Review: Lioele Fresh Sun Screen SPF 45 PA ++

Woops, the 'later today or tomorrow' eventually became (almost) a whole week in the end. But here's the review!

After being in Hong Kong for less than a week, I noticed that my skin got a few tones darker. Now, I don’t mind getting a tan, I think it looks healthier, but when I saw this older lady with 2 big hyper pigmentation patches on both her cheeks. My first thought was: “I need to start using sunscreen!”. Most Chinese originally have fair skin and with overexposure to the sun, instead of just tanning most of us grow patches of hyper pigmentation. I think that is one of the main reasons why Hong Kong ladies avoid the sun in any way they can.

I am comparing this sunscreen to L’Oreal’s Solar Expertise sunscreen. I didn’t really use any sunscreen back in Europe. The reason for that is, well we hardly ever see the sun. So when we do we’d run outside and try to get a tan!

The first thing that I noticed after I applied the sunscreen is that it doesn’t feel sticky! At first I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to use it, as the texture is on the creamy side. Another thing that I was concerned about when I saw the texture is if it would be easy to apply. And to my surprise it is. When you apply it, it feels like you’re putting on lotion or moisturizer. After I’ve applied the sunscreen, it doesn’t feel like I have anything on my skin.

Even though Solar Expertise’s texture was more liquid, it was quite sticky when applied to the skin. It also made me shine like a disco ball! And it was hard to apply. I had to pat it on, or I would end up with patches of sunscreen over my face.

A drawback is that it leaves a little bit of a white cast, but that’s fairly normal as the SPF is that high. Another thing is that it’s only PA++. It would be better if it was PA+++ and with a lower SPF.

The PA sunscreen ranking system is very common for Asian sunscreens. I haven’t seen this ranking system in Europe, I’m not sure about the US. What it stands for is the amount of UVA rays the sunscreen blocks out. There are three ranks: PA+, PA++ and PA+++.

Overall it’s a good sunscreen. I am not sure if I would buy it again. Not because it isn’t good, but because there are so many other sunscreens to try out. I also would like to try one with lower SPF, but with PA+++.