Disclaimer: I only use the UV camera to see if a sunscreen disperses an even layer (or patchy and spotty); and if I miss out a spot during application. It's not by all means to measure the sunscreen protection level. Got mine from sunscreenr.com. It's compatible with android phone.

Updated on 14 Nov 2021: added Adherence test section!

 

Product Summary

Preface

Hello everyone, I'm back with another review. This is a VERY popular sunscreen, I actually received multiple requests for this one. This is a tough post to make, to be honest. I don't have positive experience with this sunscreen. I even risked my skin trying out this sunscreen as it actually has ingredients that break me out haha. Well, I suppose trying for few days won't harm that much. Let's dig in!

This is my second Rohto SKIN AQUA sunscreen. I got mine from Dokodemo as it is not sold locally in Singapore (despite having the range here, we only have the Gel and Essences counterpart).

My skin type is oily. I live in hot humid tropical country. On average, the weather temperature is around 31-33°C. These days the humidity level is around 65-90% wherebouts, as we are seeing sudden heavy rain from mid-day onwards. Some days are drier than usual though.

This is how my bottle looks like:

 

To see if you have the same version as mine, check on the back packaging and back of the tube, it should have this label (highlighted in green box in the photo below)

スキンアクア
スーパーモイスチャーミルク b

 

Characteristics

Texture

It's a white watery texture, very fluid and runny. It spreads too easily and can spread too far

Finish:

On my face and body skin, it's a shiny and tacky sunscreen. It's not dry touch nor it's matte. It's a weird sunscreen. On initial application, I will have sweaty-looking face, and after 15 mins, the sunscreen starts to sit nicely and looks less sweaty, but still very glowy.

White cast:

I don't find it leaves white cast on my light-medium skin. But it does contain Zinc Oxide that it may leave white cast on darker skin tone. Even after reapplication, I can not find any trace of white cast on me.

Scent:

It does not contain fragrance.

Pilling:

I don't find it pills with reapplication.

Eye Stinging:

It doesn't sting my eyes on initial application. After time goes on, it slowly seeps into my eyes, but there is no stinging sensation. But I can feel something is moving into my eyes, hope that makes sense.

 

Adherence

Preparation

I applied the sunscreen on my left bare arm, took photos using UV camera (Sunscreenr). I let it set for 30 mins before taking the UV camera picture.

 

Shine Level

It's a glowy sunscreen. Upon close up, I can see glittery looking particle. It's also tacky to the touch, but it does set after sometime on my body to non-sticky finish. However, it does not have such finish on my facial skin, it remains glowy and tacky on my face.

Coverage

The sunscreen disperses evenly on my bare arm skin, as you can see from the picture below.

 

Rub Test and Removal

I rubbed a section near my fingers of my hand under running sink water for 30 seconds. I can see some of the sunscreen is still in tact.

I used Biore Facial Foam Mild cleanser on wet skin and massaged it for 30 seconds and washed it off. I can see the sunscreen has been properly removed.

 

Wear Test 01 - First Impression

Preparation:

On this swatch, I had to add multiple layers of stuff than my usual AM skincare (that I did with my other reviews). This is what I used:

• DHC Cleansing Oil
• DIY - Niacinamide + Tranexamic acid serum in simple water and glycerin base
• Three (3) additional layers of diluted glycerin (around 1% wherebouts). My face was dehydrated on this day.
• Finacea Gel
• Benzac AC 5% Benzoyl Peroxide Cream
• Sunscreen of the day

I recently started using Tretinoin 0.1 Gel (Menarini) in alcohol base, LOVE IT! So much better than the tretinoin cream, dries super fast. Anyway, due to that, on some days I can feel my skin needs extra hydration, hence I may layer additional glycerin as I need. Still, I won't layer to the point my skin feels sticky, obviously. There is a limit (very low at that) my oily skin can take humectant rich stuff.

How I apply

Similar to the SKIN AQUA Super Moisture UV Essence, I applied the sunscreen in 2-3 layers, which is not my usual technique. Just for context, I usually work on section by section in only 1 layer, e.g. I divide the forehead into 3 areas, and rub/massage the sunscreen area by area. This works for sunscreen that has quick drying time. But it doesn't seems to work with this SKIN AQUA sunscreen, since it literally never dries until 15-30mins after; hence, I apply it in multiple layers instead, and once I feel I have spread it enough, I leave the sunscreen on its own to set.

I skipped application on my eyelids and lips and ears for contrast.

Initial Observation:

I feel the left side is patchy. Notice above the eyebrow area and cheek - I can see it's not evenly covered. Now, I suspect it could be due to the glycerin layers that I did this morning. I don't think I have extensive routine. I wonder how it would fare on those people who have multiple toners, essences, serums, moisturiser. Seems like a bad news for me.

 

After 7 hours:

I was caught up with other stuff in life, so I didn't really care for my reapplication. I did try my best NOT to touch my skin (I'm pretty good at it frankly haha). And this is how it looks like after 7 hours mark with NO reapplication.

As expected, my oil production has caused the sunscreen layer to break down even further. They were looking even patchier than initial application. Nothing's new, it happens with all of other sunscreen as well.

 

Wear Test 02 - With Lesser Hydrating Layer

I tried the next day, using just 1 extra layer of glycerin, just basically my usual AM routine, like so:

• DHC Cleansing Oil
• DIY - Niacinamide + Tranexamic acid serum in simple water and glycerin base
• One (1) layer of diluted glycerin (around 1% wherebouts).
• Finacea Gel
• Benzac AC 5% Benzoyl Peroxide Cream
• Sunscreen of the day

The sunscreen set quicker than Wear Test 01 above, and less shiny. Unfortunately, the patchiness still persists, though not as bad as yesterday.

 

After 2 hours:

Let's try reapplication today. This is how it looks after 2 hours. My skin type is oily so it's no surprise that I look sweaty by this time.

Excuse the different lighting; it was raining when I took this photo. Despite sitting at the same exact place, artifical light didn't help with the UV camera brightness.

 

Blotting with tissue:

Before reapplication, I always blot my oily face with tissue paper to absorb the excess oil and sweat sitting on my skin. This is how it looked after blotting.
Reminder: I do not put anything on my eyelids and ears for contrast purpose.

 

Reapplication:

It looked more even than initial application, still the left side of cheek was not as even as I hoped.

 

Wear Test 03 - With my USUAL Skincare

My skin was feeling slightly dry on this day, so I had to apply at least 1 layer of hydrating stuff, so I did:

• DHC Cleansing Oil
• DIY - Niacinamide + Tranexamic acid serum in simple water and glycerin base
• Finacea Gel
• Benzac AC 5% Benzoyl Peroxide Cream
• Sunscreen of the day

Sadly, it still left me patchy application.

 

Wear Test 04 - On bare face

At this point of time, I was in the verge of giving this sunscreen away, BUT let's try it ONE LAST TIME on BARE face. The only thing I did was face cleansing, with DHC Cleansing oil. No other skincare.

Application:

Just want to show how sweaty looking my face with this one, I had to take the pic under artificial lights. The sunscreen also beads up around peach fuzz (near my ear area) if I don't rub them properly.

 

I let it sit for 1 hour and took the UV camera photos. I try to list as many photos as possible to show different angle.

 

Wear Test 05 - bare arm

As application on my face didn't really go well, so I tried applying on my arms today. Note that I don't apply any lotion on my arms at all after shower.

I only squeeze out the sunscreen and draw a line to cover my arm. I only apply such amount to half/outer part of my arm. This is the only section that is exposed to sun usually in my case. You can see the last photo the area I stopped applying.

I stood in front of a fan, while rubbing the sunscreen until it completely set. Happy to report that it looked better under UV camera.

 

Wear Test 06 - on bare face Attempt No. 2

Based on the Wear Test 05 above, I tried to do application on my bare face again. I only did face cleansing, without any skincare. This time I really sat in front of the same fan and applied 9x index finger length worth of sunscreen, divided into 3 layers, so 3x index finger length worth of sunscreen per layer. This is for face alone.

See below how it looked under UV camera, using a UV lamp.

 

Bonus: we had a great sunny day, and I could make use of natural light to take photos with UV camera.

Still using the natural light coming from windows, but I stepped in for a bit, as the sun light was too glaring for my eyes.

 

Disclaimer: I only use the UV camera to see if a sunscreen disperses an even layer (or patchy and spotty); and if I miss out a spot during application. It's not by all means to measure the sunscreen protection level. Got mine from sunscreenr.com. It's compatible with android phone.

 

Conclusion

Remember, I'm only using this UV camera to see if I apply the sunscreen properly, to see the area that I want to cover is covered properly. I do not use this UV camera to measure whether a sunscreen is protective or not.

I don't know why the sunscreen coverage is not as even like how my other sunscreens do. It could be the sunscreen is supposed to be like that, but still is doing its job - only the manufacturer will know. Nevertheless, I really tried to make the sunscreen coverage to get as even as possible.

Pictures tell thousand words, so there you go!

The coverage was better when I used it on Wear Test 06 bare face with the fan blowing straight onto my face, helping it to set, but frankly, I am still not satisfied with the effort I need to put, with mediocre coverage, when I have tons of other options.

As always, the above are my own opinion. If it works for you, COOL! Please keep using it.

There are better sunscreens out there that are less problematic with application. For me, I will move on to my next sunscreen!

 

Discussion

I tried to think the possible reason of the patchy coverage. First I thought it was due to my skincare underneath, but the Wear Test 04 proved otherwise. Wear Test 06 was an improvement from Wear Test 04, so use the info as you will.

I'm still keeping the sunscreen. If you have other method you want me to try, please let me know.

In the meantime, I will finish this sunscreen on my body, since it looked fine on my arm (based on Wear Test 05). Honestly, it could be to the lesser amount I used, thus the sunscreen could set properly, maybe? Regardless, I won't be repurchasing and I also won't recommend to my friends, well - not like we can get this locally to begin with though!

I have posted the link over other channels.

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/chocosweet/comments/qenxg5/under_uv_camera_skin_aqua_super_moisture_uv_milk/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVZ5TKnl_JT/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/chocosweetclub/status/1452190592591613958