The Sunscreen Project, Part 6

The sixth sunscreen I have tried during my quest to find an optimal sunscreen is the Cetaphil Daily Facial Moisturizer in SPF 15. One can find this moisturizer in just about any drugstore, CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Kroger, Target, whatever. It costs about $12 for a 4 oz bottle.

I originally got this from my bf. I made a skin routine for him to try, a simple one that involved three Cetaphil products (Facial skin cleanser, facial moisturizer without SPF, and this moisturizer with SPF). Very simple, yes. I have already tried the other two products but had not tried this one; I recommended it to him because of the rave reviews on it and because of its very affordable price, at least compared to other SPF moisturizers.

The Cetaphil website claims that the moisturizer is "lightweight, fragrance-free and suitable for use under makeup or after shaving". It also claims that it "gives you moderate protection against damaging UVA and UVB rays that are responsible for premature lines and wrinkles".

The ingredients list states:


Active ingredients: avobenzone 3%, octocrylene 10%


Inactive Ingredients: water, diisopropyl adipate, cyclomethicone, glycerin, glyceryl stearate, PEG-100 stearate, polymethyl methacrylate, phenoxyethanol, benzyl alcohol, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, tocopheryl acetate, carbomer 940, disodium EDTA, triethanolamine.


My bf was the first to actually try this. At first, he did not like it at all, stating that it was too oily and greasy. Thus, I asked to try it because I really wanted to see it, especially when it got such rave reviews but yet got such a negative review from a person close to me.

The result? Voila.

I've got to say the first time I tried it, I was a bit apprehensive because of what my bf said it did to his skin. However, tell you the truth, it was actually pretty good. The Cetaphil product was very easy to apply, very easy to smooth onto the skin, and absorbed quite quickly compared to the other ones I've tried. It did not feel greasy on my skin and felt as if I was putting on a very light nighttime moistuizer. It made my skin feel really smooth and light. It was a tiny bit more greasy than the Pur~lisse Essential Daily Moisturizer SPF 30, but still relatively, it was really good. I was able to apply makeup over it pretty well.

I really like the fact that it DOES provide UVA and UVB protection, as seen on the active ingredients list. However, the one thing I slightly dislike about it is that its SPF is only SPF15, and not something higher. However, I recommended it to my bf during the winter, during which the sun was not as vicious, and so it was all right during then. However, it does definitely provide moderate coverage, which is a good happy medium, seeing that it is not greasy at all and yet also does a good job of covering UVA and UVB rays.

It did not make me break out my skin at all.

Once I told my bf this, he decided to try it again. By this time, I had made him try out a few other SPF moisturizers. He actually liked it, especially now that he had gotten used to wearing them in general. I think another major factor is that his skin type is oily/acne-prone, whereas mine is combination/acne-prone, so it makes slightly different effects on our different skin types.

Pros? Not greasy, not oily, good UVA/UVB protection, affordable price.
Cons? SPF 15 only (not extremely high, a moderate amount of protection)

Would I actually purchase this? Probably yes. But I still have a few more sunscreens to review, so let's look at those before deciding.

Source: 1


Past posts:
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Vanicream SPF 30
Part 3: Solbar Avo SPF 32
Part 4: Pur~lisse Essential Daily Moisturizer SPF 30
Part 5: Coppertone Sport SPF 30