What does the 80 minute water resistant test mean?
I want you to be clear that in India, there are no specific sunscreen regulations or laws that address this. Therefore, 80 minutes is what the manufacturers are telling you it is and there is no independent verification of this. This is not ideal. I hope you can see that its a never good situation for the consumer when manufacturers decide what a test is going to be.
My workaround (there must always be one!) is to ignore such labelling.
What damage are we trying to protect against?
UV filters contained in sunscreens should protect against the damaging effects of both UVA and UVB radiation:
Happy Skin Days’ sunscreen test
I apply this very basic test to all sunscreens that I test on this blog.
Note: the harmful chemicals that I look for are specifically BHT, Oxybenzone, Formaldehyde releasing preservatives and parabens (and none of these are present in this product). The product is at least an SPF 30 and it does provide UVA protection.
3) What UVA and UVB filters are present in the sunscreen?
This sunscreen has two filters Zinc Oxide (listed as the second ingredient) and micronised Titanium Dioxide (listed in the second half of the ingredient list).
Both Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide have a long track record of safe use when topically applied. Both are photostable (do not breakdown in UV radiation) and are not absorbed into the skin. Even if de minimis penetration of (e.g.) Zinc Oxide occurs, there are no adverse health effects, given the high levels of endogenous Zinc already present in the body.
While both Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide are broadspectrum filters, Titanium Dioxide is the better UVB filter and Zinc Oxide is the better UVA filter.
Aesthetics of this product
I think the aesthetics truly speak for themselves in these series of photos. I am not sure what to call this level of whitecast, but OK its a tinted cast that just refuses to blend.
Note also that there are these granules that come out with the product. I thought this was a manufacturing defect, but they do dissolve/blend in or something.
This is an extremely oily sunscreen, so if you are worried about acne etc, you can happily steer away from this sunscreen.
Finally, there is the smell: its pleasant but heavily fragranced.
To remove this sunscreen I did not need to double cleanse.
Would I use this sunscreen or buy it again.
No.
Available for sale at Nykaa for Rs 895, which is Rs 895 too much for me to pay for this product.