The latest news on various sunscreen mists available and an in-depth review of L’Oreal UV Perfect Aqua Essence City Face Mist, with a comparison to Bioderma’s sunscreen mist (in-depth review here). Sunscreen face mists have become the unicorns of the beauty world. Don’t you think? Last year it was Bioderma that released one, but only in France, and it was hellishly complicated to get our hands on it. This year, L’Oreal brought one out, but only in Asia, and La Roche-Posey (LRP) did, but only in the UK. So it’s starting to seem a bit unicorn-like – you’ve never seen one, but there’re people who have, and in far-away countries you might find them… Ok, maybe I’m going too far with that particular comparison now!
Availability
Let’s start with the most annoying info. The Bioderma Moisturizing Anti-UV Mist has actually launched in various European countries by now. I’ve no info about its availability in the US though. LRP has launched its Anthelios Mist SPF50 in the UK, but as of now doesn’t plan to launch it in Germany, at least that’s what CS told me. I’ve no idea about the availability in other countries, but I’m sure CS will appreciate your questions if you contact them. L’Oreal has launched the UV Perfect City Face Mist in Asian countries, and plans to launch it in Europe tentatively in 2017 (as per BBB).
What are sunscreen mists and why should I care?
In a nutshell, sunscreen sprays are nifty little things that are a nice addition to your usual sunscreen, especially when you’re on the go and don’t want to re-apply sunscreen over your makeup. They’re all especially marketed towards women who wear makeup, but then you can of course spray them on your face if you don’t wear makeup. I wouldn’t (and both L’Oreal and Bioderma don’t, as well) recommend them as primary UV protection, because you need a lot of sunscreen to really protect your skin from harmful UV-rays, and sprays just can’t deliver that. But as an add-on, it’s great, especially as the new sprays don’t contain Alcohol nor additional fragrance (well, the L’Oreal does, but in minuscule amounts. We’ll come to that later). So, if you’re out a lot, wearing makeup, and think that your sun protection isn’t going to cut it, these sprays could be your skin saviours. I think that they’re especially great for city trips, when you’re sightseeing or at some glam place like Miami or Barcelona where there’s an opportunity to go right to the beach after some shopping or a trip to a museum. Or maybe you want to go to the farmer’s market, looking Instagram-ready but don’t want to skimp on your sun protection while snapping pictures of your fabulous self!
My experience with the L’Oreal UV Perfect City Face Mist
The bottle says ‘Non greasy – non sticky – easy application – even on top of makeup’ and I say yes to all of those blurbs. Application is very easy – spray on your face, done. The instructions say to hold the bottle 15cm away from your face, don’t inhale the spray and don’t spray longer than 3 seconds at one individual area. Pretty easy. The mist smells very slightly like hairspray, but I wouldn’t say it’s fragranced. (Fragrance is at the last spot of the ingredients list, so I’m pretty sure there’s not a lot of it in the spray.) It is so fine that minuscule droplets are caught in the fine hair of my face, but they absorb pretty quickly. I’ve patted it in lightly as well, but after five minutes, I can’t see a difference if I’ve patted it in or not. While at first my face looks pretty shiny, even that abates after a few minutes.
I’ve tried the mist over different foundations (Yves Rocher Youthful Glow Foundation, Bourjois CC Cream and MAC Mineral Foundation loose), as well as over a just slightly powdered face, and it works well over all these different finishes. I can’t detect a lesser wear-time when I use the mist. L’Oreal says this is sweatproof, but I can’t really confirm or deny this.
L’Oreal says to close your eyes while you spray it on, and that’s where my only problem starts. The mist makes my eyeshadow crease. You can get around that if you either very carefully spray around your eye area or if you put something over your eyes (I’ve used cotton rounds at home, but that’ll look very stupid on the go, so maybe you can place your fingers slightly over your eyes?). Take that with a grain of salt, though – my eyeshadow creases very quickly even if I do use an eyeshadow base. I’ve hooded eyes and they’re finicky.
Let’s just quickly mention that L’Oreal uses their own patented Mexoryl filters in the City Face Mist. That’s good, because Mexoryl protects you nicely from UVA and some UVB rays, while it’s more stable and slower to degrade than other chemical filters, making protection a bit better (its rating is SPF50/PA++++).
Comparison with the Bioderma Hydrabio Eau de Soin SPF30 Moisturizing Anti-UV Mist
Technicalities first – L’Oreal has 64g against Bioderma’s 50ml. It’s also a bit more expensive (around 12-15€). It has a bigger SPF – Bioderma just has SPF30/PA++. The biggest difference though is the feeling and the effect of the mist. L’Oreal’s mist is much finer, while Bioderma’s feel wet on the face, and stays sticky long after application. The City Face Mist doesn’t feel like that at all, and I like that my face stays reasonably – well, let’s not say matte, but nearly matte. Depending on your comfort level with glowy skin, the effect the Bioderma mist can be described from glowy to shiny. The Bioderma is more moisturizing, that’s for sure.
I also like that I’ve never to worry about my hair, shirts, or jewellery when I apply the L’Oreal mist – while the Bioderma would leave my hair weirdly crunchy, and coated everything else I wore, I’ve never had this problem when I wore the City Face Mist. As you can likely tell, I prefer the L’Oreal. If I hadn’t this pesky little problem with my eyeshadow, I’d buy that stuff in bulk.
This product (L’Oreal) is for you if …
- You want additional sun protection.
- You want sun protection you can use over your makeup/foundation.
- You want sunscreen without alcohol in it.
- You rather want a chemical filter in your sunscreen than a physical one.
It isn’t for you if …
- You don’t like sprays.
- You don’t mind re-applying traditional sunscreen on your face.
- You don’t wear makeup and can easily re-apply traditional sunscreen on your face.
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