Menturm the Sun UV Watery Milk SPF50+ PA++++

After Sunkiller Perfect Strong Moisture SPF50+ PA++++, which unfortunately didn't work out very well for me, I moved on to this 35g bottle of Menturm the Sun UV Watery Milk SPF50+ PA++++.

This time, I laughed out loud when I dispensed some of this stuff into my palm. I fell for that "watery" label yet again, folks! And you know what, the last sunscreen with a false "watery" claim was also Menturm, the Menturm Watery Gel UV. Hmm, there's an emerging pattern here, that is, I'm an idiot =.=" Why do I keep getting tricked by this?!? Argh! As you can see, this sunscreen is so thick it's more like a cream, much less a milk. As for the "watery" claim? Completely, utterly false.

The very first time I applied this, I put on the usual amount, and boy oh boy did it feel like a kabuki mask, very heavy and pasty. The active ingredients are a mix of chemical and physical mineral filters, octinoxate (メトキシケイヒ酸エチルヘキシル), zinc oxide (酸化亜鉛), and Uvinul A+ (ジエチルアミノヒドロキシベンゾイル安息香酸ヘキシル). So unfortunately, it does leave a white cast after it sets, which takes a good 5+ minutes or so being so thick (still better than the Sunkiller sunscreen that doesn't set at all!). I'll also give it some credit for leaving behind a dewy finish. Too bad about the white cast, because I do think would set to a more elegant finish if it weren't so opaque.

At this point, I was pretty disappointed. I mean, 2 sunscreen duds in a row! I know better than to expect a hit every time, but at least most of them work decently well. Then a funny idea popped into my head--what if I mix this super thick and opaque sunscreen with the super thin and translucent Sunkiller one?

So I tried it, first with 25 drops of this Menturm milk and 5 drops of Sunkiller, mix them in the palm of my hand before applying. And what do you know, it works! The Menturm milk was still pretty thick but it wasn't as heavy, it wasn't pasty anymore, and most importantly, the white cast was gone and I got a dewy finish after the mixture sets! Woo hoo!

Then I tried 24 drops of Menturm and 6 drops of Sunkiller and that failed. Kind of crazy how just one additional drop would ruin the mix, but I went from a nice dewy finish to a shiny and tacky one like I did when I wore Sunkiller by itself. So yeah, I've been mixing it 25-5 ever since, and you can actually see how much thicker Menturm is versus Sunkiller in the picture!