Does a lightweight, affordable SPF50 exist that doesn't = breakouts?

[Closetlibrarian]

Help! Every single SPF50 (for face) I've tried ends up giving me spots/ breakouts. I'm 43 years old and too old for this!

I need something lightweight, that doesn't feel 'tacky' on my skin and is not hugely expensive.

I've tried:
Biore 'watery essence'
La Roche-Posay Anthelios
Body Shop Skin defence

And they all gave me spots. So much wasted money...

Help - any tried and tested recommendations?

The only facial spf that doesn't break me out is UltraSun sensitive.

Lrp melt in cream doesnt cause break outs on me (but neither does the Biore). Most others do however (or they make my makeup slide off by midday)

This is lovely and no break outs for me www.frezyderm.co.uk/sun-care/face-sunscreens/sun-screen-velvet-face-spf-50/?

Ultrasun is the best I’ve found

supergoop.com/products/unseen-sunscreen This is bloody amazing but it’s American and it doesn’t seem to be in stock anywhere over here right now. However I’ve tried quite a few of their products and they have all been fab and they have lots available here.... www.revolve.com/mobile/supergoop/br/c6f915/?&d=Womens&&s=b&c=Supergoop%21 Not cheap but a little goes a long way and they’ve all been great with my very sensitive skin.

Clarins UV plus
Spf 50
Amazing stuff..looks like milk, water like consistency and you don't feel it on you.
I use it all year round and it's the only block that doesn't give me spots.
The bottle is tiny , but it lasts ages.

www.johnlewis.com/clarins-uv-plus-anti-pollution-spf-50-day-cream-30ml/p1799528?sku=234164391&s_kwcid=2dx92700045364027415&tmad=c&tmcampid=2&gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=CjwKCAjw9dboBRBUEiwA7VrrzRL5ZXk3FwxPn4N1d5mgyH4ZN9lrFWPfj_80ux9zHH_lK_6zS9W2bxoCvk4QAvD_BwE

Believe it or not the Nivea Sun Face Spf 50 is brilliant and is great under make up. I live in the UAE so need a good one! It’s around 9 pounds per tube here.

The Altruist one is great. Someone recommended it on here and it's changed my life. It's £7.50 for two tubes on Amazon. It was developed by dermatologists, is spf 50 and doesn't react badly to makeup. It's not as light weight as the Biore one but works 10x better.

Another vote here for Clarins SP50

I hated the LRP one for the same reason. Have had great results with the Boots Soltan BB cream SPF 50 though - I live in the Middle East and wear it every day.

Sorry, it’s not Soltan, I’ve just checked. It’s ‘Boots No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Advanced BB Facial Sun Protection SPF50 Fair’

Eucerin factor 50.
I have PMLE and this is the best one after years of trying

What is the star rating or UVA for Clarins? I could find it?

There's often £5 off no.7 skincare isn't there so the no.7 might end up being good value for money. I might try it though I have no problem with the LRP one.
Interesting tip about the Nivea one too.

I use the frezyderm velvet one linked above, it works as a matte primer as well and definitely no breakouts.

Be careful with No5 (and anyone who is using Bodyshop Skin Defence) as I used to use both but was getting more and more freckles and eventually pigmentation. I couldn’t understand why as I was using SPF 50, turns out they didn’t contain both UVA and UVB 5* protection.

I came on to recommend LRP and Bioré Watery Essence OP but sadly they don’t work for you. I wonder if you have an allergy to one of the ingredients commonly used in sunscreens?

Thanks for the suggestions!

Eleanor an allergy would make sense I guess. Bog standard non-face-specific sun screen (eg Neutrogena/ Nivea/ Boots/Amber Solaire gives me spots too . Even the mineral ones I’ve tried don’t agree with my skin as they tend to be really thick and I think clog my skin up.

That allergy comment has also made me think about the fact that a cream will seem fine for a while (to the extent that I bulk ordered 4 tubes of the Biore) and the start causing break outs when I’ve been using it for a while (3 weeks or so).... Hmm. Not really sure what I can do if I am allergic to some key ingredient in sun screen...

Paula’s choice?? You can buy travel sizes to see if they agree, I took the calm spf30 on holiday to Mexico and felt it gave better protection than the LRP spf 50, didn’t break me out and felt nice going on.

SunSense = ✅

I’m also using altruist. Isn’t sticky and havent has breakouts.

Whilst spf is good do you ha e a lifestyle that means you actually need it every day, especially spf50?

Neutrogena spf 45 & 50 in spray can. I’m very fair with Rosemead and it’s fine for my skin. Stops the burn too!

Another vote for altruist - brilliant stuff both in terms of how it goes on but also in terms of its level of protection

Ultra sun is brilliant.