569 PHP (Shopee Mall — SOME BY MI) / around 10 USD — 50 ml
Packaging:
Current Skin Condition: Acne prone with dry patches
Review:
Protects your skin from “Photoaging”
Truecica Mineral 100 Calming Sunscreen boast to have PA++++. The metric indicates that this provides extreme UVA protection. So far, this is the highest point in our metric system and only few have this much “+” already in their label. I can’t tell you though that this is working or subpar as the metric itself is a little questionable to be honest. I tried going out every once in a while wearing this and no browning / tanning were observed. Also, this might be too advance to tell but for the record, no additional wrinkles were added in my inventory while using this product.
Whitening
Hmmm, whitening.
This term gets to be thrown out so easily and quite interchangeably with “brightening” and “lightening” when it comes to Asian skin care. I checked the ingredient list and can’t see anything that that has somewhat bleaching properties. I do noticed though that there is Niacinamide. This ingredient is known to minimize the size of the pores, brighten skin tone, treats hyperpigmentation and anti-wrinkles to name some. Based from my personal experience, I did notice that my face is a little brighter than the usual. So if we are going to use the term “brightening”, then I would say yes. Yes, it did brighten my face. However, with very short time I had with this product I can’t tell you though if it helped me in the hyperpigmentation due to acne. So for this aspect – no comment.
Wrinkle Improvement
Like in the “brightening” claim of this product, the key ingredients for this is Niacinamide. However, same with above, it will take a lot of time to see if my wrinkles are actually less. I’m only my early 30’s and to be honest, I don’t have much yet. Hence, I can’t comment on this claim. Do note though that it claims to have one of strongest rating when it comes to UVA protection (PA ++++), together with Niacinamide, this make sense.
Sunscreen for sensitive skin
This though I can answer more. This product claims to have non-nano factors that will not be absorbed by the skin which is ideal for people with acne prone skin.
However –
This does not work as beautiful as it meant to be…at least for me. I saw a lot of people praising this in the internet and online shops saying that it works like wonder for them and this is the only sunscreen that really did not cause them issues. Unfortunately, I’m not part of that statistic.
Just to give you an idea on how my skin was when I started using this – basically I have some dry patches due to my Tretinoin and Azelaic routine. I do have some inactive clogged pores that are hard to see even upfront…but it is there when you touch them. I do have a lot of acne hyperpigmentation too due to my recent reaction to Tretinoin but there’s really nothing active other that the one below my chin (aspiring) and one near the scalp.
Going back, after two days of trying this product, my quiet clogged pores in my chin became more apparent and two became pimples. In my left eyelid, I managed to catch what appears to be two “ripe” clogged pores. Between my eyebrows, few clogged pores appeared. They were not there when I started this trial so I can’t blame this on my current routine. Also, to be fair, I only put a light and unscented moisturizer before using this sunscreen so I can’t blame my Tretinoin or Azelaic for it.
Other than the eyelid and new entries between my eyebrows, no other clogged pores are worth noting after this. It appears that an ingredient (or probably more) caused my clogged pores to wake up and advance. I don’t know what these ingredients could be as the listing has no apparent culprit other that the three I mentioned earlier. There is a possibility that this is more of a personal reaction and other may not experience it.
Below are some of the pictures of my screen before and after:
Before applying sunscreen (with moisturizer absorbed already):
Aftermath (2 days after):
Note: Those items in red circle are there before the trial however, they are very small and less noticeable when I started. The one in orange is the aspiring I mentioned earlier. It is its first day before I took the sunscreen. The one below the orange circle and the reds in left “ripen” after the sunscreen.
These are new as there are no clogged pores on those areas when I started using this sunscreen
These are new to me as well.
85% moisture essence, lotion-like texture with no white cast finish
This sunscreen is not sticky considering that it is mineral. The texture of the lotion itself is not dry and true to its claim that it is lotion like. It glides smoothly in my face and does spread quite nicely. I did not have any issues about this getting stuck in my lines, nose and other corners. From my experience with other sunscreens I would say that when you put it, it is light but not the lightest out there. However, when it dries, it is hard to tell that it is there.
It did not dry my skin. However it did not contribute any moisturizing effect on my skin despite its claim that it has 85% moisture essence. My skin still has the initial dryness issue I mentioned earlier…just not worse.
I also did not notice any white cast afterwards. It went almost invisible to my skin after few minutes.
Spread:
Without flash, natural light
With flash
A little shiny at first
After 30 mins:
Natural light
With flash
Smell
Reading the product listing, it is true that they don’t have any artificial scents, but it still has fragrance. There are oils worth noting that contributes to its lemon to green tea like scent, almost similar to Biore Watery Essence Sunscreen but lighter. These are Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil and Asiaticoside. They are known as natural fragrance. Some people tends to have irritations on these items especially when used in larger amount.
Though I can live with the scent that this sunscreen has, for me though, I would prefer not to have it no matter how “natural” or light they are. I’m a huge believer that not all-natural products are good for your skin. Our skin has no need for fragrance and these ingredients might only cause irritation.
Final thoughts:
I’m a little skeptic recommending this one despite all the good points I mentioned (lightness, texture, no-white cast etc). The thing is, if the reaction might be a conflict related to my routine (which contains Azelaic and Tretinoin), it’s no good for acne prone then. Let’s be real here. People with acne prone skin may be already be involved in medical grade routine. Their routine tends to have strong ingredients perhaps due to prescription or over the counter items such AHA, BHA, Retinol / Retinoid and Azelaic to name some. If this is the cause of my inactive clogged pores getting triggered then we maybe be we should be more specific with the claims.
For now, it’s a take-at-your-own-risk kind of recommendation. A lot of people are praising it but unfortunately for me, I fell on that smaller statistic that did not have good reaction in this sunscreen.
Would I try it again? Yes. I’m planning to consume the whole tube and make a new review again. I will not erase this but I would like to give this a second chance. The reason for it is because this sunscreen feels a lot better than those that I tried. It is very light and it works very well on my makeup (I have a separate review for it). For the record, I will not pull out my routine (which contains Tretinoin and Azelaic) just to give way to this sunscreen. I will consume them as is and this sunscreen as how it is meant to be.
I’ll keep this posted once the new review is ready.
If you want to see my under the makeup review of this product, check out this link.
Roiski 