Ok, so I have these unsightly brown spots caused by all the hormones that were raging inside me while I was breastfeeding (they actually popped up last year in January, of all months! I’d have understood August, but January is a joke! I mean, I live in the most rained-down city in the North of Italy, come on!), though I was actually wearing sunscreen daily at the time and my foundation also contained some spf. The spots have created a weird pattern in the central part of my forehead and they are very very ugly to me and very noticeable to everyone else, I’d say, so until I manage to get rid of them, no full-face photos for you!
So far I have tried two spf 50 creams for the face. Both are waterproof, non occlusive and non greasy, so aimed at people with combination to oily skin, as well as photosensitive skin (I have combination and sensitive skin, hurray!).
The first cream I tried is Heliocare Gel 50 (on the left). I first heard about this brand from a Brazilian friend (of German descent, so milky white!) who swears by it, then it finally became available in Italy too. It’s a gel/cream, beigy yellow with a wonderful peach scent. It’s supposed to be for combination and acne-prone skin. It spreads easily and smells delicious, as I’ve said. I think the price was something like 16.5/17.00 euros for 50gr, but it might have been discounted (I bought it in a parapharmacy shop which often has discounts on products). I always shake it well before squeezing it out of the tube, because I get the feeling that the oils inside the cream tend to separate otherwise. It sinks in quite well, though I find it leaves a sheen on my face, which is not sticky but it does tend to make me look greasy sooner rather than not!
Cream number 2, on the right, is La Roche Posay’s Anthelios XL Spf 50+ Fluide Extreme, which contains the famous Mexoryl SX and XL filters. It is more of a white lotion, very runny, you have to shake it before opening (apparently it has “Shaka technology”, lol!), it spreads easily and sinks in very well. You can actually feel it being matte, even on your fingertips afterwards, but it's not drying even on normal skin! It leaves no shine whatsoever, no strange whitish film and it doesn’t melt on your forehead even if it’s hot, humid, or whilst you’re swimming, as some white lotions can do. It also has no added perfume. Price is 19.50 euros.
And the winner is…
...yes, Miss Seahorse (ahem! Went a bit crazy there!)is giving first prize kiss to La Roche Posay's Anthelios XL! I am still going to use to the Heliocare cream on my cheeks because (have I said this already? Hahaha!) the scent is to die for, but I did find that it was making my forehead quite bumpy despite its non-comedogenic claims and obviously that’s not good! Since trying out the Anthelios, though, my skin is much much better, so this is definitely my new HG cream for face protection!
PS: I have to admit that, being mostly Italian, I do love a bit of colour on my face so I wear less than 50 on other parts of my face as the holiday progresses! Still, I would never dream of going out in the sun with no sunscreen at all, that’s for sure!