Skin tone:
East Asian ~ Fair to Light with cool, yellow olive undertone. Maybe NC15? Korean cushion foundation 21. Fitzpatrick 2??? I tan pretty easily, but my skin also is sensitive to sun. Today, my skin is not quite as tan, but I have A LOT of small flat moles on my face from younger years of not wearing sunscreen. So, good UVA protection is important.
Skin type:
Oily, dehydrated, has some texture and congestion on peripheral of face, and fungal or bacterial or hormonal acne around jawline.
Wear test:
Day 1
Watery toner only, first application of SPF, reapplication after 4 hours, one application of cushion foundation, with two rounds of powder throughout the afternoon to take away shine from my own oil.
Initial thought:
The way it squeezes out of the tube reminds me more of a Japanese or Korean gel cream sunscreen, but as I spread it on skin, I can feel it is def silicone based, like the Goop sunscreen line in the US. But the spreading and final touch is a lot less slippery. It dries a very natural matte!
It is pretty transparent on my skin tone, if it is indeed yellow, I think it’s miles better than the LRP line. I don’t think I will need to color correct.
Back to Day 1 wear test:
Around 4 hours, without much moisturizing, I did feel my chin area getting a TINY little “tight” or, more like “heavy”, just like how my skin feels when it is sensitive and dehydrated yet I’m laying down makeup on top. So, nothing terrible. I ended up wiping the chin area with a moist towel, I def feel like most of it came off, as my skin didn’t have that powdery texture anymore, so I felt like it was true that it wasn’t water proof. The rest of the face where I reapplied felt as expected. It didn’t just take away all the oil my skin had produced, but it didn’t make me greasier. I am glad it wasn’t water proof, otherwise the reapplication and removal might be an issue for me.
Day 2
I wanted to see if moisturizing my face more would make my chin area feel less “heavy with product”, plus, if I were to wear makeup, like I do everyday going to the office, wiping off part of my face that feels a little icky is not optional.
I applied two layers of toner, a light gel moisturizer, and the tiniest bit of skin barrier-protecting-type cream moisturizer around my chin.
The first application went on great, I was still just as naturally matte! And I’m happy to report my chin area felt less dry/tight/heavy. I was working from home, so I had 15min free time before I layered cushion foundation. I forgot to power actually, and 4 hours later, my skin looked really good! I can see my own oil making my face shinier, but I can tell by my nasal fold area, I was still a very acceptable natural matte level, something I certainly couldn’t have achieved with a lighter Asian sunscreen, or a tackier European sunscreen like the LRP line!
To take off some of the oil, I used a tissue paper and just patted it around my skin, letting it stick for 10 seconds to absorb my oil. I then reapplied two pea sized drops on various parts of mg face respectively. It’s 2 hours later, I still haven’t powered all day. I look quite acceptably matte at this point!
At the end of the day, My chin area def feels like there is something on it, compared to a routine of Asian gel sunscreen + foundation + powder. I think the LRP also feel less obvious on my chin due to the fact that they are more “wet/tacky” even thought they kind of feel “heavier” initially. But the difference isn’t crazy at all.
Final Thought
Overall, I would say this is a good sunscreen. For those anxious of Japanese and Korean sunscreens, or, to be more specific, are looking for a particular PPD level for your skin type, I say, go buy it! It was ~$14 for 75ml on the US site, so, cheaper than a tube of LRP, or some high protection japanese sunscreen once you take into account of tariff, or “middle-man” fees.
My aggregated sunscreen ranking/usage based on factors such as high protection, daily preference, peace of mind goes like:
LRP (indoor & outdoor, face only)-> Allie UV EX(indoor&outdoor, face and body)-> Biore UV (indoor on face, outdoor on body)-> Skin Aqua(indoor face & body, outdoor incidental exposure) -> 20% zinc sunscreens(outdoor incidental exposure)
I would put Anessa(outdoor, face and body for activities ONLY) between LRP and Allie for my ideal protection, but, it’s a little intense for face and makes my face dry in a similar manner to G&G, so I took it out of the list.
I would say the G&G sunscreen sits somewhere around Allie UV EX. The similarities: It is relative higher protection on paper than the rest daily sunscreen, but still feels like there is some body to it as the day goes on, and it’s something I would use on both face and body during non-sports days if I don’t have LRP around! I think it would be a little behind Allie because even though Allie has some body to it, it is the wet kind and not the powdery kind, so I think it has more forgiveness. Even though, yes, for some people, they look for that clear disclosure of PPD 30 instead of the general PA++++(PPD 16 or above) from Japanese sunscreen such as Allie. But looking at their filters, I do feel and expect their protection level to be about similar for my skin type.
There are some folks who were talking about the UVA I and UVA II protection of the G&G sunscreen filters - now, I don’t know if my particular mole-generating machine skin is more reactive to UVA I or UVA II or a combination of everything plus UVA B plus heat….
The list can go on, and ultimately everyone’s skin is different, the testing methods can tell you certain things but it’s not the whole picture for each unique individual, so, in my mind I just chop it up to an equivalent, relatively cheap and accessible alternative to some higher protection Japanese sunscreens such as Allie.
I feel like I did over purchase a little, oops!! 😬 I was very excited and unsure how long this would be available on the US site. Well, if I do want to be on the safe side considering my skin dehydrations, I’d rather wear Allie if I don’t have LRP. But, for now, I have a cheaper, new alternative.
This is speaking from someone who is a woman who is willing to spend time and money on a variety of sunscreens to suit her everyday changing needs.
If you are a man who doesn’t wear makeup and have no intention of powering, but moisturizes, then this is probably your new no-headache, easily choice for everyday protection.