The Sunscreen Project, Part 8

Clean & Clear Finishes Oil-Free Pore Perfecting Moisturizer w/SPF 15

Hey guys and gals,

I want to apologize for not updating The Sunscreen Project series for such a long time. For awhile after graduation, things were super hectic. It seems like everything is finally starting to pop back up into place.

Today, I'm going to continue on my quest to find a great sunscreen.

After going through 8 sunscreens now, I have made a list of qualifications I hope sunscreens will fulfill:
1. Good coverage of UVA and UVB rays
2. SPF of 30+
3. Oil-free, or noncomedogenic (note that what is noncomedogenic for one person might not be for another person - it all depends on your skin type and the sensitivity of your skin)
4. Hypoallergenic
5. Affordable

First, some factors for indication, that I have written on previous posts, but would like to consolidate here:
1. Using liquid sunscreen (like that thick, white paste liquid) is good for maximum coverage.
2. You need to use 1/4 to 1/3 of a teaspoon of sunscreen in order to cover your entire face. If you want to cover your entire body, you should use about 1 oz of sunscreen - about a shot glass worth.
3. It is good to have active ingredients in the sunscreen that cover both UVA (avobenzone, or high amounts of zinc oxide) and UVB (oxybenzone, homosalate, octocrylene, titanium dioxide, octyl salicylate, etc) rays. AKA a broad spectrum sunscreen.
4. A SPF of 15 or more is recommended by the US Federal Drug Administration (in a sunscreen).
5. Sunscreens do expire. Make sure to store them in a dry, cool space, in order to minimize the breakdown of active ingredients (and other ingredients) in order to prolong the lifespan of the sunscreen. According to the Mayo Clinic, sunscreen is supposed to last up to 3 years, especially if you store them in this kind of space. Otherwise, they might only last 1 year.


All righty, anyways, here's a review the 8th sunscreen that I've tried, Clean & Clear Finishes Oil-Free Pore Perfecting Moisturizer w/SPF 15.

I got a few samples of this sunscreen from buying Clean & Clear's Even Tone Foam Cleanser. These samples were tubes of 0.15 oz. Pretty nifty, huh?

According to Clean & Clear's official website, the ingredients in this facial moisturizer w/ SPF (basically a sunscreen) are:

Active: Avobenzone (3%), Octisalate (5%), Octocrylene (1.7%), Oxybenzone (3%) 
Inactive: Water, Dimethicone, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Diethylhexyl 2,6-Naphthalate, Glycerin, Arachidyl Alcohol, Phenyl Trimethicone, Sodium Polyacrylate, Silica, PCA Dimethicone, Cetearyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Methyl Methacrylate Crosspolymer, Behenyl Alcohol, Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate, Steareth-2, Fragrance, Betaine, Arachidyl Glucoside, Methylparaben, Disodium EDTA, Seareth-21, Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose, Cetearyl Glucoside, Sodium PCA, Benzalkonium Chloride, Propylparaben, Sorbitol, Ethylparaben, Vaccinium Myrtillus Fruit/Leaf Extract, Boron Nitride, Serine, Saccharum Officinarum (Sugar Cane) Extract, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Glycine, Glutamic Acid, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Extract, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Alanine, Arginine, Lysine, Threonine, Acer Saccharum (Sugar Maple) Extract, Proline

My first thoughts:


Nice. I'm glad that the active ingredients list has chemicals that protect against both UVA and UVB rays. There's the skin protectant dimethicone in there as well. There are several parabens - methylparaben, propylparaben, ethylparaben, etc in there - which is okay, because those are preservative agents (which I think are OK in a product, as long as they don't overpower the product). What's interesting is that there are extra amino acids in the ingredients - serine, glycine, glutamic acid, alanine, arginine, lysine, threonine, proline. I guess I just remember them from biochemistry. I've never actually bothered to look at the ingredients list so closely - by this, I mean the inactive ingredients list - so I find this to be pretty interesting.

Anyways, I squeezed the tube of sunscreen and applied a generous amount to my face, ears, and chin area/upper neck area.

What did I find?

This sunscreen applies on smoothly, but is a bit on the thick side. It is a bit thicker than the Solbar, Pur-lisse, Coppertone Sport, and Cetaphil sunscreens (see links at the end of the post). In fact, it's a lot thicker than the Cetaphil sunscreen. This sunscreen also takes quite awhile to dry on my skin - even hours - and afterwards, leaves a shine on my face. I dislike this last fact.

Note: I have combination/oily skin, so this might play a factor in how its results manifested on my face.

Also note that this SPF is only 15 - which is relatively low, especially because I live in the Sunbelt of the US, where I definitely need a lot of skin protection.

It seemed like the shine effect lasted all day on my face. I didn't really like it, because it felt like my face was sticky all day. Not cool. It also seemed to kind of make my face breakout. Un-uh.

This retails at about $9 for 1.7 oz. Geez! Based on this, if this sunscreen were 4 oz, it would cost about $22. And the Cetaphil SPF 15, which is comparable to this sunscreen, costs $12 for a 4 oz bottle. The Coppertone SPF 30 would be about $4.50 for a 4 oz bottle. This is not as expensive as the Pur-lisse or the Shiseido, but those are high-end sunscreens, while this is a drugstore one. This is, by far, the most expensive drugstore sunscreen I have tried.

Pros? Covers UVA and UVB rays (broad spectrum sunscreen)
Cons? quite thick, takes long time to dry, leaves shine on face, low SPF, pricey for a drugstore sunscreen, makes me break out.

Would I buy the full-sized version of this? Probably not. There are many better sunscreens out there that are cheaper and more effective for my skin.

My search for a good sunscreen continues!

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
Part 6: Cetaphil Daily Facial Moisturizer SPF 15
Part 7: Shiseido Sun Protection Eye Cream SPF 32