Tip for my fellow usamerican comrades with sensory issues and can't fucking stand sunscreen: American sunscreen is ass. AFAIK The FDA hasn't approved new sunscreen ingredients in decades, so we've still got all that foul-smelling thick pasty goop from like the 80s.
Less-hellscapey countries have made a lot of progress on sunscreen in the meantime. In particular there are a lot of Asian sunscreens that feel much lighter (i.e. don't feel like you've got that paste layer on your skin at all), don't have that strong sunscreen scent, rub in easier, and are way more pleasant to use than anything you'll find in america.
Edit: I've had good luck with Korean and Japanese sunscreens in particular. One I've enjoyed before is biore watery essence. My wife keeps up with skincare stuff way better than I do though so I can ask her about other kinds when she's off work.
I wound up texting her about it an hour ago since I remembered we were almost out of sunscreen anyway lol.
She reaffirmed that the Biore UV aqua rich watery essence is still among the best for sensory issues. In my experience it's been incredible, I've struggled with basically lotions and creams and other skincare goos my whole life, sunscreen worst of all — I have zero problems with that one, it doesn't feel like anything, isn't greasy, doesn't have a white cast, doesn't sting if it gets in my eyes, and very importantly doesn't have much of a scent (iirc it has a faint, mild smell that doesn't smell anything like american sunscreen and goes away relatively quickly). The drawback is that it can be a little pricey, so it's better kept as a face-only sunscreen.
Otherwise, she sent me this sunscreen thread from the subreddit for asian skincare products and assured me that I could let my eyes glaze over at the ingredients if I wanted and just read the bullet points for the descriptions of how they feel and smell. From the thread it sounds like Kose Suncut, Nivea Sun, and Canmake Mermaid are good. I think pilling is mostly something that happens when you use multiple kinds of skincare products together, but I'm not 100% sure (i don't use anything other than sunscreen and it's never happened to me)
Tip for my fellow usamerican comrades with sensory issues and can't fucking stand sunscreen: American sunscreen is ass. AFAIK The FDA hasn't approved new sunscreen ingredients in decades, so we've still got all that foul-smelling thick pasty goop from like the 80s.
Less-hellscapey countries have made a lot of progress on sunscreen in the meantime. In particular there are a lot of Asian sunscreens that feel much lighter (i.e. don't feel like you've got that paste layer on your skin at all), don't have that strong sunscreen scent, rub in easier, and are way more pleasant to use than anything you'll find in america.
Edit: I've had good luck with Korean and Japanese sunscreens in particular. One I've enjoyed before is biore watery essence. My wife keeps up with skincare stuff way better than I do though so I can ask her about other kinds when she's off work.
I would love to know if your wife knows any other decent brands! I struggle really bad with sunscreen, it's a sensory nightmare ugh
I wound up texting her about it an hour ago since I remembered we were almost out of sunscreen anyway lol.
She reaffirmed that the Biore UV aqua rich watery essence is still among the best for sensory issues. In my experience it's been incredible, I've struggled with basically lotions and creams and other skincare goos my whole life, sunscreen worst of all — I have zero problems with that one, it doesn't feel like anything, isn't greasy, doesn't have a white cast, doesn't sting if it gets in my eyes, and very importantly doesn't have much of a scent (iirc it has a faint, mild smell that doesn't smell anything like american sunscreen and goes away relatively quickly). The drawback is that it can be a little pricey, so it's better kept as a face-only sunscreen.
Otherwise, she sent me this sunscreen thread from the subreddit for asian skincare products and assured me that I could let my eyes glaze over at the ingredients if I wanted and just read the bullet points for the descriptions of how they feel and smell. From the thread it sounds like Kose Suncut, Nivea Sun, and Canmake Mermaid are good. I think pilling is mostly something that happens when you use multiple kinds of skincare products together, but I'm not 100% sure (i don't use anything other than sunscreen and it's never happened to me)
thank you both so much!!! this is honestly going to help me a lot
totally, very much understand the struggle and happy to help! hope you find one you like, good luck!