Diamonds & Pebbles: Garnier Ambre Solaire Advanced Sensitive Sunscreen.

Okay, so last week I was in Sardinia with my sister for a week. Because of liquid restrictions (yes I’m STILL talking about that) I wasn’t able to bring my Nivea Sun Protect and Moisture SPF50 sunscreen or my Hawaiian Tropics SPF30 sun lotion, so instead, I opted for the Garnier Ambre Solaire Protection Lotion with SPF30 (which was amazing by the way). However, after half a day spent on the beach and skin that was several shades darker, I realised that a measly SPF30 just wasn’t going to cut it. I then popped into the local supermarket and picked up the Garnier Ambre Solaire Advanced Sensitive Sunscreen with SPF50.

The first thing I noticed about the sunscreen was how thick it was once it touched my skin compared to it in my palm. When I first put it on my leg, it took so much effort to rub it to get rid of the white cream. But then once the cream had been rubbed in, I noticed that my leg was grey (my biggest pet peeve when it comes to sunscreen), before turning a kind of silver purple. It’s now that I really wish I had taken some pictures to prove my point – but oh well. I think it took about an hour for the product to properly get absorbed into my skin because it was at this point that my skin turned a REALLY dark brown. After this, I found that reapplying the sunscreen was okay and that my skin didn’t go through the same colour cycle.

Another thing I noticed was how congested and blocked it made my skin feel. It honestly felt like it was clogging my pores and made me want to scrub my skin until it was clean. At first, I thought this was a result of it having such a high SPF, but then I remembered I didn’t have this same feeling with my Nivea. Perhaps it’s the formula? Who knows?

The only thing I liked about the sunscreen was that it really made me feel like my skin was protected from the sun’s rays. I mean, if it could clog my pores like that, there’s no way any amount of UVA or UVB could possibly penetrate my dermis, right?

Would I buy it again? The fact that it took so much effort just to spread over my body is enough to put me off. But then throw the weird colour cycle and feeling of clogged skin into the mix… I think you have your answer. No way.