First Impressions: Banana Boat Simply Protect Sensitive Face Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50+

So, over Christmas, I was given a gift voucher to iSubscribe, and instead of going with a magazine (I'm a diehard Vogue fan, but I don't even read the thick, glossy pages of my subscription every month), I thought I'd revive a little something that I used to have all the time, back in the early days of the blog, and that was Bellabox! I signed myself up for 6 months of the service, and I was quite pleasantly surprised when it arrived.

There were four full sized products and one sample sized toothpaste, and I was very pleased to see that I would actually use all of it. As this isn't a breakdown on Bellabox, I won't give you my thoughts on each product, but I will tell you what was in the box. I received a Maybelline Dream Urban Cover Liquid Foundation in Natural Beige, a Brite Organix Hair Masque, a White Glo Charcoal toothpaste, which was the only sample in the box, a Bean Body Espresso Lip Balm and a Banana Boat Simply Protect Sensitive Face Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50+.

Given that I was running low on my face sunscreen, I wanted to break out the Banana Boat and give it a go. Also, I was genuinely curious, as my experiences with Banana Boat only extended to their body sunscreens, and I wanted to see how they would modify their product to suit the face. Retailing for $16.99 for 50g, this comes in a white tube with a blue flip lid. 

The product is quite thick, and white, and as it is a zinc based sunscreen, I was prepared for it to create a bit of a white cast with it's application. I'm no stranger to physical sunscreens and zinc based products, and I didn't really think beyond the fact that it might result in a slight white cast. However, despite the claims of it having a 'light texture' on the information sheet that was provided in the box, it certainly did not come off that way. Instead, I found this to be quite thick and gluggy, and no amount of rubbing it into the skin helped initially. I had to wait for it to dry down a bit, which took a while, before I could really work it into the skin. I still ended up with a really white hairline (at least I know that I will actually take it all the way up there!), and makeup was the one thing that aided in covering up over the rest of the face.

Essentially, I was looking to replace my daily sunscreen and face moisturiser with this, and unfortunately for me, that's not it. Having tried this on my hands, I'm pleased with how much better it seems to work on there, but I'm not convinced that I can use this on my face regularly. Not the best first impression, sadly, but I'm glad I got to try it via Bellabox, rather than shelling out the dough for something like this. A definite win for the box, if not for the product itself.

Have you tried this sunscreen before? What has been your favourite discovery from a subscription box?