Vichy Aqualia Thermal UV SPF15 + PPD18

Posted by: beautyknot on: July 15, 2010

• In: Moisturizer | Product Review | Sunblock/Sunscreen
• 2 Comments

 

My original intention is to get a sunscreen with Tinosorb. After went through the ingredient lists of Avene, Uraige, Eucerin, Bioderma and finally ROC – the only Tinosorb sunscreen without Alcohol denat in the ingredient list was unfortunately too drying for my skin (I tried my best to avoid alcohol). I was at the pharmacy the day, my hand was first coated with an Olay cream prior to testing the ROC sunscreen, in just 5~15 minutes later my hand was extremely dry and dehydrated.

 

So I turned to Mexoryl. Having many bad experiences with chemical sunscreen in the past, I thought going back to something tried-and-worked is smart. This is it! Vichy Aqualia Thermal UV SPF15 + PPD18 (paid THB1140/50ml) that I reviewed the sample previously. I did notice those potential skin irritants of this Aqualia Thermal UV SPF15 but honestly, I was blinded by the PPD18 rating that theoretically it will provide more than twice UVA protection of PA+++.

 

 

I love the packaging. Classy metallic blue packaging, hygienic pump bottle, lightweight and handy. The cap is tightly capped and will not fall out easily. The cream is emollient, smoothes on easily, mild fragranced and totally leaves no white residue. Due to its creamy, moisturizing consistency, one squirt is more than enough for both face and neck. Nevertheless, the shinny glow is too much for my combination-normal skin in humid weather that I would need to blot the excessive shine with loose powder for matte finish.  In addition, it is neither water-resistant nor sweat-resistant, so it requires re-application for continuous UV protection in case of sweating.

 

 

Unfortunately, before I can see the benefits of PPD, I got to deal with the skin redness and sensitivity that caused by this Vichy Aqualia Thermal UV SPF15. When the skin was easily sensitive-prone, particularly during season change, it made my face very red and feeling uncomfortable despite I only wore this at home with minimum indirect sun exposure. Meanwhile how careless and ignorant I was that I used facial scrubs and clay mask in the few days! In the end, my skin felt like sunburned. Beside the discomfort tingling sensation, the exacerbated facial veins were also quite painful to watch as you might have seen in my before-and-after pictures of some of my base makeup reviews. Lesson learnt painfully, I stopped using it until the skin became fairly well-balanced and stable. Then I tried again just to re-assure that my skin is not well-tolerate with it, but this time it felt considerable okay on my healthier skin condition, no 100% comfortable with minor redness though.

 

 

The sunscreen formula of this Vichy day moisturizer is consisting of both Mexoryl SX and XL, Octocrylene, Avobenzone and Titanium Dioxide (yellow-tinted). I understand not every chemical filter caused me irritation but analyzing from my past experience, I highly suspect high percentage Avobenzone (Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane) and perhaps Triethanolamine are the main culprits. Most probably, the product formulation.

 

 

I paid high cost to understand my skin better over these years, eventhough I had tried the sample in this case (too bad only tested it twice in the past). Eventually I had given it to my friend because I do not want to risk of getting irritation again. If you have no problem with any chemical sunscreen, then this is suitable for normal to very dry skin. For my type of sensitive skin concern, I have to rate this ‘Satisfied’ for healthy, drier skin condition (such as body skin), ‘Waste my $’ for fickle sensitive skin.

 

Ingredients:

Aqua/Water, Dimethicone, Glycerin, Octocrylene, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter/Shea Butter, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Drometrizole Trisiloxane, Hexyldecanol, Hexyldecyl Laurate, Terephthalylidene Dicamphor Sulfonic Acid, Sucrose Stearate, Silica, Poly C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate, CI 77891 / Titanium Dioxide, Stearic Acid, Mica, Triethanolamine, Dimethiconol, Methylparaben, Sodium Polyacrylate, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Hyaluronate, Cellulose Acetate Butyrate, Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate, Phenoxyethanol, Tocopherol Acetate, Disodium EDTA, Ammonium Polyacryldimethyltauramide / Ammonium Polyacryloyldimethyl Taurate, Propylparaben, Caprylyl glycol, Xanthan Gum, Acrylates / C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Butylparaben, Polyphosphorylcholine Glycol Acrylate, Polyvinyl Alcohol, Butylene Glycol, Parfum/Fragrance.