The Skin Aqua Tone Up UV Essence is a Japanese award-winning sunscreen recognized for its tinted/color correcting features that help brighten up your face instantly. Read more to find out about one of the best-selling Japanese products!
Living in Japan, so many people around me use a “tone-up” sunscreen or a sunscreen with a brightening effect sunscreen and have good things about it. But I’ve never gotten my hands on a “tone-up” sunscreen because I was scared that these kinds of products would make my skin tone look a little crazy, looking way more unnatural than it initially was. However, it was about time for me to try it out for my first time!
About Rohto Pharmaceutical
Rohto Pharmaceutical is a Japanese company that develops and produces a wide range of products, from medicine to beauty products. The company often creates products that consider “health,” which is an idea that they heavily hold on to very strongly. Some of their well-known brands are mainly skincare products, such as Melano CC, Skin Aqua and Obagi.
About Skin Aqua Tone Up UV Essence (Lavender)
Skin Aqua Tone Up UV Essence (Lavender) is a “toning up” sunscreen or sunscreen that has a “brightening effect,” that is SPF50+ / PA++++. Its lavender color is the key to the “brightening effect” that would help even out any skin tone. The lavender color, which is made of two colors, “blue” and “pink,” are important factors that help give the skin a natural-looking finish. The “pink” would help bring out a lively “blood-like” color, and the “blue” would help give a transparent effect. Also, the sunscreen has a pearl-like look, making the skin look glowy naturally.
This product has many great features! It can be used both on the face and body and is known to be “super waterproof!” The product can be easily washed off the skin using regular soap. It has many great ingredients for the skin, such as hyaluronic acid, Vitamin C, and “Pure Nuance Complex” (passion fruit, hydrolyzed prune, and chestnut rose extract).
Ingredients:
<Ingredients> Water, ethanol, Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, BG, diphenylsiloxyphenyltrimethicone, titanium oxide, polysorbate 60, diethylamino hydroxy benzoyl hexyl benzoate, Na hyaluronate, Kudamonotokeisou fruit extract, Izayoi rose extract, ascorbyl phosphate Mg, Prun decomposition product, polyglyceryl-2 triisostearate, bisPEG-18 methyl ether dimethyl silane, methylmethacrylate crosspolymer, dimethacrylate glycol crosspolymer, bisethylhexyloxyphenolmethoxyphenyltriazine, Acrylate copolymer, (Acrylate / acrylic acid) Alkyl (C10-30)) Crosspolymer, TEA, (Acryloyldimethyltaurineammonium / VP) Copolymer, Silica, PEG-12 Dimethicone, Polystyrene, Polyvinyl Alcohol, EDTA-2Na, Xanthan Gum, Alumina, BHT, Synthetic Fluorofluoropite, Tin oxide, red 226, blue 1, fragrance
Skin type: For all types of skin
Texture: Slightly lighter than gel, smooth, not liquidy/watery
Fragrance: Minimal smell of
Packaging: 11.7 x 4.6 x 2.3 / 80g
My Initial Impression
Like I mentioned, I have never really considered using a tinted sunscreen that was supposed to “tone up” my skin because I didn’t know if it would match my skin. However, trying this product has led me to many lovely surprises that made me enjoy using it.
Packaging
Before I talk about the sunscreen itself, I just want to quickly go over what I thought about the packaging and container of the product. Although the product’s packaging is slightly overwhelming because there are so many things on it, it is cute and fun to look at! However, the tube container of the sunscreen is different from the outside packaging-very simple, but also very “kawaii.” Not only is the tube container very colorful and pretty, but it’s made out of partially recycled plastic! It was surprising to me because I don’t see sustainable packaging much in Japan. It made me very happy to see that a Japanese beauty brand was trying to be more eco-friendly.
The Sunscreen
I honestly thought that it wasn’t going to work well with my skin (or any type of skin) because it seemed like it had a white cast at first glance. However, as I started spreading it onto my face, I noticed that the product was more on the transparent side! I was surprised to see how nicely it blended with my skin without it looking too unnatural. It was also very surprising to see that it instantly made my skin look brighter and healthier!
I loved how the product felt on my skin. The texture of the sunscreen is very similar to the Biore UV Aqua Rich Sunscreen that I reviewed in the past! It’s not too thin nor thick, the perfect texture that would let your pores breathe. Also, because of its texture, it does not feel uncomfortable building up the product! Another thing that I loved about this product is that it contains a moisturizing agent, hyaluronic acid, making my skin feel very soft.
Using it as a Primer/with Makeup
I often use sunscreen as my primer, especially if it has moisturizing ingredients in them. Although the Skin Aqua Tone Up UV Essence does not mention using this product as a primer, because this sunscreen had moisturizing ingredients, hyaluronic acid in it, I decided to try applying my makeup directly on top of the sunscreen. On the packaging, it mentioned that I should be using the product starting with a small amount by putting the product on the palms of my hands. However, I decided to use the usual amount of sunscreen that I apply for my face, which is about one finger or so worth of sunscreen. I’d say that for me, that is a good amount to apply on my face. Because the product was a bit tacky, I waited for a few seconds to apply my makeup.
Something I was most concerned about was applying concealer because I’ve had experienced sunscreen clumping up and making my makeup look cakier than it did before. However, applying the concealer to my face looked and felt no different from using an ordinary primer! Also, because of the pearl-like look of this sunscreen, my skin looked glowy as well!
Overall, my makeup had no signs of cakiness, clumpiness nor did not budge at all, even after hours! Because the product has hyaluronic acid in it, it helped to keep my makeup on my skin throughout the day!
The Effectiveness and UV protection
This product has excellent UV protection, and my skin did not show any signs of skin redness or burns that were affected by the sun!
The product packaging mentions that this product can be used at places where you may often sweat or have contact with water (such as the ocean, on a hike, etc.). You can use this product for daily use and hot, humid summer days, making this sunscreen so convenient!
The Pros and Cons
Pros:
- SPF50+ / PA++++
- Transparent lavender-colored
- Preservation free
- Oil-free
- Mild acidity
- Allergy tested
- Waterproof
- Comes off with soap
- Can use for both face and body
- Includes key ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, Vitamin C, and “Pure Nuance Complex” (passion fruit, hydrolyzed prune, and chestnut rose extract)
- Pearl-like shine for a natural-looking glow
- Can be used as a makeup primer
Cons:
- Not scent-free (but minimal soap-like smell)
- It may not suit all kinds of skin tones
- Contains Alcohol
Skin Aqua Tone Up UV Essence Lavender Vs. Mint Green
There is not a huge difference between the two products in terms of the moisture agents and the effectiveness of protecting your skin from UV rays. However, the two colors of the Skin Aqua Tone Up UV Essence, lavender and mint, are made for different skin types. While lavender is mainly for anyone to use, the mint green version is more for those who may have redness to their skin caused by acne, pimples, or other skin problems.
Final Thoughts
I am going to be completely honest-I loved it. I was so scared to use this sunscreen at first, mainly because I thought that the “toning up effect” would make my skin look unnatural and weird. However, the hint of lavender color complimented my skin by making it appear brighter and healthier!
If you have trouble evening skin tone or want a natural-looking brightening and glowy effect, this product is worth the buy! Or if you’re like me and a little scared of trying a sunscreen with a “toning up effect” but want to try something like it, you should start this product for sure!
By Kaitlyn C.
