Biore UV Watery Essence Aqua Rich SPF50+ | Acne-prone skin suitable?

Living in a country that is hot and humid for the most part of the year, I spend a lot of my time trying new sunscreens for my acne-prone skin. Biore is an affordable Japanese brand and the Watery Essence SPF is one of their best selling products and comes highly recommended.

There are 50 grams of the product within an easy blue squeeze tube. The first thing you notice when you use the product is the alcohol scent which is the second-highest ingredients on the list, it does slowly wear off but if you are sensitive to alcohol this is not for you. The second thing you notice is the gel texture which is hydrating leaving you with a satin finish, it's cooling on the skin and the product does not separate or leave a white cast. It's fast-absorbing (ethanol), lightweight and perfect under makeup as a primer. Most importantly it's SPF50. Is this the dream SPF?

Ingredients list

Water, ethanol, ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, ethylhexyl triazone, isopropyl palmitate, (lauryl methacrylate / Na methacrylate) crosspolymer, diethylaminohydroxybenzoylhexylbenzoate, hydrogenated polyisobutene, bisethylhexyl oxyphenol methoxyphenyl triazine, palmitic acid Dextrin, BG, xylitol, (acrylate / alkyl acrylate (C10-30)) crosspolymer, dimethicone, alkyl benzoate (C12-15), glycerin, glyceryl stearate, propanediol, glyceryl behenate, (vinyl dimethicone / methicone Silsesquioxane) crosspolymer, cetanol, agar, sorbitan distearate, isoceteth-20, polyvinyl alcohol, (dimethicone / vinyl dimethicone) Suporima, stearoyl glutamate, arginine, hydroxide K, hydroxide Na, royal jelly extract, hyaluronic acid Na, phenoxyethanol, EDTA-2Na, BHT, perfume

I used this SPF for a month and I broke out with cystic acne. 

For the first 2 weeks, everything was working brilliantly and my foundation was adhering to the SPF nicely but I started to get a few small bumps on my forehead close to my eyebrows. I put this down to my bad diet and change in hair, skin and nail tablets and continued to use it as it did not click on that this was starting to break me out.

The last two weeks inflammatory acne flared up on my forehead, cheeks, chin and neck- basically everywhere where I've applied the SPF and let me tell you if you've never had it before - cystic acne is painful - when you are not talking or moving it still throbs. From the ingredients list, I think it's the silicone that is breaking me out or an emollient which I still need to figure out.

If you are not sensitive to alcohol, silicones or any ingredients within this product, It's still a lovely SPF to try. My skin is on the mend and I am dealing with hyperpigmentation problems hence all the brightening products I have been using on my Instagram stories, while I won't be trying anymore Biore SPF products in the future and sticking to Shiseido, check out a better SPF review here.

I hope those who have acne-prone skin like me have found this helpful! I purchased this off Yesstyle.

Until next time!

Joyce x

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