Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Review: HERA Sun Mate Leports Sunscreen SPF50 PA+++


Since it's summer (for those of us in the northern hemisphere anyway), I think it's a good time to be using my sunscreen samples in case anyone is thinking of buying these products. I don't even remember where this is from. I've only tried two products from HERA, the HERA White Program Biogenic Effector and Biogenic Cream. I was extremely impressed with their White Program Biogenic line because I was results with just one sample. So I was pretty happy when I dug my sample pile and saw another HERA sample lying around.

Description (from amazon.com):
  • Cream type sunscreen for people who like to enjoy sports to protect skin from ultra violet
  • Contains vitamin E, Rhodiola extract, Helioxine, Beta Glucan for skin health.
  • Water proof sunscreen, sun cream, sun blocking. (SPF50+ / PA+++)
  • Absorbs quickly and maintains radiantly matte appearance.
My impression:

Finally! A Korean sunscreen that has zinc oxide! For those who are reading my reviews about sunscreen for the first time, I'm a stickler for active ingredients when it comes to sunscreen because they should contain active ingredients that protect us from both UVB and UVA rays. SPF tells us how it protects us from UVB rays while PA tells us how much it protects us from UVA rays. UVA rays are actually the ones responsible for aging skin and are present year round. I've tried a variety of sunscreens like Innisfree Eco Safety Aqua Sun Gel and Missha Mild Essence Sun Milk. While their light-weight consistency is extremely impressive and makes my oily skin very happy, and while they claim they are PA++, when you look at their ingredient list, you don't actually see much UVA protection. 

According to this website, avobenzone and zinc oxide provide the best UVA protection. If you look at this sunscreen's ingredient list on Cosdna.com, you can see this sunscreen's active ingredients are 1. methoxycinnamate, 2. zinc oxide, and 3. titanium oxide. From the same website table, right beside the zinc oxide ingredient, it shows 100% UVA and UVB protection. It even contains titanium oxide which provides considerable UVA and extensive UVB protection. This is better than the Etude House Face Conditioning Cream Light SPF25 PA++ that I just reviewed yesterday since that one only had titanium oxide and mathoxycinnamate as the active ingredients. 

This sunscreen is SPF50 which is more than enough. According to this NY Times article (and there are many other sources stating the same facts if you google), SPF 30 deflects 96.7% of UVB rays whereas SPF 50 deflects 98% of UVB rays.

Now here's the drawback of the sunscreen. It's not as light weight as the Innisfree Eco Safety Aqua Sun Gel and Missha Mild Essence Sun Milk since it's a cream type sunscreen. It doesn't feel greasy as I put it on but it does not give a matte finish. My face looks pretty shiny and I have to stack quite a bit of the Etude House Goodbye Pore Ever Pore Primer Essence after to make it matte. And despite that, 6 hours later, when I looked at myself in the mirror, my face was super shiny. In this area, the Etude House Face Conditioning Cream Light SPF25 PA++ does a much better job. 

But this is the first Korean sunscreen I've tried that gives complete UVA and UVB protection. So for those who don't need a matte finish or even want some shine on their face, this might actually be a great sunscreen for you.

Summary:

Complete UVA and UVB protection with zinc oxide and titanium oxide
Not greasy, but less light weight as the sun milk or gels
No matte finish, face looks pretty shiny after application
$32 for 70ml

Grade: 4/5 because it gives complete UVA and UVB protection with zinc oxide but my face looks way too shiny even after putting primer on

Value: 3.5/5 because the steep price is comparable to La Roche-Posay sunscreens, which is the standard brand most dermatologists recommend for sensitive/acne-prone skin.

Repurchase? I really like the fact that it has zinc oxide and titanium oxide which gives broad spectrum UVA and UVB protection but it's just too shiny for me. That oily will eventually plug a pore and give me a pimple. So no :(

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