Australian Gold Botanical SPF 50 Tinted Face Lotion

Ingredients:

Titanium Dioxide 4%, Zinc Oxide 4%,Alumina, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Caprylyl Glycol, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Disodium EDTA, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf Extract, Glycerin, Hexyl Laurate, Iron Oxides, Panthenol, PEG-10 Dimethicone, Phenoxyethanol, Polyglyceryl-4 Isostearate, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Porphyra Umbilicalis (Red Algae) Extract, Silica, Squalane, Stearic Acid, Terminalia Ferdinandiana (Kakadu Plum) Fruit Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate*, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Water

*Vitamin E

This item is labeled as 100% mineral sunscreen hence its main ingredients are Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide.

As per COSDA, certain ingredients may trigger acne:

• Stearic Acid (2)
• Squalene (1)
• Zinc Oxide (1)

The ratings are low however, if you are known to have issues with any of these, use it with caution.

Trial Period: 1 week

Skin Condition: Currently purging due to Glycolic Acid

Environment: Humid, tropical summer

Packaging:

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Price: 19.99 CAD Amazon Prime Canada / around 14 USD – 89 ml

Review:

This is a mineral sunscreen. It contains both Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide. This is a good choice if you’re after something that will rather sit on top of your skin rather than absorbed, a concept which is better if you have sensitive or acne prone skin.

This product does not contain fragrance at all which is perfect if you have a sensitive skin.

The product itself is somewhat a heavy cream with less oil in touch. It is soft and glides smoothly in the skin. This sunscreen is not sticky but can be a little tacky in touch – a common property of a mineral sunscreen. If you’re on the normal to dry skin, I suggest that you top your skin with something moisturizing before applying this to avoid it from getting too dry.

This tinted sunscreen has no coverage but to be fair, it claimed nothing of such. Do note though that this might tone you up in a pinkish way. I’m on the mid-fair tone and this specific sunscreen made by face and neck differs a little bit. It is not very huge difference at least from my skin but for those with darker complexion, this might be a little bit tricky to play around. They don’t look like they sell different shades (I may be wrong) so please do ask their customer support to verify.

This is not a replacement for your foundation especially if your goal is to cover up some blemishes. It will help though even out some minor skin discoloration but not to the level of hyperpigmentation.

Another thing I noticed about this mineral sunscreen is that it has a minor flashback. I don’t go out taking pictures all the time so it is not an issue but if you’re planning to get a picture, this can be a bad thing.

Without Flash:

With Flash:

Good news about this though is that it has very little transfer. Once settled, I don’t worry about it getting into my headphones or likes. It will not compound much as well on your eyeglasses’ nose pad – perfect for those who wears them a lot.

This product is also advertised to be water resistant up to 80 minutes. I personally did not try this, but I noticed though that even I sweat mildly, I did not see the need to reapply. This product has some clinging power to my skin – which probably explains my narration above.

Lastly, despite me currently purging from Glycolic Acid, no apparent additions came into my inventory of blemish.

Final Thoughts:

• This is a mineral sunscreen, a better option for those with sensitive or acne prone skin.
• Contain no fragrance
• Can even out skin tone but not cover blemishes or hyperpigmentation
• Has a pink undertone
• Might be a little tricky to use if you have darker skin tone
• Has a mild flash back
• Best used with moisturizer underneath
• Can be a little tacky but not sticky
• Very little transfer and compounding
• Can resist sweat
• No bad skin reaction

Simple Hydrating Light Moisturizer

Ingredients:

Aqua, Glycerin, Paraffinum Liquidum, Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate, Cetyl Palmitate, Dimethicone, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Bisabolol, Borago Officinalis Seed Oil, Caprylyl Glycol, Carbomer, Cetyl Alcohol, Disodium EDTA, Lactic Acid, Panthenol, Pantolactone, Pentylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Potassium Carbonate, Potassium Hydroxide, Serine, Sodium Lactate, Sorbitol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Urea.

There isn’t much ingredients highlighted to cause acne or irritation. Do note though that this product contains Dimethicone. I don’t consider this an issue, but I understand that some people are highly concerned about this.

Trial Period: 4 months

Skin Condition: Acne prone, occasionally dry and combination

Environment: Tropical – warm with little humidity

Packaging:

Price: 499 PHP Watson, Lazada, BeautyMNL / around 10 USD – 125 ml

Review:

It wasn’t my first go-to moisturizer.  Ever since I started doing Tretinoin, the importance of clean and fragrance-free moisturizer has always been my goal. I started using Cerave PM during those days (which I hoarded when I visited our relatives in Canada last year). Let me tell you this – it is perfect. Cerave PM is the moisturizer that I have been looking for all my life. Unfortunately, due to baggage limitation I was only able to hoard 4 months supplies of these lotions. Hence, the search for next best locally available lotion went into picture…then I got this.

This moisturizer is literarily simple when it comes to its claim. Let’s discuss each:

Hydrating Light Moisturizer

True – it is light. It never feels heavy during and after application. It is perfect with or without makeup. However, do know that it isn’t the lightest moisturizer I have tried. I have no problems with its weight in the skin but it I wouldn’t say it is an upgrade (weight – wise). The difference, if I will compare it with Cerave PM, is not even huge so it will definitely not bother you at all.

Texture: Light white cream which becomes invisible after application

Immediately After Application:

After around one min:

12 Hours Hydration

Hydrating and Moisturizing for 12+ hours – checked!

There isn’t much to discuss about this topic though. It does what it claims perfectly. If there’s one thing that this moisturizer do best amongst those that I tried – this is that. However, if you have extra dry skin, you might want to add something like Hyaluronic Acids before using this. On regular days, this can stand alone. However, there are days when I tend to use more active ingredients that sometimes makes my skin dry. As a result, my skin compensates the issue with oiliness. The trick that I learned from my fellow skin care lovers is to add HA (through Hada Labo or Neutrogena Clear Lotion). Voila!

Fragrance – Free

Yep! No fragrance even for masking purposes only. You will not get any irritation due to fragrance.

Others worth mentioning….

If I’m not using Hyaluronic Acid Lotion, I use this immediately after washing my face (when my skin is still moist but not dripping). A small pea-size will do. I use it this way to prevent water lose (which often happens when your skin made contact with water). You may use more if you wish but this procedure works perfect for me.

If I intend to sequence this with my go-to HA lotion, I will use HA lotion first when my face is still moist. Then when my face is already sticky, I will follow it with this moisturizer. When in HA though, I tend to put more of this as HA requires tons of moist. Your face might get dry if you don’t supply it with more moisturizer (unless your place is very humid). Three pea size seems to work well for me.

Also take note that there’s really not much promises this lotion claims. It is perfect to partner with active ingredients like BHA, Retinoids, AHA, Azelaic etc. I have no issues with them when I use this products because to begin with, there’s nothing in this lotion’s recipe that it known to counteract or cancel any of the actives I mentioned.

Precaution though, for some reason this product has been giving me a slight “sting” whenever I applied it. I’m not sure what specific ingredient this contains that could possibly give me such reaction. I have been using this product for months now and it is only recent that I felt this mild sting. To be fair though, I started feeling this when I added AHA and BHA (couples of times per week as cleanser) to my routine. There’s a possibility that my face is still too sensitive for these additions (since I also use Tretinoin at night). If you’re not using any actives but your face stings, please discontinue use.

Takeaways:

• It does hydrate and moisturize for 12+ hours
• Fast absorbing
• No fragrance (both artificial and natural)
• Best used after face wash (when skin is still moist)
• No known ingredients to cancel out popular active ingredients
• There is a possibility that you might feel mild sting especially if your skin is sensitive

Moisturizing Facial Wash – Simple

Ingredients:

Aqua, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Decyl Glucoside, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Glycerin, PEG-55 Propylene Glycol Oleate, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Chloride, PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Benzoic Acid, Bisabolol, Cocamide MEA, Disodium EDTA, Glycol Distearate, Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Laureth-10, Panthenol, Pantolactone, Phenoxyethanol, Polyquaternium-39, Sodium Benzoate, Tocopheryl Acetate.

This contain Sodium Laureth Sulfate though for foam purposes however I don’t think it is a lot because it didn’t make much when I tried (picture below).

Trial Period: 2 months

Price: 249 PHP (BeautyMNL) around 5 USD – 150 ml

Packaging:

***bought both online and actual mall but this does not come with a box however it is definitely sealed.

Current Skin Condition: Acne Prone with dry patches

Review:

This product does not claim too much but it’s gentle and moisturizing. To understand these claims, let’s dissect the highlighted ingredients:

Pro vitamin B5 (Panthenol)

This ingredient leaves a very thin film to skin preventing transdermal water loss. Transdermal loss of moisture is common when our skin gets contact with water…which in common scenario is cleansing.

Vitamin E (Tocopheryl Acetate)

Vitamin E when formulated well with cleanser, creams, etc can make skin smooth, soft and supple.

Bisabolol

Provides same effect as vitamin E plus it works as anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial which prevents acne.

That having said, the formulation is perfect for sensitive and acne prone skin.

The consistency of this product is almost similar to Cetaphil cleanser. It is smooth and slippery.

Do note though that it contains Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLS). I personally don’t mind as I didn’t get any issues. For those who are not aware what SLS is, this ingredient is used to create the foam from your cleanser. By experience, this cleanser did not create much foam. Hence, it gave me the impression that it did not contain much.

What I also love with this cleanser is that it didn’t contain any fragrance. I don’t usually require this from cleansers as they tend to get washed off eventually, but it is a good thing that they did this anyway (no fragrance contact is always good regardless). This went as an extra point for Simple!

This cleanser can be used daily as this is very gentle like I mentioned earlier. However, because it is gentle, the physical cleaning power of this product is limited.

In my arm, I tested several items that men / women usually put on their face daily. For this experiment, I took the below items:

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• Foundation
• Concealer
• Waterproof Mascara
• Thick Waterproof Pencil
• Eyebrow Pencil
• Eyebrow Wax
• Eyeshadow
• Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner
• Tinted Sunscreen
• Primer
• Lipstick

*** In order as depicted below:

First Wash : 30 seconds

After I added water and massage this cleanser to my arm for 30 seconds. I noticed that most of the non-waterproof products I placed are either gone or left very little residue. The waterproof, wax-based and balmy  one (lipstick) were still very visible but lessened.

Second Wash : 30 seconds, same arm and residue

Using the same arm with remaining products, I added almost the same amount of cleanser and massage it for 30 seconds. Lastly, I rinsed it off.

The second wash helped decreased the remaining items. I noticed that the residue of foundation (closest item to my elbow) and primer (near the lipstick) disappeared on this step. However, team waterproof remained. I don’t think that it can be washed off further using this product.

For this test, I conclude that this cleanser does clean. Basic cleansing using this item can remove non-sticky items like powders, non-water resistant sunscreens, eye shadows and likes. Second wash can remove thicker products such as primers, foundations and blush.

However, for thick cream based products (e.g. lipsticks and wax / pomade) and waterproof makeups (like mascara and eyeliners), better use your favorite Micellar Water or Makeup Remover first before using this cleanser. Do not rely on this item for such products as this is not strong enough to dissolve them.

IMPORTANT: If you’re not confident that you can adequately clean your face with this cleanser alone, there’s no harm in using your makeup removers first (and I highly recommend that you do).  I did this test only show you how strong this cleanser is when it comes to cleaning your daily makeups and skin care.  

Final Thoughts:

I highly recommend this product especially for those with sensitive, acne prone, combination and even normal skin. I have been using this product for a very long time now and this did not give me any breakout at all. Considering the fact that I’m using strong ingredient in my routine (Azelaic and Tretinoin), this product helped make my dryness become manageable.

This is my holy grail when it comes to facial cleanser. I rarely use other cleanser no matter what climate I’m in. I highly recommend this product as it is gentle and does clean really well. It is important to know though that you will still need to use a makeup remover for your heavy and waterproof items.