I think it should be no surprise that sunscreens have gotten a huge boom just the last decade! And amidst the Purito sunscreen scandal, rising black skin awareness and the ever expanding beauty industry, sunscreens are now a lot of people’s staples.
With that said, there is still one major factor that would make or break a sunscreen: its cosmetic elegance. In short, how well does the cream of the sunscreen blend into the skin. Is the lotion tacky or matte? Does it remain emollient for a long while or does it dry and absorb instantly? Does it feel heavy? If it’s a heavy white-cast and sticky feeling, that sunscreen is going to turn off a lot of people or make them use that type of sunscreen less, making inadequate sun protection.
That’s why it’s more important, more than ever, that the formula of the sunscreen can make the user reuse and reapply that sunscreen without feeling discomforted with its stickiness, or too dry formula, and definitely without having to suffer that dreaded white-cast, particularly with dark to deep skin tones. Besides protection, it overall boosts the user’s mindset in enjoying the routine of reapplication.
But what I have here aren’t very cosmetically-elegant sunscreens. Human Heart Nature’s Safe Protect Sunscreens are definitely made for outdoor/swimming activities. Both versions have coconut, castor and sunflower oils as their base vehicle to create a highly emollient and heavy-feeling sunscreen. And its main sunscreen active/s are titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, notorious for having a pale pigment that gives white-cast.
And yet, despite buying and experiencing many more sunscreens, these two are the ones I always come back to. Even during this lockdown/pandemic era, I manage to still get either one of these two for my sun protection. Despite its heavy formula and white cast, I keep coming back to these two is because of their skin caring ingredients and the fact that they’re touted as reef-safe.
Now, I’m on the opinion that climate change and water pollution are still big factors to the detrimental changes of the oceans and its marine life, but it doesn’t hurt that I get to use a sunscreen that, when washed off, doesn’t have a huge effect on marine life. Another positive thing about these sunscreens is how water-resistant it is. I still definitely reapply after 2 hours or if I feel like it’s washed or rubbed off, but it definitely just sticks to the skin when under water or extreme sweating!
It’s also oil-based, however, meaning those who are acne-prone or have oily skin will not like how heavy this is. To me, since my skin is getting older and is getting dryer, I even use this occasionally on casual days.
Lastly, I will not recommend the regular Safe Protect sunscreen as it’s main emollient is coconut oil and it’s quite heavy on the skin. The Babies and Kids version has sunflower oil and, for some reason, feels a tad “matte”. It is still a very heavy formula but it gets to cling to the skin without too much greasiness.
Definitely these two sunscreens from Human Heart Nature are for the most outdoorsy, extreme and water-heavy sports.
Check their SPF 15 version, which seems to be a lightweight, indoor/casual sunscreen (I have not tried this yet, but maybe in the future I’ll make a review!), or see the two original versions out in this website
Fun, Beauty and Badassery 