The Inkey List is a budget-friendly brand following the same low budget, effective skincare mantra TO started. I haven’t been drawn to the brand as much as I thought I would be but the Zinc Moisturiser caught my eye. The Zinc Moisturiser is actually an SPF 50 sunscreen that promises to be invisible and with no piling. It caught my eye because it’s only £8.99 for SPF 50
Experience
The Zinc moisturiser is a thick creamy formula but doesn’t feel heavy on the skin. I use this as the last step in my AM routine, layered on top of 1 serum and a moisturiser. I experienced no irritation with this product. Unfortunately, I did not get on well with this SPF
The SPF goes on with a slight white cast but after massaging, it disappears. But this takes some ‘work’ to make it disappear whilst it is invisible I feel it leaves my skin looking a bit dull ( just a teeny tiny bit). It doesn’t add any more moisture and I find it leaves my skin slightly matte and feeling dry. This is a cream texture which I am not used to when it comes to sunscreens: I prefer a fluid lightweight lotion because I tend to use a lot of sunscreen and something that hydrates the skin. (I look super tired in the pictures, I was actually recovering from a cold and it was early in the morning lol)
I am also not 100% confident of the amount of protection I was getting because of the amount of SPF they recommend to use. They recommend a pea-sized amount however we know the amount of SPF you use affects the amount of protection you actually get so I was not confident I was getting the full SPF 50 protection. I did use a bit more than recommended but I honestly didn’t like doing that because of the texture. Another con for me was, although this doesn’t pill when initially applied, it pills after it’s dried down and I would get those white tiny balls whenever I touched my face
I took a break from using this product because of the piling I experienced but I decided to try it again as I have now changed my moisturiser. I am now using the Philosophy Purity Ultra-light Moisturiser which is a much lighter texture than my previous DHC collagen all in one gel. What I have found with this texture change is that the Zinc moisturiser doesn’t pill anymore but it still feels very drying on the skin.
Verdict: a very bittersweet experience. On one hand: it is very affordable and it’s a mineral based sunscreen that doesn’t look ashy on my dark skin. On the other hand, depending on what you pair this with it may pill when it has dried down. Some skintypes they may find this drying as I did and I have normal to combination oily skintype. Depending on what texture of sunscreen you prefer, this one is a thick white cream. I would have excused the texture if it wasn’t drying on my skin but I also don’t know if the texture has something to do with this.
Another thing I didn’t like was the recommended amount: pea size amount vs the amount of protection that would provide. The amount of SPF we use has an impact on the amount of protection we get hence a pea-sized amount is not sufficient. This is why reapplication is recommended because it is highly unlikely we are using the right amount for the full protection as labelled. When I tried to use a bit more, it sort of just sat on my face and of course, my face felt drier. Since I don’t wear makeup to work this wasn’t sufficient enough protection and hydration for me so I was actually using my YourGood skin SPF 30 at midday.
At its low price, it won’t hurt to pick it up to test if it would work for you but I have also come across a lot of Asian SPF’s (chemical based) around the same price I prefer. See my insta for all of it but also my YesStyle Haul
If you have used this let me know how it went for you. I am very interested to find out how other people got on with it. I am giving this to a friend who has super oily skin to see if she likes it, I may update this post after she’s tested it for a while
My post on Asian sunscreens is on my Instagram page but a more detailed post will be coming to the blog soon
Catch you later
sarah fynn 