Sunplay, Sunkiller and MK Customer generic sunblocks

This is part 5 of our 2015 alcohol-free sunblock series (part 1 part 2, part 3, part 4)

It all started innocently enough.
Miss K and I were at Matsumoto Kiyoshi. She was buying feminine protection, and I - contact lens cleaner. I had a coupon for 10% off, that was the only reason why we were there. Matsumoto Kiyoshi is one of the largest, if not THE largest, drugstore chains in Japan. If you live in the US, think Walgreens on steroids. As a point card carrying member, every so often I get a postcard coupon in the mail. And that is pretty much the only time I shop at Matsumoto Kiyoshi, or MatsuKiyo for short.

Anyway...
I was camping in the sunblock isle (yes, there was a whole isle of sunscreens) and sniffing and smearing and checking the ingredients. I was looking for ethanol-free sun protection products. Miss K saw me reaching for SunBears.
She grabbed it out of my hand and said, "No, no, you don't want this one. This is made in Thailand. I don't trust such cosmetics."

"But it's made by a Japanese company, right?" was my answer.
"Doesn't matter. If it's not made in Japan, you can't trust it. Here, try this instead," she said.

She stuck an unassuming store brand sunblock in my hand.


MK Customer UV Protection Super SPF 50+ PA++++


A generic brand made specifically for Matsumoto Kiyoshi. To be honest, usually, I don't even look at MK Customer products. I always tend to make a bee line straight towards brand names.

"This one here is an exact dupe for SunBears," Miss K informed me.
"It's even made by the same company - Omi, but unlike SunBears Strong, they make the generic version right here, in Japan," she helpfully added.

We compared the ingredients one by one.

Miss K was right. Japanese-made MK Customer UV Protection Super SPF 50+ PA++++ was indeed an exact dupe for Thai-made Sun Bears Strong Super Plus SPF 50+ PA++++.

To shut her up I bought it. I also bought Sunplay Super Block SPF 50+ PA++++ (made in Vietnam) and Sunkiller Perfect Strong Moisture SPF50+ PA++++.

And for good measure, I also threw in MK Customer UV Protection Cool SPF 50+ PA++++, which turned out to be an exact dupe for SunBears Strong Cool Super Plus SPF50+ PA++++, and which turned out to be dreadful, awful and all things horrible.

So let's go back to the more pleasant option of standard MK Customer UV Protection Super SPF 50+ PA++++.

It's a no frills, simple bottle. Inside there's 30 ml of product.

MK Customer UV Protection Super SPF 50+ PA++++ has exactly the same specs as SunBears Strong Super Plus:

• - milk type
• - combination of UV blockers and UV absorbers
• - waterproof
• - sweatproof
• - sebumproof
• - suitable for outdoor activities
• - non-drying
• - grapefruit scented (very fake, annoying smell)
• - ethanol (alcohol-free)

It feels moderately light on the skin and doesn't seem to leave a white cast. There is no oily, sticky film on the skin.

The specs claim it can be used as a makeup base, however, I didn't try it.

Unfortunately, it's not a sunscreen for me, as despite claims that it has moisturizing properties, I found it very drying. But then again, I have very dry skin. I think it would work great for normal and combination skin types.

You can check the ingredients on Ratzilla's website.


Final thoughts on MK Customer UV Protection Super SPF50+ PA++++:

• All in all, I was very pleasantly surprised. 
• And it's very cheap - MK Customer UV Protection Super SPF50+ PA++++ costs 400 yen (tax included).
• I might consider it in the future as a body sunscreen.
• Solid, functional, dependable, affordable - buy? YES!

~~~


Next up we have Sunkiller Perfect Strong Moisture SPF 50+ PA++++.

It's made by Isehan, and it's just one of several options in their sunscreen lineup.

Again, we get a simple, plain bottle containing 30 ml of product, made in Japan.

Sunkiller Perfect Strong Moisture SPF 50+ PA++++ specs:

• - milky type
• - ethanol (alcohol) free
• - paraben free
• - waterproof
• - resistant to sweat
• - resistant to sebum
• - chemical UV absorbers

As its name suggests, it's moisturizing. It's very moisturizing. It's moisturizing to the point of being an oily, sticky mess.
There was no white cast, but instead, we get a shiny slick of stickiness.

And as you easily guess, it took forever to dry. Or rather, it didn't want to dry.

The specs say it can be used as a makeup base, but it's very hard to imagine how that would work, this stuff is just too moisturizing and too rich.

Here you have Sunkiller Perfect Strong Moisture SPF 50+ PA++++ ingredients:

And you can find the ingredient list in English on Ratzilla's website.

Final thoughts on Sunkiller Perfect Strong Moisture SPF 50+ PA++++:

• Ugh!
• No, thank you!

~~~

And finally, our last contestant today - Mentholatum SunPlay Super Block SPF 50+ PA++++

This is a bit complicated. This sunscreen is made by Rohto, but the version you see above was manufactured in Vietnam.

However, at some stores, you can find the Japan-made version. Below you have them side by side:

SunPlay Super Block SPF 50+ PA++++ made in Japan on the left, and made in Vietnam on the right. As far as I can tell, apart from the place of manufacture, these seem to be identical products.

Here are the specs for SunPlay Super Block SPF 50+ PA++++:

• - milky type
• - super waterproof
• - sebumproof
• - sweatproof
• - intended for heavy-duty outdoor use
• - ethanol (alcohol) free
• - combination of UV blockers and UV absorbers
• - paraben free

Again, plain and simple bottle with 27 ml of white goo.

27 ml is listed as 30 grams. So overall, it contains a bit less product than the other two sunscreens presented today.

Here is how SunPlay Super Block SPF 50+ PA++++ looked on the skin:

As you can see, it appears a lot more creamy and thicker than the other two sunscreens.

It leaves just the slightest white cast. 

It's indeed bullet proof. Removing it is hard work. Oil cleanser in the shower is a necessity.

I didn't use it on my face.

I used it on my arms, and this is what happened:

This was a very unpleasant surprise, because I had used this sunscreen in previous years with no adverse reaction. And this season it wanted to eat me alive.

I'm not sure what ingredient was responsible for this violent reaction.

It was a good reminder that patch testing is ALWAYS necessary.

Here are SunPlay Super Block SPF 50+ PA++++ ingredients:

And in English on Ratzilla's website.

Final thoughts on Mentholatum SunPlay Super Block SPF 50+ PA++++:

• - no, thank you.

Overall, it was an interesting batch of sunscreens.

Unfortunately, none of them worked for me.

So if anyone wants them, they're available for US $6.00 for all three plus shipping of your choice.

Send me an email, if you're interested.


PS> First come, first serve. They found a better home.

To be continued....

Solanoveil White Milk and Skin Aqua UV Moisture Milk sunblocks

This is part 4 of our 2015 alcohol-free sunblock series (part 1 part 2, part 3)

You know what annoys me to no end?

Two things:

• when my local store is selling something that disappeared from the manufacturer's website, meaning it has been discontinued, most likely, 

and

• sloppy CosDNA entries - I'm not an ingredient nazi, but I know many people are and CosDNA is their bible. And I'm realizing now that in their overenthusiastic zeal to enter as many products into the database, many times they tend to get sloppy or take shortcuts. Missing ingredients due to poor copy-paste skills, missing ingredients due to poor translations, missing ingredients due to careless typing... 

I've realized that unless I input it in there myself, I can't trust the existing entires.

OK, rant over...

Let's introduce today's contestants.

• Solanoveil White Milk SPF50+ PA+++ 40 ml (made by Omi and also known as Solanoveil Medicated Bihaku Milk)

and

• Mentholatum Skin Aqua UV Moisture Milk SPF50+ PA+++ 40 ml (made by Rohto and, fortunately, only going under one name, yay)

Solanoveil White Milk SPF50+ PA+++ has disappeared from the manufacturer's website, but it's still available at drugstores, at least in my neck of the woods.
Skin Aqua UV Moisture Milk SPF50+ PA+++ is just one of the 23423 different sunscreens in the Skin Aqua range.

They are both in the very affordable category costing less than a 1000 yen a piece.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let's start with Solanoveil White Milk SPF50+ PA+++.

Here is the entry about it on Ratzilla's website.

In the ingredient section (in Japanese), Ratzi links to Omi's (the company) website but this particular sunblock no longer appears in their current lineup. Oh well... It happens. And while Ratzilla doesn't list it as "discontinued", it certainly looks like it went bye-bye.

It's supposed to be moisturizing and the word "white" in the name refers to the fact that it claims to prevent hyper-pigmentation due to UV exposure. In other words - no sun spots, or so it says.

Solanoveil White Milk SPF50+ PA+++'s active ingredients are Tocopheryl Acetate (a form of Vitamin E, anti-oxidant), Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate (a form of Licorice extract, soothing for dry skin) and pig placenta extract (who the heck knows what that is supposed to be doing).

Ratzi has the ingredients on her website, but here's a closeup of the Japanese version:

Not sure which one of these is responsible for the smell of this sunscreen, but let me tell you, this thing stinks.
It smells like furniture polish. That fake, vaguely citrusy smell of furniture spray, you know what I mean, right? Yeah, that's the smell of this sunscreen.

Due to this smell I couldn't use it on my face. The smell lingers and sticks to the skin. Pity, because otherwise it's a very decent sunscreen.

Despite only PA+++ rating (PA ranking refers to the amount of protection from the UVA rays, SPF - from UVB rays.) it was a surprisingly effective sunscreen.

Solanoveil White Milk SPF50+ PA+++ gets its sun protection from these UV filters:

• Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate a.k.a. Octinoxate (to absorb UVB rays)
• Zinc Oxide (to protect against UVA and UVB)
• Titanium Dioxide (against UVA and UVB)

And this is how it looked on the skin:

It's a quite thick, milky liquid that spreads easily and dries to a semi-matte, semi-satin finish. Non-sticky, non-greasy, non-filmy. There was no noticeable white cast on my skin.

I used it far away from my nose (the awful scent!) and it worked great.
It's supposed to be water-, sweat- and sebum resistant but I reapplied often.
I used an oil cleanser to remove it while taking a shower.

As I only applied it on my arms and legs, I can't tell if it would clog pores or cause breakouts. I tend to get eczema from just about everything, but there were no major signs of irritation from this product.

So there... It smells like furniture polish, it has pig placenta extract and it seems to be discontinued. Pity. They should have just fixed the scent. And changed pig to sheep to make it kosher / halal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next up we have Mentholatum Skin Aqua UV Moisture Milk SPF50+ PA+++.

Here is what Ratzilla has to say about it.
As the name suggests, Skin Aqua UV Moisture Milk SPF50+ PA+++ is supposed to be moisturizing. It has collagen, two kinds of hyaluronic acid and amino acids, and yeah, it is moist. Very moist.

Again, only PA+++ rating here.

These are the UV filters in Skin Aqua UV Moisture Milk SPF50+ PA+++:

• Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate a.k.a. Octinoxate (to absorb UVB rays)
• Zinc Oxide (to protect against UVA and UVB)
• Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate a.k.a. Uvinul A Plus (to absorb UVA rays)

And here's the list in Japanese up close:

It's the same as what's on the manufacturer's website.

Here is the CosDNA analysis of Mentholatum Skin Aqua UV Moisture Milk SPF50+ PA+++. No major irritants found, it should be good for sensitive skin.
There was no offensive smell. In fact, I didn't detect any noticeable smell at all.

This is how Skin Aqua UV Moisture Milk SPF50+ PA+++ behaved on the skin:

It's more watery than Solanoveil and doesn't look as oily when it's spread out.
It dried to a semi-matte, semi-satin finish.

Again, it's supposed to be water-, sweat- and sebum resistant.

All fine and lovely, except for one thing.
This sunscreen didn't work for me at all.

At. All.

I don't spend much time outside. In fact when I work, I don't spend any time outside. I just walk from my car to the building in the morning, and then back to the car in the afternoon. It's not a long walk. Less than 5 minutes.

And during that walk on the first day I used this sunscreen my arms got tanned.
I'm not a sunscreen virgin. But in my stupidity, even the tan on my arms, I decided to test it on my face.
The result?
My face now is a tone darker than my neck.

Skin Aqua UV Moisture Milk SPF50+ PA+++ went straight to the garbage after the photo session.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Other details:

Both sunscreen bottles are semi-transparent, if you hold them against the light, you can see how much product is left inside.

As both products are milks, they have a mixing ball inside. You need to shake the bottle to make sure the contents are uniformly blended.

Both have a typical spout dispenser:

Of the two Solanoveil is thicker and more substantial. Skin Aqua is more watery.

Both claim to double as makeup bases. I didn't test Solanoveil on my face, so I can't tell you how it would perform under makeup.
And I didn't put any makeup on top of Skin Aqua. That was supposed to be stage two of face testing. However, we never got that far.

Here you can see them side by side:

Skin Aqua looks a lot lighter. Pity it didn't work for me.

So that's that.
The one that worked smelled bad and seems to be discontinued.
The one that didn't work for me had a lighter texture and no offensive smell. And it's still in production.
Murphy's Law.

The search goes on...