Followers on my Instagram (@peepingpomeranian) and Snapchat (@peepingpompom) have already seen some of the testing and peeks at how the different sunscreens in my collection fared. But for the rest of the internet and posterity. It’s time to publish my process and results.

Goal

Test out 8 sunscreens to see how effective they were in preventing sunburn & tanning on dry parts of my body (i.e. the top of my forearms) This is not a test for skincare interactions This is not a test to see how they wear with makeup This is not a test to see how sweatproof they are, I test once on dry skin that’s sitting in the sun and once on skin who has three 6min swimming sessions I won’t be discussing in depth how they ‘feel’ or their textures That will come later in individual reviews This review is testing their ability to do their job as UV radiation protectors



Materials & Methods

Start with each forearm by washing with hand soap and air drying to create that perfect canvas

tape off each arm to have separate rectangles This prevents sunscreen from leaking into each other This also makes sharp edges to see where potential burns can occur



Sunscreens in question with their corresponding numbers (I used a sharpie) Right arm 1 = Sunbears Strong Cool Plus SPF 50+ PA ++++ 2 = Biore UV Perfect Bright milk SPF 50+ PA ++++ 3 = Biore UV Aqua Rich watery Essence SPF 50+ PA ++++ 4 = TonyMoly Mango Mild Sun Block SPF 50+ PA +++ Left arm 5 = Holika Holika Dazling Sunshine Waterproof Sun cream SPF 50+ PA +++ 6 = Biore UV Perfect Milk SPF 50+ PA ++++ 7 = Missha all around Safe Block Waterproof Sun Milk SPF 50+ PA +++ 8 = Missha all around Safe Block Sun Milk for MEN SPF 50+ PA+++



I aimed to apply about a pea sized amount to each section and spread the sunscreen around with a separate finger each time to avoid cross contamination. The sun bears was a lot more watery/runny than I thought which made me have a slight heart attack that it would spread into a Biore sector but I just kept my arm horizontal I added a bit more holika holika after I took the picture since the initial amount was too small

I also did not apply any sunscreen to the rest of my forearm so that I could compare the impending sunburn to areas protected by sunscreen

Test time *Edit 8/21/2016* I forgot to mention I waited indoors for 15 mins prior to going out into the sun. Each day I spent 2hours with my forearms in direct sunlight. I had to alternate lying on my stomach and on my back but I made sure that my arms were facing the sun as much as possible I also was in the sun starting at 1pm and ending at 3pm to try and get the strongest sun possible for at least an hour. On day 2 which was the waterproof-ness test I spent 3 6min sessions swimming while trying to keep my arms still in direct sunlight while underwater. I made sure that I didn’t rub my arms or run into anything. After swimming I either sat on the pool stairs with my arms up and in the sun or I went back to the lounge chair.



In the above image I wanted to kind of show what the sunscreens looked like on my arms after 1 hour of wear. As you can see my arms are quite swole and unsweaty. It was only maybe 80 degrees Fahrenheit where I was so I wasn’t in uncomfortable weather for just lounging.

You can already see some shade differentiation between the sun screened and bare portions of my arms with some mild erythema developing.

After 2 Hours I went inside and took pictures with Flash to try and capture a clear image showing where any burns occured. I’ve tried to mark burn locations with white arrows. Right arm 1 = Sunbears Strong Cool Plus SPF 50+ PA ++++ 2 = Biore UV Perfect Bright milk SPF 50+ PA ++++ 3 = Biore UV Aqua Rich watery Essence SPF 50+ PA ++++ 4 = TonyMoly Mango Mild Sun Block SPF 50+ PA +++ Left arm 5 = Holika Holika Dazling Sunshine Waterproof Sun cream SPF 50+ PA +++ 6 = Biore UV Perfect Milk SPF 50+ PA ++++ 7 = Missha all around Safe Block Waterproof Sun Milk SPF 50+ PA +++ 8 = Missha all around Safe Block Sun Milk for MEN SPF 50+ PA+++ What I did notice was that some of sunscreens number 1 and number 8 due to their proximity to my elbow rubbed off a bit. We can already see the left arm sunscreens are out performing the right arm sunscreens but I wanted to wait a few hours to see how my burns/tans developed before further review



RESULTS DAY 1

So far nothing outright led me to burn, but there were some that still let me get Tan.

Right arm 1 = Sunbears Strong Cool Plus SPF 50+ PA ++++ Definitely some tanning even on the areas that I didn’t compress accidently by bending my elbow 2 = Biore UV Perfect Bright milk SPF 50+ PA ++++ There was some slight erythema as seen in above photos but that went away and didn’t seem to expose a tan 3 = Biore UV Aqua Rich watery Essence SPF 50+ PA ++++ Was some tanning even though I felt like this made the thickest layer of product 4 = TonyMoly Mango Mild Sun Block SPF 50+ PA +++ Clearly least effective here. Which is sad because it smells amazing

Left arm 5 = Holika Holika Dazzling Sunshine Waterproof Sun cream SPF 50+ PA +++ This one I might not have spread evening enough as the white portion didn’t show clear edges along the sides. Minus for difficult application 6 = Biore UV Perfect Milk SPF 50+ PA ++++ This one doesn’t seem as good as the pink version. If you compare the skin color for each the pink Biore seems to provide a little stronger protection. I equate this to how ‘white’ my skin looks 7 = Missha all around Safe Block Waterproof Sun Milk SPF 50+ PA +++ This one definitely had the whitest looking skin i.e. it seems to protect the best 8 = Missha all around Safe Block Sun Milk for MEN SPF 50+ PA+++ Definitely got a little tan, somewhere near the Biore watery essence, but it also had the hard job of living close to my elbow.



DAY 2 Swim test

I used tape once again to separate the sunscreens

I applied about a pea sized amount of sunscreen on each arm.

I was out in the sun for a total of 2 hours from 1pm to 3pm

I swam 3 times for 6mins each occurrence

I also waited till the next morning to see the results… and I even applied aloe just to sooth my sore arms.

Right arm 1 = Sunbears Strong Cool Plus SPF 50+ PA ++++ It’s not advertised as waterproof and yeah…. it isn’t 2 = Biore UV Perfect Bright milk SPF 50+ PA ++++ Is advertised as being waterproof. But is not the strongest one here 3 = Biore UV Aqua Rich watery Essence SPF 50+ PA ++++ I actually really hate this sunscreen but my opinion aside… yeah burned a little and that’s because it’s not waterproof 4 = TonyMoly Mango Mild Sun Block SPF 50+ PA +++ This is not advertised as being waterproof and it wasn’t. Mild burn

Left arm 5 = Holika Holika Dazling Sunshine Waterproof Sun cream SPF 50+ PA +++ yes I would say it’s waterresistant but it seems like it doesn’t apply well leaving some weird tanning patterns still 6 = Biore UV Perfect Milk SPF 50+ PA ++++ This one seems to perform a little better than the pink in water conditions 7 = Missha all around Safe Block Waterproof Sun Milk SPF 50+ PA +++ The clear winner, least amount of tan and still the whitest patch on my arm 8 = Missha all around Safe Block Sun Milk for MEN SPF 50+ PA+++ Actually seems a little waterproof. Which I have said often on instagram, which is from anecdotal evidence.



The FINAL VERDICT

The overall winner: Missha all around Safe Block Waterproof Sun Milk This suncreen performed the best overall in both dry and wet conditions. I have actually already repurchased a backup from Missha and they’re still running their 40% off sale btw Missha.com Second Place tie: I’d put the Biore UV perfect sunscreens in bright milk (the pink bottle) and the regular milk. The pink milk seemed the stronger of the two under the dry conditions but with the water test it seems like the blue one is slightly stronger. Third place tie: In terms of functionality I would say the holika holika and Missha Men are a little similar in output. The holika holika seems to be a bit better for both dry and watery conditions but its thicker fomula seems to make application a bit harder The missha men seems to be slightly waterproof but not enough to last though lots of swimming. Fourth Place: Biore UV Aqua Rich watery essence. This one seems to survive alright if you’re dry and unmoving, but sitting in the sun it seems like it’s not quite as strong as the perfect milks. I’m not going to buy this again sadly. Last place *omg literal tears I wanted it to win so badly* TonyMoly Mango Mild Sun block. I love this packaging and scent but sadly, it didn’t seem to offer anywhere near the the same SPF rating as any of the others. I guess If you’d like to tan and not burn this would be the mango for you.

And there you have it. The first round of sunscreen tests. I’d like to continue testing out sunscreens this way, so if you’d like to see me do more, leave a message in the comments saying a brand you might like to see. Im usually around.







