Review: Nature's Gate Sport Broad Spectrum Dry Finish Sunscreen

After a couple of posts waaaay off topic from skincare, here's a review of a sunscreen I bought on a whim months ago because I was looking for an affordable, alcohol-free, and white cast-free sunscreen. To see if Nature's Gate Sport Broad Spectrum Sunscreen really has all of these criteria, read on.

Price and Availability: I bought this sunscreen from Healthy Options for less than 500 php (11 USD), which for a broad spectrum sunscreen is a fair price. There are a lot of Healthy Options stores here in Metro Manila, so getting hold of this one is easy as pie.

Texture and Scent: While the lack of fragrance is awesome, this lotion sunscreen can be thick and heavy during application. So if you're going to use it on your face, better pat it around to distribute the product instead of smothering it as if it were an alcohol-based sunscreen. A shiny film is left just post application.

Its very useful back label even teaches proper sunscreen application.
Definitely plus points for me.

Ingredients: Its main filters are also conveniently listed on its front label found at the back of the tube (it's a two-page, peel off set of labels) with the concentrations of each filter listed as well. Here's a snapshot of that said label:

All of those filters but Zinc Oxide are "chemical" filters and do not cause white cast. Zinc Oxide is a "physical" filter and does not cause white cast as well. Do not confuse white cast with the pigment of the sunscreen: the pigment will go away in minutes if the product is applied evenly but the white cast will be there even after hours after application. Back to the filters, all of them meet the maximum approved limit for concentration, and can protect against UVB, UVAI and UVAII, making it truly a broad spectrum sunscreen.

As for the other ingredients also found on the labels, a quick run thru cosdna.com shows that this sunscreen is safe for the skin.

Finish: This sunscreen is quite moisturizing so I highly doubt separate moisturizer coupled with this sunscreen will lead to a pleasant finish. But I was able to tolerate the initial shine and was very patient with patting but the film was still very noticeable. This may not work for those who want a matte finish.

The worse part though, is this product is barely usable with the hot Manila temperature we have. Even after allowing the product to sit on your skin for 30 minutes, upon contact with heat (pour example, I had a lunch out of office), the product "melts" and forms films of the lotion that settle on the ridges of your skin.

Rating: All aspect of this sunscreen are above average as long as you're not exposed to heat. This sunscreen is recommendable for those living in colder regions (or sitting in an air-conditioned room), but for the common Filipino who might need to go out and brave the city's heat, an alcohol-based sunscreen will probably suit better.

Ingredient: 5/5
Value for money: 5/5
Performance: 2/5
Overall: 4/5