Bye Bye UV - Sunscreen vs Sunblock

Busy preventing UV from your face? Well, don't forget about your body, it needs your attention too. So today, I would like to introduce and show the difference of these 2 products - Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence SPF 50+ PA+++ and Block Up! Sport SPF 50 Lotion from Fruit of the Earth. 

I got tanner few months ago due to lots of outdoor activities and I wanted to get back to my original skin tone. So, I decided to look for something that could give me protection from the UV.  Before I start with the products and their differences, below is to show you how the UV ray (UVA & UVB) penetrates our skin. UVA will cause tanning and premature skin aging while UVB will cause sunburn and skin cancer. 

Diagram from medmovie.com

Let us start with Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence SPF 50+ PA+++. 

This sunscreen is Japan's No. 1 sunscreen seller since 2011 and had won multiple awards. The high coverage of SPF 50+ and PA+++ provides a longer time of protection against UVA and UVB from our skin. Its water base texture is so lightweight and is easily absorbed by the skin. Feel so smooth after applying and the skin feels cool and refreshing. What I like most about this product is the non-greasiness. A perfect choice for hot and humid weather. But wait, why am I not getting any fairer after using a couple of bottles? The SPF and PA should helps, right? Hmm...  

Now, Block Up! from Fruit of the Earth came into the picture. My friend had recommended this sunblock to me after hearing me complaining on my skin tone progression. She told me that her skin get fairer after using this so I decided to give it a try. And YES, my skin tone does get fairer after using the 1st tube (30ml)! So fast, amazing!

I've actually used a few ranges of Block Up!- SPF 50 for adult, Kids SPF 50 and Sport SPF 50. Well, all in travelling pack size (30ml each) as I wanted to try out different ranges. I would strongly recommend the Sport range. Sunblock normally gives you the sticky and greasy feel on your skin after application and sometimes it will last for the whole day which is kind of annoying. Block UP! Sport SPF 50 from Fruit of the Earth is so much different from the others even as compare with its sisters (SPF 50 for adult and Kids SPF 50). It is so much less greasy and the greasy feeling went of quickly after application. Much more lightweight and smells better too. I am very satisfied with this. 

Now, why Biore couldn't help in getting my skin fairer while Block Up! could? It doesn't mean that Biore's quality isn't good enough. Don't forget, it's Japan's No. 1 sunscreen seller and had won a few awards. The actual main reason is that, Biore is a sunscreen while Block Up! is a sunblock. What's the difference? Shouldn't them all be the same? Of course, no. Never lump a sunscreen and sunblock together. They are different. Continue reading and you will know why. 

Sunscreen

• A chemical sunscreen that helps to absorb UV ray (UVA and UVB) before it starts to penetrate our skin layers. 
• Contains SPF and PA. 
• SPF helps to absorb UVB. This will help to prevent sunburn and skin cancer. The higher the SPF, the longer time of protection. 
• PA helps to absorb UVA that could cause skin tanning and premature skin aging such as sunspot, wrinkles, and uneven skin tone. The more + you have, the better it is. 
• Doesn't provide full spectrum of UV protection. It could only provide protection on short wavelength of UV radiation. 
• Tends to be wear off easily and requires reapplying. This increase the chances of UV penetration to the skin. 
• Lightweight and non-greasy. 
• Could be semi-transparent in color. 

Sunblock

• A physical sunscreen that blocks UV ray. UV ray will be deflected before it reaches our skin. 
• Contains Avobenzone (Parson 1789), Zinc Oxide, Titanium Dioxide, or Oxybenzone that block longer wavelength of UVA radiation from reaching our skin. 
• Contains SPF to prevent sunburn. 
• Thicker in texture. 
• Doesn't wash off easily and could last longer. 
• Whitish in color due to the content of Zinc Oxide. (Careful, this may stain your clothes)

So now the difference here is on the PA and the Avobenzone, Zinc Oxide, and etc. PA helps to absorb shorter wavelength of UVA and also because of the short life spend after application, there is still chances for UVA to penetrate our skin and causes tanning and premature skin aging. In the other hand, Avobenzone and friends help to block longer wavelength of UVA and the life spend is longer which means less chances of UVA penetration to the skin. With the skin own metabolism and the block out of UVA, the skin tone will naturally return to its own tone when using a sunblock vs a sunscreen.  

Both Biore and Block Up! are fairly good products that served different purposes. It's just my own preference on Block Up! from Fruit of the Earth as I prefer a sunblock that could provide full spectrum of protection so that I could get back to my original skin tone.

Below are some tips while you are purchasing either a sunscreen or sunblock. 

The lotion on top is the Biore sunscreen and the bottom is the Block Up! sunblock from Fruit of the Earth. You could see the difference in color. The sunblock looks much whiter than the sunscreen. You could also realize that the sunscreen is easily spread out on the skin. The thickness of the sunblock texture still remains and requires longer time to spread out. 

If you are looking for a sunblock, please make you sure are choosing the ones that contain Avobenzone (Parson 1789), Zinc Oxide, Titanium Dioxide, or Oxybenzone. This will have a full spectrum of protection from UVA that causes skin tanning and premature skin aging. 

  

Conclusion would be if you don't mind getting tanner or plan to get tanner, sunscreen will help. The UVA still manage to penetrate your skin layers and you will have the SPF to help you avoid sunburn. If you don't want to get tanner, sunblock will be good. 

Till then, stay pretty inside and out. Oh ya, make sure you clean your skin thoroughly during bathing and get some scrub done at least once a week. You don't want to get your pores blocked. Chaos!