On My Radar / New in Beauty

hi again Sabrina – in item #8, you say you have high copes for the Chanel nude nail polishes….i've been googling and can't find a reference to new nude nail shades from Chanel. can you share more details?
chanel makes THE prettiest nail shades imo, hands down!! i think they could improve their formulations, but no one can touch their colors.
thanks as always for your exciting posts and contributions to your fellow beauty lovers!!! xo sj

I really love the new Avene Mineral Ultra-Light Hydrating Sunscreen Lotion Face SPF 50 for my uber-sensitive skin. I can't say enough about it!

I've been wearing the new First Aid Beauty mineral sunscreen for the past week and am very impressed with it. It has been very gentle on my dry, mature, rosacea prone skin. Beauty.com currently has 20% off site-wide (until 5/24) and so I ordered a few tubes of it. I simply can't tolerate any chemical screening agents on my face, neck, or décolletage. And, even though FAB applies with a white cast, it very quickly disappears. I used to love Chanel's SPF 50 until they reformulated a few years ago. Since then, I can no longer wear it wihout irritation 🙁 So many sunscreens billed as being for sensitive skin actually contain chemical screens in addition to the titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. For example, SuperGoops mineral sunscreen for sensitive skin contains so much chemical stuff, it actually stung my skin.

^Loving these recs, Amanda! SUNSCREEN: I hear good things but haven't tried Drunken Elephant sunscreen. I was also in the market for a new mineral sunscreen, broad spectrum block. I watched Angie of HotandFlashy on Youtube and tried out her recommended, Exuvience, which I like. It is similar to the LPosay 50 tint that I also like. I then tried the Coola mineral sport active sunscreen and like it. Plus it smells delicious-Mimosa scent. I also tried Benefit & find it is interesting. Like an oil texture but not an oil–strange but good!☺

I was also going to mention that I thought Skinceuticals had a sport sunscreen with only physical sunblocks with SPF 50. I've been usng Paula's Choice sunscreens exclusively fo ryears. Every daytime moisturizer she makes has sunscreen, most just non chemical sunscreens, and I know she has a new one with SPF 50. My favorite is the Resist daytime moisturizer for oily,combination skin. I have dry skin, but layered over any old moisturizer, this has SPF 30, is slightly tinted, so if you have to run out in 5 minutes, you still have sun protection and a slight evening out of your skintone. It is only zinc oxide sunscreen, but has antioxidants, resveritol, and other good stuff for your skin. So it doesn't just prevent wrinkles, but does try to be a treatment as well. Its not waterproof particlarly, but the physical sunblocks are naturally more water resistant. A German company called Laverna sells a spray on sunblock that contains only physical sunblock and is extremely water resistant, we used this exclusively when my kids werel little, because they liked the spray on and I liked the broad spectrum sunscreen with no fragrance or color. Sunscreen technology has been making amazing strides, it should not be too hard to find a product that will work. Don't be embarassed to look for stuff make for kids, they do not tolerate anything burnign their eyes, so you will find many gentle products there. As long as you stick with only zinc oxide and titanium dioxide as the active ingedients, you'll be fine!! Good luck, and thanks for all your hard work!! I have just one question is return, I have unbelieveable dark circles/craters under my eyes. I have very fair skin so I've been using Bobbi Brown' s corrector in LIght Bisque for years. I tried MAC's prep and prime Radiant Rose as well. Thie pink tints just don't do it. Can a fair skined person use an orange tint like you mentioned in one of your recent posts? Any suggestions appreciated. Happy summer!

Obagi Matte Sunscreen SPF 50 is great for my sensitive, normal skin type. I mix it with Embryolisse moisturizer (somewhat diluting the SPF I know) and let it sink in for a minute or two. The concoction absorbs completely without leaving any telltale white residue. My skin is hypersensitive after using a retinol product back in October of 2014 and this mixture doesn't produce any redness or irritation. Plus, both products are reasonably priced (even though Embryolisse is imported from France). I live in Florida where the sun is relentless and this sunscreen doesn't melt in the heat and doesn't sting my eyes if I perspire. It stays in place really well. I also ride a motorcycle with my husband and use this before every ride. It truly protects my skin really well. There's not been even a hint of sunburn. For drier skin, the Neutrogena Face Shield, the oil free formula, is quite dewy and offers a very high SPF. I use this if my skin has reacted to some mysterious new ingredient in my makeup routine and has cause red, scaly patches. It is definitely a more moisturizing formula than the Obagi. I haven't tried HE sunscreens because my research has told me that sunscreen ingredients do not vary very much and that good drugstore brands or dermatologist recommended formulas are as good as, if not better, than their expensive, high end counterparts, i.e. Chanel, Dior, etc. Normally, I am a HE makeup brand buyer, finding that drugstore cosmetics, in general, cannot compete but this is one area where I digress from that policy. I see that your reviews generally encompass extremely expensive makeup but it would be nice to see some niche brands and middle of the road brands reviewed as well. Just FYI.