The Sunscreen Trial
- marybklein
- Apr 6
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 13
With the trip to Hawaii, I saw the opportunity to try a new sunscreen, Primally Pure. This product has been flitting through conversations for a while now, and I’ve been excited for the appropriate season to truly put it to the test.
“What do you recommend for a sunscreen?” is one of the most popular questions I hear from my clients, and like everything else, this depends on various things such as skin type, lifestyle, priorities, and personal preferences.
As always, my goal by sharing my experience with different products is so you can make an educated decision and hopefully eliminate the trial-and-error process for a new product.
The Product: Primally Pure Sun Cream
Primally Pure has a few different sun cream options and for this particular study I decided to try the Lavender Mint. While I was exploring SPF, I decided their brand is probably one of my favorites due to how education forward and transparent it is. Not only do they explain their ingredients, but they outline study results and their own rating criteria. I value this for any product review, as I believe it's necessary to set parameters in order to maintain organization and clarity. Therefore, the following are my top five for sunscreen:
Sun Protection (UVA + UVB)
Sweat and Water Resistance
Spreadability
Aesthetics + Appearance
Skin Reactions
Before we get to the ratings, its important to consider the backgrounds for those participating in the sunscreen trial (myself and my husband, Gavin).
Skin Type: Oily/Combination
Fitzpatrick Scale: Type 3
Lifestyle: Active outdoors
Product Priorities: Non-comedogenic, sport durable, smooth application and feel
Personal Preferences: Reasonable price point, clean ingredients, brand transparency, small business
Skin Type: Dry/Balanced
Fitzpatrick Scale: Type 2
Lifestyle: Active outdoors
Product Priorities: Whatever Mary tells me to use, non-oily sunscreens
Personal Preferences: To not burn
Learn what level of SPF protection is best for you: Fitzpatrick Skin-Type. Once your chart is completed, look up what SPF protection range is most effective for your skin.
Criteria | Rating | Notes |
Sun Protection UVA + UVB | 10/10 | Thoroughly impressed with the length of coverage (80 minutes) and how consistently strong the protection was. I didn't burn when using the SPF and I slowly tanned to develop a sunny glow. |
Sweat + Water Resistance | 10/10 | Even after swimming in the ocean for over an hour, this SPF held its own! It's worth noting that this sunscreen was almost TOO effective. It took aggressive scrubbing to remove. |
Spreadability | 5.5/10 | I feel the name gives a warning on this as it is called "Sun Cream". It was difficult to spread, remove, and we used almost the entire bottle within 10 days. |
Aesthetics + Appearance | 8/10 | No pastey, white film, and it absorbed into the skin very quickly. It didn't make the skin look greasy or oily. |
Skin Reactions | 1/10 | I had consistent breakouts and clogged pores due to the sunscreen. These breakouts showed up on my face, chest, back, legs, and arms---even my neck. Gavin had no issues. |
Inactive Ingredients: Caprylic/capric triglceride, tallow from 100% grass-fed cows, organic beeswax, organic coconut oil, organic lavender oil, organic mango butter, organic peppermint oil, tocopherol.
This sun cream is also reef friendly, which I LOVE and was as huge bonus bringing it to Hawaii. While researching SPF, I learned "Reef Friendly" isn't a regulated claim, so it's best to ensure sunscreens that make the claim, don't use harmful ingredients. Read more about this HERE. Fortunately, Primally Pure is an honorable brand!
For those with dry or combination (that's more on the dry side) skin, I would recommend this sun cream. In addition to the above criteria, it did a wonderful job hydrating the skin. After swimming, I didn't have that dry, tight, post-water feeling. However, it's worth noting that Gavin liked the sun cream overall, but struggled with how difficult it was to remove and apply. He said because of the cream consistency, he had a hard time applying to anywhere on his body that had longer, thicker hair (face, arms, legs, chest), and removing due to the same issue. For those who have similar preferences, I would keep the Spreadability ratings in mind!
If you have acneic or oily skin, I would say to skip it. I really wanted to love this sunscreen for myself, but unfortunately the breakouts are a big stopping point for me. Especially since I broke out all over my body, not just on my face. My skin doesn't typically need extra moisture (tallow, coconut oil, mango butter) during the summer due to my natural oil production and sweat. The beeswax also acts as a sealant for this product and locks in the moisturizing ingredients. Unfortunately for me, it was the perfection combination for clogging my pores.
Bonus Read: What if the sun isn't the problem? Skin cancer surgeon unpacks rising cancer rates, dangerous sunscreen ingredients and how to protect the skin holistically. Sun Fear Ends Here.
I Scream For Sunscreen
Even though Primally Pure wasn't a good fit for me, it boosted my determination to find an SPF that I cannot shut-up about when I'm asked for recommendations. Back to searching for a different sunscreen, I'll share two I'm mostly comfortable recommending at this point;
With various tint, ingredient, and features options, this lightweight and moisturizing SPF is great for those that prefer liquid coverage. One of the most recommended SPFs by dermatologists, it's a popular product that delivers. I've used Elta MD for years, specifically because it does such a great job with acneic skin. However, this is the item I'm only mostly comfortable recommending. I've always struggled with the price point as I can no longer validate spending $50+ on an SPF that lasts 1-2 months. Especially when it's owned by a large, public company (Colagate-Palmolive) that doesn't neccesarily meet my values as a consumer. Thus begun my attempts to find alternatives.
Sweat and water resistant, this powder is lightweight, invisible, and easy to apply. Not only is it cost effective at $28 and lasts FOREVER, but you can mix it in with any moisturizer. It's also available in a 1oz brush applicator so you can dust onto your skin throughout the day, without trapping bacteria. The 1oz applicator has become my #1 purse staple as I love that I can reapply without concern of breakouts (this includes reapplying after any high-sweat activity) and reapply over makeup without concerns of smudging. I personally don't love the granular feeling of the powder in my moisturizer, so cue my search for a dedicated liquid SPF that I can layer with the brush powder.
Not only did the sunscreen trial boost my determination, but it had ideal timing because I didn't have to search far to find the next sunscreen product I want to try; Dermaki recently (as of last week) launched "Mineral Shield". I'm PUMPED to be testing this as I love the Dermaki items and they have yet to fail me. Therefore I have a good feeling about this one and look forward to sharing details with you soon.
I hope this review was helpful for you and as always, if you have any questions or want me to trial a product, send it my way!
Until next time,
Mary | Honey Glow Wellness
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