First impressions: Elta MD UV Clear SPF 46 Sunscreen

By request, here's my 'first impressions' review of EltaMD Clear :-) I ordered it from Amazon on Monday, it arrived on Tuesday afternoon (though UPS delivered it to my next door neighbors, grrr) and I've been wearing it daily since then.

First off some facts:

Available from Amazon for $20.20 and Prime-eligible.

Active ingredients: Zinc Oxide (9.0%), Octinoxate (7.5%)

Inactive ingredients: Purified Water, Cyclomethicone, Niacinamide, Octyldodecyl Neopentanoate, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Polyisobutene, PEG-7 Trimethylolpropane Coconut Ether, Sodium Hyaluronate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Lactic Acid, Oleth-3 Phosphate, Phenoxyethanol, Butylene Glycol, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Triethoxycaprylylsilane

I've heard good things about this and haven't found a facial sunscreen that I liked much yet, so I decided to give it a try.

First off, I sort of expected it to actually be clear, which in retrospect is sort of silly I guess. It most definitely comes out of the bottle white. One pump is not quite 1/4tsp - around 1 & 1/3 pumps is, if you're actually measuring (I did). As always, it seems like a lot of sunscreen. Aside from that, the packaging is really nice. It has an airless pump, the bottle is nice and compact, and the lid snaps on tightly.

The texture is sort of like a light moisturizer. It definitely is white when you first put it on, and it takes pretty thorough rubbing in to get to the 'clear' claim. However, since it isn't super thick, rubbing it in until it clears out isn't uncomfortable at all. Once it's all rubbed in, it doesn't feel greasy or dry; just feels like skin. It does leave a tiny bit of shine at first, which seems to go away after a few minutes. One thing worth noting - one day (Thursday, maybe?) I didn't really spend enough time rubbing it in, and it balled up a bit/looked white in places when I went to put on my makeup. Just fyi.

As far as makeup goes, it doesn't seem to affect mine at all. I used my regular moisturizer (FAB Ultra Repair Cream), primer (Hourglass Veil), and a couple different foundations (Clinique Even Better Makeup and Kevyn Aucoin SSE). As far as I can tell, the wear time on everything was normal, and it didn't make my skin any oilier or drier than usual. Wearing it without makeup is sort of a non-event (as it should be) - there's really no indication that it's there once it's rubbed in well.

I generally don't have very sensitive skin, but fortunately (from a scientific testing standpoint) when I first used this, my nose and upper lip were incredibly raw due to a massive sinus infection and constantly blowing my nose. Even CeraVe Hydrating and my FAB cream were burning a little, which they usually don't. The sunscreen, however, didn't sting even a tiny bit. Based on that, I'd be pretty comfortable recommending it for sensitive-skinned folks, as long as you don't have known problems with chemical sunscreens. I haven't noticed any increased pore clogginess or anything like that either, though of course I'll update if that changes.

I haven't had a chance yet to give it a full test as far as actual sun protection. I did walk to lunch a couple of days (around 30 min round trip in the sun each time) and didn't notice any change in my nose freckles, which is usually how I gauge these things. I'm hoping tomorrow I'll be able to go for a run if I'm feeling better, in which case I'll wear it and give an update as far as protection and sweat performance.

Another thing that I liked about this particular sunscreen is that it contains niacinamide, which is helpful in fading hyperpigmentation. It's third on the list of inactive ingredients (the Amazon description says it's 5%), and most of the studies I came across regarding niacinamide used 4-5% concentrations. That makes me feel at least sort of confident that it might be somewhat effective; in any case, I'll take whatever help I can get in that arena, since I have type III skin and acne really did a number on it. If it's not effective, then at least it's a good product otherwise, and still worth the price.

Overall, so far I'm liking it a lot and will continue using it as long as my skin doesn't take any bizarre turns for the worse.

Edit to update:

I tried this out on a long run to test its sun-protecting abilities - after all, that's the most important part, right? I applied 20 minutes before I left, and was out in full sun for just over 90 minutes. Please note that this sunscreen doesn't claim to be water resistent or sweatproof - in fact, the usage instructions even say to use a waterproof sunscreen if you'll be sweating or swimming. But I thought running would make a good test for it anyway.

Even though I was sweating like a lunatic, it didn't sting or run into my eyes. When I got back home, it didn't look white or greasy or gross (well, not more gross than I would have looked anyway). I didn't reapply while I was out, and I didn't get any tan lines around my sunglasses. I did get a slight tan line along my shirt in a spot that I missed (used Coppertone Sport for my body, btw), so I'm pretty confident in EltaMD's sun protection.