A tinted sunscreen to replace your sunscreen and foundation? It’s a possibility. The Heliocare 360 Color Gel Oil-Free SPF 50 promised to be both, but does it live up to the expectation? Here is my Heliocare 360 Bronze Gel Oil-Free review.
When I was in Spain for a holiday, I needed a replacement sunscreen (apparently I had forgotten how much sunscreen I need to bring when holidaying at the beach, ha). I had a look at a local drugstore and found this brand. The description as a sunscreen with lots of antioxidants intrigued me, plus it has great sunscreen filters. Sold.
This line comes in either three or four colors (looks like it depends on which country it is?): pearl, beige, bronze, and bronze intense. The shade ‘bronze’ or ‘bronze intense’ should fit me, but I couldn’t find a tester so I asked for advice at the counter. She recommended the bronze instead of the bronze intense. I’m already impressed by how there will be a shade for someone with a darker skin tone!
For reference I’m an NC42/Fenty 300 by the end of winter and NC44/Fenty 330 by the end of summer.
PS: If you would like to have a reference to other things I like, I have written another tinted sunscreen review: Ilia Super Serum Tint SPF30 in Kamari, and I also mentioned some other ones in my roundup of sunscreen for medium dark skin tones.
What Is Heliocare 360 Color Gel Oil-Free SPF 50?
The Heliocare 360 Sunscreen Series
Heliocare 360 is a Spanish brand, part of Cantabria Labs. It’s a pharmacy brand, available in Europe, but possibly not so easily in the US because of its sunscreen filters.
The lineup has good options depending on your skin type (dry, oily, normal), options for mineral sunscreen, sport ready sunscreen (featuring Rafael Nadal), and even some oral supplements. Their secret weapon is an ingredient called Fernblock, which is an antioxidant of natural plant.
Cantabria Labs mentions their sustainability policy on their website here.
Color Gel Oil-Free Description and Claims
Gel Oil-Free is a broad spectrum SPF 50 sunscreen with oil-free formulation particularly suited for normal, combination, and oily skin. It protects, evens tone, and hides imperfections, providing a natural, healthy-looking finish with no shine. Light, dry-touch texture.
Heliocare 360 Color Gel Oil-Free Sunscreen Filters and Ingredients
In the table below are the sunscreen filters and a brief description of what they are.
| Sunscreen Filter | Type | Spectrum | Remarks |
| Titanium Dioxide | physical | UVB & UVA II – less good at UVA I | possible white cast |
| Disodium Phenyl Dibenzimidazole Tetrasulfonate / Neo Heliopan AP | chemical | UVA II | water-soluble, available elsewhere but the US |
| Bis-Ethylhexyloxyphenol Methoxyphenyl Triazine / Tinosorb S | chemical | broad-spectrum (UVB & UVA 280-400 nm) | available elsewhere but the US |
| Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate / Uvinul A Plus | chemical | high UVA protection | high photostability, available elsewhere but the US |
| Phenylbenzimidazole Sulfonic Acid / Ensulizole | chemical | strong UVB protection | fairly photostable, water soluble. |
| Ethylhexyl Triazone / Uvinul T | chemical | photostable UVB filter | oil soluble, odorless & colorless powder, available elsewhere except the US & Canada |
| Diethylhexyl Butamido Triazone | chemical | UVB and UVA II (but not UVA I) | Super photostable, very oil soluble |
And pictured below is the full ingredients list on the packaging.
My Thoughts on Heliocare 360 Color Bronze
Formula and Consistency
Heliocare 360 Color Gel Oil-Free Formula is very fluid, almost a watery texture. The formula allows it to spread easily on the skin and then dries down to a dry-touch texture. It is exactly as the claim.
On the box it also mentions the formula is for normal, combination, and oily skin. Their site recommends if your skin is dry, you might need to apply a hydrator to the skin. I found this very true. As with most products with this claim and feature, it might emphasize the dry patches on your skin.
It is not fragrance-free, and you can definitely smell the fragrance.
Color
Heliocare 360 bronze suits me well at the beginning of the beach vacation. I was at my most pale. However, by the end of my vacation, it became a tad too light. In the next pictures, you will see how different it looks on my hands, pre and post tanned. Note that my hands are always tanning more than my face because I often forget putting SPF after hand-washing (and we handwash often these days).
Still, despite all of that, I know I would prefer this than a color that’s too dark on my skin. But that is, of course, depending on your preference. I read some reviews online of people being happy with the shade bronze intense because it made them look tanned. I think though, if you are a medium dark skin tone, you can still get away this color.
The pigments aren’t that intense but it intensifies the more you put it on. At a quarter teaspoon, it looks like a full coverage foundation. Now, there are two problems with this. One, full coverage foundation isn’t really my aesthetic, and two, it should be a perfect color match (which is not on my skin).
Wear
I’ve used this sunscreen many times during the past month on different circumstances. I can tell you that the experience varies depending on what my skin conditions are and what the climate is like.
It’s a perfect sunscreen to wear for warm and easy days for a bit of polish. Which means, I love it so much when wearing it on a beach holiday. It doesn’t have any sticky feeling you usually have with sunscreens, evens out my skin tone and protects it at the same time.
However, when I was back in Berlin and both the air and my skin became drier, this became slightly problematic. When it dries, it enhanced the dry patch and reapplying also didn’t help so much.
What still works really well though, is putting this over a moisturizer. Or using a powder to even it out. Otherwise, I usually just put a toner and NIOD MMHC2.
I didn’t have any issue with piling, not even at a quarter teaspoon and reapplying.
Wearing a full quarter teaspoon is still relatively doable in how it feels on the skin but in terms of how it looks for me, not quite. I feel the foundation shifted around my skin, making it look weird, especially when I am wearing glasses and face mask.
Another thing I noticed, if you put water on it (even eating and drinking), it will kind of shift. Not that big of deal right now, but it makes me more self-conscious to check up after.
Sunscreen Checklist
- Whitecast: No, because it’s tinted.
- Not mentioned anywhere about waterproof, so possibly not.
- Makeup friendly.
- Works as claimed.
Comparison with Other Tinted Sunscreens
I find this the best performing tinted sunscreen I tried out so far. Ilia Super Serum Skin Tint SPF30 is definitely on the oilier side but I love their shade range. Algamaris Organic Tinted Face Sunscreen SPF 30 is too creamy. IT Cosmetics CC Cream is more on the full coverage side although perfect for patchy dry skin. At the moment, I’d pick Heliocare 360 Color Gel Oil-Free Sunscreen SPF 50 over all of them.
Final Verdict: Heliocare 360 Bronze Gel Oil-Free Review
Heliocare 360 Color Bronze is the tinted sunscreen that makes me glow.
What I really like about Heliocare 360 Color Gel Oil-Free in Bronze is two things. Firstly, the texture is really nice. It feels smooth, and it makes the skin glows. it works as foundation/sunscreen combo. If you’re going on a beach holiday combined with some fancy stuff, this is great. Or going somewhere where it’s hot and humid and you want to put minimum products on your skin but still look put together, it’s perfect.
What stops it from being a holy grail are a couple of things. For me personally, the color isn’t a perfect match. It’s passable when I wear 1-2 pumps or put it on top of other sunscreens, but for a quarter teaspoon, it feels like a lot of foundation on. The other thing is, my skin can be patchy and dry when I’m in Berlin. This is not the product you want for that as it will emphasize all the dry patches. Lastly, while I could make it work most days, I haven’t found out what consistently makes this lasts good all day (except being at the beach, not easily replicated).
Will happily finish this: YES. Repurchase: Not sure.
Available at drugstores in Spain and online in Germany (and Europe/UK), 25€ / 50 ml.
Please note that this post is not sponsored in any way. We buy products ourselves, with our own money, and don’t accept exchanging goods or money for reviews. We are completely independent, and our reviews reflect that.
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