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Style > Beauty

I Finally Found a Sunscreen That Doesn’t Suck the Life Out of My Skin OR Give Me Zits

Rachel Lewis

Your summer skincare shouldn’t be the same as your cold-weather skincare. In cold weather, I’m all about serums, acids, actives, and thick, heavy moisturizer. And sunscreen, like, kind of. I’m not as good about it as I should be. But in the summer? I go much lighter, and I 100 percent prioritize one thing: sunscreen.

But finding a sunscreen that doesn’t destroy your skin is so freaking difficult. I’ve tried so, so many, from drugstore brands to ~fancier~ ones, and they all do one of three things: one, they leave a nasty white cast on my skin (EXCUSE ME BROWN AND BLACK GIRLS NEED SUNSCREEN TOO, end rant); two, they make me break tf out (and want to hide from the sun so the world can’t see my zits under the glaring sun), and three, they just like, make my skin look dingy and unhappy. I like a glow as much as the next human, so when sunscreen just sort of takes away any good thing, it’s so much harder to justify actually putting it on every day. 

 

Enter this fancy ass sunscreen that I’m honestly in love with: Daily Protezione.

I know. When I saw the name, I was like, what is this? But as a skincare obsessive, and the resident queen of Face Mask and Chill (aka the person who blathers about skincare on the Her Campus Instagram Story), I HAD TO FIND OUT. 

 

What’s cool about this product.

It’s super clean in a way that still feels real. I like organic products as much as anyone else, but I also like knowing they WORK, “””chemical-free””” (you guys, that’s not real, water is a chemical, we are chemicals, don’t get sucked in by BS branding!) be damned. I like a product that knows what it’s made of and tells you exactly what it is, and this long, in-depth description on their website made me feel nice and warm inside.

Between argan, avocado, licorice root, red raspberry and non-nano, uncoated zinc, there was so much to research and learn about, and I hope you’ll do the same, too! This is definitely not your typical sunscreen, but in all the best ways.

 

It also doesn’t hurt that VIVE SANA is just so freaking chic. The packaging made me just and warm and fuzzy as the promise of something that wouldn’t make my skin freak out, and I kind of just want to roll around in the site’s branding for the rest of my life. It’s Instagram gold, and it’s perfect for your shelfie.

But it works, too.

How it went down.

When I first used this, I was kind of confused. It separated a bit while it was traveling my way, so it felt a little oily. But once I shook it up a bit and rubbed it together, it was totally dreamy. It feels like a moisturizer, but a tinted one, since it has the slightest, sliiightest tint to it. I’m very much a light-skinned person, so I’d be curious to see how this would hold up on someone darker skinned, FYI. But for me and anyone lighter, that vague tint worked like a tinted moisturizer, which def helped fight the zombie-skin most sunscreens give me.

Here it is, hashtag unfiltered, for your viewing pleasure:

 

It also has so many benefits beyond straight up SPF (it’s 30, btw). It also works to improve collagen and lock in moisture, which means you don’t look super rough once when you come back in from your stroll down the beach (or, if you’re me, just your daily walk from your desk to your fridge, let’s be real). 

I do live at the beach, so I put it to the test. My concern isn’t really visible sunburn since I don’t typically burn, but is more that hidden, undercover sun damage. I’d like to avoid that as much as possible, thanks. My other concern, as I mentioned, is wanting to protect my skin without looking like a monster in my beachy IG selfies. And it really worked.

The proof is in this no makeup, but sunscreened up selfie below. Note: You can CLEARLY see the white marks from my usual sunscreen on my shoulders and neck, because sunscreen loves that white cast, you guys. BUT MY FACE IS ALL GOOD. And that’s what matters. 

 

My skin felt protected rather than suffocated. It became the sunscreen I reach for whether I’m going to the beach for an entire Saturday or working from home or just having meetings by a window at Starbucks.

 

My vote? A must-try, if you can swing it. At $55, this is probably a reach for a lot of us, but if you can make it worth, I’d give it a shot. Either way, sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen, ladies. Figure out what works for you, and commit! Even if you are just running errands. Sun damage is a huge deal, and you want to be good to your body, your skin, and yourself. Happy sunscreen testing! 

Want more beauty wisdom? Follow @HerCampusBeauty, and tune into @HerCampus on Instagram every week for wellness & beauty segments!

Rachel is the Senior Editor at Her Campus. She graduated from Elon University in 2015 where she wrote for Her Campus's Elon chapter as well as the national LGBTQ+ section, and has since held editorial positions at Hello Giggles and Brit + Co along with running social media for several publishers. Her work has been published in Teen Vogue, Glamour, StyleCaster, and SELF, and she can be found in North Carolina smearing face masks on in the name of content. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram @RachelCharleneL.