Have you ever faced a dilemma when you couldn’t decide if you should apply makeup primer before or after your sunscreen? And what about finding the right primer formula to use with the right sunscreen? I don’t know how many times I had to reapply all steps of my skin care routine because my primer didn’t want to cooperate with my sunscreen, but it wasn’t pretty watching all those carefully patted on layers flake off my face. Thankfully, TATCHA came out with a great solution for those of us looking to prevent photo-aging while making the makeup last longer, and released their very own SILKEN Pore Perfecting Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF35.
I first heard the rumors that TATCHA was developing their first sunscreen last year, and since then I could hardly wait for the release. As someone who wears SPF on the daily basis I go through dozens of tubes every year, so by now I have a pretty good understanding of what I like and dislike in sunscreen formulas.
Here is what TATCHA says about their newest creation:
For centuries, the geisha’s iconic makeup, oshiroi, has created a poreless finish and protected her skin from the sun. After three years and over one hundred formulations, we have remastered the geisha’s classic SPF—capturing the same benefits, with an invisible weightless finish and only the purest ingredients.
If there’s one thing I learned about TATCHA, it’s that they masterfully camouflage the complexity of their formulas, like a geisha hiding her beauty behind a delicate paper parasol. SILKEN Pore Perfecting Sunscreen is no exception. By looking at the label someone unfamiliar with the brand will probably think it’s just a sunscreen, but in reality it’s so much more!
The formula is packed with intriguing ingredients handpicked by TATCHA’s founder Victoria Tsai. Here are just some of them:
- Japanese Wild Rose, or Eijitsu rich in beta glucans and polysaccharides has been used by Japanese beauties for centuries to reduce inflammation, increase collagen production, and brighten the complexion.
- Loquat Leaf Extract, or Biwa, is a powerful anti-inflammatory botanical that calms skin irritations with two powerful components: Ursolic and Triterpenoid Acids.
- HADASEI-3 Bioactive Complex, TATCHA’s proprietary anti-aging ingredient that includes rice bran extract, Okinawa red algae, and green tea DNA.
- Zinc Oxide and Octisalate are skin-safe sunscreen agents that provide two levels of broad spectrum protection – physical and chemical.
Ingredients: Zinc Oxide 15%, Octisalate 5%, Water, Isododecane, Cyclopentasiloxane, Propanediol, Hdi/trimethylol Hexyllactone Crosspolymer, Glycerin, Dimethicone, Octyldodecyl Neopentanoate, Behenyl Alcohol, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Rosa Multiflora Fruit Extract, Eriobotrya Japonica Leaf Extract, Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate (Licorice Extract), Glycyrrhiza Inflata (Licorice) Root Extract, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Pistacia Lentiscus (Mastic) Gum, Sericin (Silk Extract), Algae Extract, Lecithin, Inositol (Rice Extract), Polyhydroxystearic Acid, Sorbitan Tristearate, Sodium Dilauramidoglutamide Lysine, Silica, Potassium Sorbate, Beheneth-20, Sodium Acrylate/Acryloyldimethyltaurate/Dimethylacrylamide Crosspolymer, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Titanium Dioxide, Methicone, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Dimethiconol, Disodium Edta, Iron Oxides (Ci77491), Tin Oxide, Mica, Fragrance (Natural), Ethylhexylglycerin, Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol.
SILKEN Pore Perfecting Sunscreen was formulated without mineral oil, synthetic colors, synthetic fragrances, sulfate detergents, parabens, PEGs, PPGs, Urea, DEA, TEA or Phthalates. TATCHA also made a decision to exclude several controversial sunscreen agents such as oxybenzone. While there is no definitive answer that it’s harmful, organizations like EWG are giving it red flags for safety. When there are so many alternatives available, I usually err on the side of caution, just in case.
I’ve been using SILKEN Pore Perfecting Sunscreen for just over two weeks now, and in this short time it became an integral part of my daily skin care and makeup routine. It works really well with my moisturizer and all of my foundations and BB creams. It has a fairly concentrated formula that blends out to an invisible protective layer, providing a good base for makeup. It also lived up to its claims to minimize the appearance of enlarged pores – dimethicone in the formula gives my skin the loveliest matte finish and masks textural imperfections.
Skin care in squeezable tube packaging often comes with a lot of empty space inside, but SILKEN Pore Perfecting Sunscreen was filled to the top; after all, when you pay almost $70 for a product, you don’t expect to be paying for air. I thought it was worth mentioning 🙂
WHERE TO BUY: $68 USD for 2 fl. oz. Available at TATCHA, Barneys.
Did you ever have to reapply makeup because your sunscreen formula clashed with the primer? What’s your favorite daily sunscreen? Have you tried TATCHA skin care before? Let me know in the comments below!
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