Application:
- Every morning after moisturizing, and before makeup.
- Face, neck and chest, as needed.
Best for:
- UVA/UVB protection.
- Protection from infrared radiation, blue HEV light, pollution.
These products are a line of tinted, mineral face sunscreens from the uber-popular Colorescience® brand. Please note that in Canada, we are not allowed to make an SPF claim on this product, as of yet. Colorescience.com advertises an SPF 50 claim on this product, in the USA.
This face protector spreads beautifully on the skin. It has a thicker consistency than the original Face Shield SPF 50 (which comes in 3 shade options). You can think of it like a light-weight, medium-coverage foundation and sunscreen in one. It also bodes well for all skin types, including sensitive and acne-prone skin, since its minerals don’t sink into the dermal layers.
Colorescience® has also ‘done it again’ by including superior quality, protective ingredients, encompassed in what they call EnviroScreen® Technology. These mineral face sunscreens offer both UVA and UVB sunblock (of course), along with protection from blue (HEV) light and environmental pollution. They have a PA++++ UVA rating.
They are:
- Reef-safe
- Non-nano
- Non-comedogenic
- Hypoallergenic
- Paraben-free
- Cruelty-free (vegan)
- Sulfate-free
- Phthalate-free
- Oil-free
- Gluten-free
- Fragrance-free
- ‘White cast free’
The formula itself has a moisturizing, but non-oily component to it. It also includes antioxidants to help fight free radicals throughout the day (hence, infrared radiation protection).
A few helpful things to know about this face sunscreen
Remember to shake the bottle before applying the sunscreen on your skin! It is normal for sunscreens to separate.
These products come out of their bottles white! Pigments are released when you mix them with your fingers! Their formula uses encapsulated iron oxide pigments, which reveal colour as they are spread onto the skin.
Use a nickel-sized (teaspoon) amount of sunscreen for adequate coverage. Don’t dilute sunscreen, or you won’t get good sun protection.
The consistency of this tinted sunscreen is like a ‘liquid lotion.’ However, it is still thick enough to give medium coverage. You can build layers to create more coverage, but wait 1 minute before applying a new layer. You can also use a mix of the Face Shield shades to contour and highlight.
Their finish is a demi-matte, giving you a bit of dewyness and a bit of matte.
If you’re looking for much thicker coverage, try the All Calm™ Clinical Redness Corrector SPF 50 by Colorescience® or the Even Up® Clinical Pigment Perfector® SPF 50, also by Colorescience®.
If you prefer a more sheer, translucent face sunscreen, try the ‘Original,’ ‘Glow’ and ‘Bronze’ shades, here. They blend into varied skin tones easily. The ‘Glow’ and the ‘Bronze’ are shinier.
Use sunscreen after face moisturizer, and before foundation or other makeup. Throughout the day, follow with the powder-based, Sunforgettable® Total Protection™ Brush-on Shield (every 2 hours). Reapplying sunscreen every 2 hours is necessary for adequate sun protection. You can also use the Brush-on Shield as a makeup contouring tool.
The patented zinc oxide in the EnviroScreen™ Technology, contained in these tinted face sunscreens, do not leave a white cast on the skin, although they use non-nano particles.
Notable skin care ingredients:
These tinted face sunscreens include several beneficial skin ingredients. They’re not like your ‘ordinary’ drugstore sunscreens. The EnviroScreen® Technology protects from more than just UVA and UVB rays. It defends against multiple, environmental, skin stressors. It also supports skin health. Learn more about their ingredients below:
Iron oxides – the main, mineral colourants in this product, which are commonly found in makeup. But they’re not just for coverage – they protect against photoaging from blue (HEV) light – a light wave that commonly emanates from computer screens.
Titanium dioxide – a mineral, UVA and UVB protector, also offering a white, pigment brightening effect. This ingredient can sometimes be listed under ‘active ingredients’ (on other products) due to its sun blocking properties.
Niacinamide – also known as vitamin B3, this ingredient performs multiple functions on the skin. It’s an antioxidant, sebum (oil) regulator, skin brightener and cell-rebuilding agent.
Lipochroman® – a powerful antioxidant that not only fights oxygen free radicals (ROS), but also nitrogen free radicals (RNS) and carbon free radicals (RCS), which come from air pollution. It was shown to be 173% more effective as a cell preserver when stacked against vitamin E, resveratrol, and ferulic acid (plus other common antioxidants, in varying degrees). It also demonstrated an ability to prevent 99.3% of DNA damage from a common air pollutant. After 4-weeks of usage in a clinical study, skin showed a 36.7% improvement in being able to defend against free radicals. Moreover, this ingredient has been shown to slightly decrease pigmentation.
Allantoin – an extract from comfrey plants, added for skin softening, moisture and calming. It can also support skin cell regeneration.
Bisabolol – a chamomile oil extract to moisturize and calm the skin, as well as protect against UV damage. It can also fight ‘bad’ bacteria due to its antimicrobial properties.
Vital ET™ – a bioavailable form of vitamin E, to calm the skin. It’s used as a ‘pre sun’ and ‘after sun’ ingredient. It also helps to reduce redness from bacterial or physical irritants that come in contact with the skin (such as from acne or shaving).
Silver ear mushroom extract (tremella Fuciformis Sporocarp) – a better hydrator than hyaluronic acid, also giving antioxidant properties. It adds and retains moisture to plump the skin.
Infraguard – a mix of antioxidants from tara tannins and organic sunflower sprouts, helpful for fighting the aging effects of infrared radiation (IR) and blue (HEV) light. This ingredient is designed to work within the mitochondria of cells (the part that controls skin function). In a participant study, it resulted in firmer, denser skin than sunscreens without this ingredient. It achieved this by protecting the skin’s collagen.
Active ingredients:
Zinc Oxide 12% – providing broad spectrum SPF protection against UVA and UVA rays, as well as from free radical sun damage.
Note: iron oxides and other beneficial components of this product, noted above, are considered ‘inactive’ ingredients. These are drug terms to describe the activity of ingredients in the way they operate on our bodies.
Learn from our blog:
Ruth MacAulay (verified owner) –
Love this product. It’s like a primer with sunscreen.