Beauty Reviews, Sunscreens

Review: Complete No-Stress Physical Sunscreen (AXIS-Y)

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AXIS-Y Complete No-Stress Physical Sunscreen Kbeauty Review

This is a sponsored (paid) post. Please note that referral links or codes may be used.

If you want to take care of your skin, there’s one step that should never be skipped – sunscreen.

Until my early twenties, I only ever wore sunscreen if I was going to the beach – which is incredibly harmful considering that I live in Australia! I’ve learnt better since then though and I’ve actually experimented with all sorts of different formulas (starting out with physical, then chemical and combination types). The one I’ll be sharing with you today is a part of the former category.

Physical sunscreens (also known as mineral sunscreens) use Titanium Dioxide or Zinc Oxide for SPF protection. They work by sitting on the skin’s surface to absorb, scatter and reflect UV rays. They are often a more suitable option for sensitive skin, though this will also depend on your individual skin type and the actual product.

The Complete No-Stress Physical Sunscreen by AXIS-Y is the new kid on my vanity – and it’s been getting solid use. You can pick it up at AXIS-Y for USD$23, but make sure to check out this review first!

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Beauty, Beauty Reviews, Features, Shopping Guide, Sunscreens

Feature: Exploring K-Beauty Sunscreen Recommendations

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Kbeauty SPF Sunscreens from StyleKorean

This product was sent to me for review purposes. Please note that affiliate links are used.

A lot of people who are outside of the k-beauty community might not have heard about this, but there was a huge sunscreen scandal last year (late November 2020, to be exact). It started with the Purito Centella Green sunscreen (which has a lower SPF than was marketed due to improper practices by the manufacturer) and, as a result of that, pretty much every k-beauty brand began to review and re-test their formulations. This situation resulted in a lot of uncertainty and skepticism – how do we know which products can be trusted, and how do they know that they have been formally tested? – but I’m here to help!

(Well, StyleKorean is… but I digress)

I was approached by StyleKorean to discuss their range of sunscreens. In order to help customers be more confident in the brands and products that they are carrying, they have worked to carefully curate (and even personally test) their sunscreens range. Aside from the advertised SPF ratings, they have also gathered the formal testing documentations for all of these products – which I will be referring to in this post too.

There’s a massive range on their site, but these are the k-beauty sunscreens that I’ll be discussing in this article:

And now, let’s dive right into the details!

NOTE: The listing of these statistics are according to the reports I have been given access to and, to some extent, are also dependent on my own understanding of the terminology. I do not claim to be a scientist or a skincare professional; just another customer fascinated by what I am presented with.

If you are unsure on how to read some of the listed results, please see the guide at the end of the article.

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Beauty, Beauty Reviews, Features, Sunscreens, Top Products

Battle of the K-Beauty Sunscreens (Stylevana Collaboration)

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Stylevana Kbeauty Sunscreen Review - Make P:Rem, Biore, Missha and Labioette

Personally, I think that sunscreen is one of the most underdone steps in our skincare routine. Everyone knows how important it is, but we are often mistaken about how much we are actually doing. There’s a misconception that our foundations, which mostly contain some level of SPF now, is sufficient sun protection – but it’s really not. Whether you are going to the beach or just staying indoors with your computer, you should be using specialised sun care.

Admittedly, I didn’t use sunscreen at all when I was a teenager. I had an allergic reaction once so figured that was it – but I was absolutely wrong, The issue that I had in the past was that many would be heavy on my skin, clogging pores and causing break outs – so the question is: What’s a good sunscreen? Where should you start?

Today, I’m going to be looking at six different Korean sunscreens and discussing the pro’s and con’s for all of them. Of course, this review will be written purely in my own perspective and with my skin type in mind, so I would recommend doing some research yourself too!

All of these were kindly gifted to me by Stylevana – and they’re all available on their website. If you’ve found something you like, hop over there to make an order. Valid until the end of November, you can also get 10-15% off your order with my code INF10STELLAR (excluding weekend deals and instant offers).

And… let’s get into it!

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Beauty Reviews, Sunscreens

Review: Centella Green Level Unscented Sun (Purito)

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Purito Centella Green Level Unscented Sun Kbeauty Review

This product was sent to me for review purposes.

NOTE: This product was pulled into a big scandal at the end of 2020 where the PDF value was tested to be significantly lower than what was advertised. Puroti have since released a public statement explaining at the issue stemmed from the manufacturers and, after independent testing, the product has been pulled. Whilst I still stand by my review for this product (texturally and application wise), please note that all references to SPF levels here are inaccurate.

Purito is an indie k-beauty brand that is well known for their EWG green level ingredients (that is, proven skin safe ingredients) and their simple but effective formulas. Their brand is all about investing in their products, not in gimmicks or fancy packaging, and it’s been so good watching them grow as more and more people learn of them. They are a brand that I trialed quite a while ago (see all of my past reviews here) and, while some formulas worked better for me than others, I’ve never tried anything from them that’s actually bad – in fact, I’ve always enjoyed Purito and I have a lot of confidence in them!

One of their popular products is their Centella Green Level Safe Sun but it was not suitable for all skin types because the original formula included essential oils. True to their brand values, of course, they have now launched their Centella Green Level Unscented Sun! Not only is this formula free of fragrances, it also has a higher percentage of Centella Asiatica, the perfect ingredient to soothe and calm sensitive skin.

I was so keen to try this one out that I broke into the bottle right away. I’m a religious SPF user (as everyone should be) but tend to be sensitive to some formulas – I have had body sunscreens make my entire body break out in hives before and certain formulas also clog my pores and make my skin super greasy. This formula is so perfect though and, even while I’m working on this review, I’m not ready to let my bottle go.

The Centella Green Level Unscented Sun is available on the Purito website for USD$18.90 but, before you jump on there, let’s get into this review!

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Base Makeup, Beauty Reviews, New Releases, Sunscreens

New Release: Petal Velvet Sunaway & Powder (Althea)

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Althea Petal Velvet Sunaway Kbeauty Sunscreen Review

These products were provided to me by Althea for my honest review. Affiliate links are not used in this post.

Note: I have been notified that Althea has made a correction to the ingredients of this product. Due to mistranslations, Hyaluronic Acid was included in the ingredients list of the Sunaway, but this ingredient was not used in the development of this product. This review has been amended for this.

I am a firm, firm believer in the importance of using sun protection and it’s pretty rare for me to go out without it (although whether or not I use SPF on my body is another question – one which I should fix up). At the moment, I have three sunscreens on rotation in my routine: one which is a staple HG product and the other two which I tried out recently.

Being a part of the Althea Angels community, one of the biggest benefits is that we get access to information about new releases (and sometimes the actual products) before the launch date and I was pretty excited when they announced their news sunscreen! This is meant to be both hydrating and with sebum control properties, so it really fits in perfectly to what I usually look for in SPF.

I have tried out this product, the Petal Velvet Sunaway, for a handful of weeks now and I have to say that I’m pretty satisfied with this product! It is also very affordable at USD$10 on their website – which is always a benefit. In the same range, there is also the Petal Velvet Powder, which I will touch on briefly as they are available in a set for USD$13 – 10% off the retail price.

So, let’s get right into this review/new release post!

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