Welcome to a new series that will run throughout the summer focusing on safe sun practices and reviews of sunscreens in all price ranges! As a former tanning bed lover turned SPF advocate, I've made it my duty to get all my family and friends wearing sunscreen every time they go outdoors. Since I find choosing the right SPF product tricky, I'll be testing out several over the next two months to share with you all and hopefully shed some light on how you can protect your skin from sun damage, skin cancers and a myriad of other issues caused my pollution and UVA/UVB rays.
When I was contacted recently to try out Coppertone's new Clearly Sheer range it was the perfect timing; I was already working on my Sun Safety Series, and since the Mr loves to hike outdoors, I had another Guinea Pig beside myself to test things out on. The range comes in 3 types which are all Broad Spectrum UVA/UVB SPF 30 and have 80 minutes of water resistance: The lotion for face, the lotion for body and the spray. I was sent the face lotion and then purchased the spray myself since that is the preference for body sunscreen in our house.
Right off the bat, I noticed how nicely the Cleary Sheer Face Lotion sunk into the skin, leaving my face feeling smooth and not sticky at all. The Mr also noticed this, which is a huge plus since he usually just sprays a cloud of sunscreen around his face and is out the door. In order for him to use a lotion, it can't have any sort of greasy feel to it, nor can it be mattifying (or in his words, "tight") feeling. The latter is a problem I struggle with when finding a nice sunscreen to wear under makeup. Since my skin is dry, I don't want a dry touch or oil absorbing sunscreen for my face, but do need something that doesn't change the texture of my makeup. So after getting the Mr's approval on the face lotion (he wore it for over 6 hours out on the golf course in the heat with no reapplying because he's stubborn like that) I went out and bought the spray.
The Clearly Sheer Spray has a super fine mist that we both noticed instantly; He liked how quick it made applying on the go and found it perfect for use on his head where the sun usually burns a bit of his scalp. I loved that the fine mist meant there was much less of a chance of me getting strange tan (or worse, burn) lines where I may have missed applying a bit of product. Instead of a direct spray, it just dispersed really evenly.
Both the Coppertone Clearly Sheer Face and Spray boast being lightweight and breathable, as well as won't cause breakouts and we found that to be true. The Mr. is always quite concerned about products "giving him zits" and I struggle with sunscreens causing me to have nasty under the skin pimples, so this is a huge bonus for both of us. There is a very subtle clean scent to this which was almost undetectable to both of us, but the Mr wished it smelled like tropical fruits or coconuts like some other well know sunscreens (I like a yummy smell, but it's not a deal breaker for me haha)
The Ingredients
Classified as a Chemical Sunscreen, the base for these is 3% Avobenzone, 10% Homosalate, 4.55% Octisalate and 8% Octocrylene in the face lotion, and in the spray: 1.36% Avobenzone, 6.12% Octocrylene, and 2.04% Oxybenzone. Chemical sunscreens have a tendency offer a higher coverage against UVA/UVB rays, and work by absorbing the sun's rays as opposed to deflecting. One downside to chemical formulations is that they tend to sting the eyes, and the Mr noticed this with the spray when he washed it off in the shower one day (though he did not have the same problem with the face lotion)
We'll continue to keep using the Coppertone Clearly Sheer, and both think it is one of the best drugstore sunscreens we've tried in a few years. I will be trying out several sunscreens as well as self-tanners this summer to be featured in the Sun Safety Series, so please let me know which ones you've been curious about in the comments below!
