Good daily moisturisers with a decent SPF that behave well under makeup are hard to find – so far, I can only really trust Paula’s Choice to fulfil these requirements. Yet, I keep searching for alternatives that are more accessible, both in price and availability.
Bondi Sands is an Australian brand that is all about suncare. I decided to get one of their cheapest sunscreens to check how it would fare against my go to options (like Supergoop and Paula’s Choice). This sunscreen contains an impressive 75ml for just little over 8€.
Well, you get what you pay for.
Texture wise, it is quite fluid – however, it takes a quite of effort to blend into the skin enough that you don’t see any streaky of white cream. And even when it is well spread and blended, it leaves a white cast. It has a strong sunscreen scent (and taste, that you’ll inevitably feel if you apply it close enough to your lips). It feels heavy and a bit greasy on, and if you sweat, you can feel it slide down the face. Basically, this is like the typical drugstore sunscreens we all grew up with.
Ingredients wise, the two worth mentioning (beyond the obvious sunscreen ingredients) are aloe vera (very moisturising) and vitamin E (an antioxidant). Aloe vera can also be quite soothing. The thing is, I can’t even classify this as moisturising because it goes beyond that and straight to greasy, making it uncomfortable to wear,
Bondi Sands Face SPF50+ Sunscreen Lotion Ingredients: Aqua (Water), Homosalate, Cera Alba (Beeswax), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Octocrylene, Ethylhexyl Salicylate, Isopropyl Palmitate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cyclopentasiloxane, Cyclohexasiloxane, Ceteareth-20, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Hydroxyacetophenone, Carbomer, Benzyl Alcohol, Saccharide Isomerate, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Triethanolamine, Tocopheryl Acetate, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate.
It’s not a terrible product. 8€ for 75ml is quite affordable, and it’s better to have very affordable options out there, even if not perfect, than not. But if you have a darker skintone or are combination to oily skin – or even plan on wearing any makeup on top of it – you will not have a pleasant experience. This is good for a day at the pool or beach where you are constantly going for a swim and constantly have to reapply. In that case, this is a good bang for your buck.
But for everyday, city wear, it doesn’t work for me.
