Dr. Jart+ Every Sun Day Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 50
Dr. Jart and Korean beauty products have come a very long way since I first became really interested and invested in how my face looked. I remember when the only Dr. Jart things I could get my hands on were their BB Creams, from indie (re)sellers on the Soompi marketplace. Am I dating myself a little here? Who knew K-beauty would blow up in the past couple years and become so mainstream in the American and Western beauty world.
Now Dr. Jart is sold at Sephoras nationwide and their brand even releases new products regularly. Colored makeup hasn't been on my radar lately. But I was intrigued by the new sunscreen options available now, especially with all the new Asian brands being sold at Sephora. Why Asian brands specifically? Well, to me, Asians are known to avoid the sun and its rays as much as possible. For those that aren't into beauty things, hats, umbrellas, and long sleeves anything are always a must. For those who are beauty-enthusiasts, sunscreen plus all the stated above are necessary before heading out. Asian beauty brands must do something special for their research and formulations, right? At least I can hope.
I can be pretty picky when it comes to sunscreens. It generally has to be SPF 50. Between the physical and chemical versions available on the market, I will almost always lean towards the physical ones. Not that I am against chemicals or anything like that. It's just that I have read with physical sunscreens or sunblocks to be more precise do a better job of blocking the actual UV rays than chemical sunscreens do. With that said the choices for physical/mineral/natural sunscreens are very limited at major beauty stores. Which is why, more often than not, I am pretty tolerant of the downsides of natural sunscreen: white casts and being heavy in texture.
But after swatching a ton of products in Korea that claimed to be natural or had either Titanium Dioxide and/or Zinc Oxide in the ingredients, I had hope that lightness in texture and less white-casting physical sunscreens existed somewhere on the market.
Before settling on the Dr. Jart + Every Sun Day UV Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 50 for $34 at 1.7oz, I made a list of all the mineral sunscreens available at Sephora that I was interested in and had a swatching field day one afternoon. Most of them were as expected in terms of white casts. Since the Sephora I went to either didn't have this Dr. Jart one in stock or I missed it in the store, I decided to go on a whim and order it via their online shop. Let's just say it didn't turn out to be what I was hoping for but kind of close.
Dr. Jart describes this Every Sun Day sunblock as:
- lightweight and non-sticky
- offers SPF 50 protection
- provides a natural looking tint
- leaves skin fresh and moisturized
- doesn't leave skin white or clump.
Of the main points, the brand says this product is, I generously agree with maybe a half of them.
As the main sunscreen components of Dr. Jart Every Sun Day UV SPF 50 is Zinc Oxide, it is more akin to typical physical sunscreens in texture: creamy. But true to its claims it is light, non-sticky, and very spreadable. Thick and clumpy this product definitely is not. Maybe the lighter texture is due to the 2 chemical sunscreen components in the product since those tend to offer more options in terms of color and runniness.
This sunscreen says it has moisturizing, hydrating, and soothing properties because of Candula, Aloe, and Oleracea extracts respectively. I can't attest to just how effective those would be since I tend to moisturize also before putting on the sunscreen, but it definitely doesn't make my skin feel or look any drier. Although I would probably say it might not be very moisturizing or hydrating since the extracts are on the bottom of the ingredients totem pole.
Scent-wise this sunscreen isn't heavily fragranced with an artificial perfume scent. Yet there isn't a blaring sunscreen smell either. It is barely noticeable after it is applied.
Now onto the biggest gripe I have with this particular sunscreen: the white cast and/or pink tint for brightening. I want to say it is just the abnormally high percentage of zinc oxide, 12.66%, that is in this sunscreen which left a white cast. But Dr. Jart does also market it as a brightening sunscreen slash makeup base. I admit that it was probably my mistake for not reading the description clearly to see that it was marketed that way. Maybe if I saw it, I might not have bought it since my skin got pretty tanned over the summer. If I was less tan the "brightening" property wouldn't have been as big of an issue. But on my tanner skin, my face was clearly a different shade even when I put a light layer of foundation on.
The "brightening" powers led to the second issue I had which is applying much less sunscreen that I normally would. Now some people might say, isn't using less product a good thing? A little goes a long way, ya? I would say of course, for anything but sunscreen. The proper amount of sunscreen is supposedly 1 tablespoon, tablespoon! There is already no way I am using anywhere near that even with sunscreens that don't leave as bad a white-cast. But still, I try to use as much as I can handle without feeling like I am drowning in sunscreen. However, with this Dr. Jart sunscreen, I apply half as much as I would typically use (2 finger lengths worth versus 4 fingers) and there is already a pretty prominent color difference to my face already.
I really do love the spreadability and physical sunscreen components of this product. I have worn this out for long walks on sunny days and have come home without burns or a drastic tan on my face. It also hasn't caused any major breakouts for me, from what I can tell. But the white cast/brightening factor isn't the most ideal for my skin tone right now. Perhaps if I tried this when I was less tan. I wouldn't have minded it as much.
