Sunscreen: Coola vs. Suntegrity

I flipped the Coola sunscreen over because the lettering was rubbing off.

Since sunscreen is the best defense against aging, I try to be pretty religious about applying it daily on my face.  I am a big lover of Japanese sunscreens, which are super lightweight and great under makeup.  However, lately, I have trying out some less “chemically” sunscreens I discovered from the Detox Market website.  Just a little background from their website, it is a store that sells “pure products” with “safe, glowing ingredients.”

Today, I am going to compare the Coola Face SPF 30 Cucumber Matte Finish (not sure if this is discontinued because it is not on the Coola website anymore, they have a similar product called the Face SPF 30 Unscented Matte Tint) and the Suntegrity Natural Moisturizing Face Sunscreen & Primer.

Ingredients

Both of these products have organic ingredients, but Coola states that all their products are at least 70% organic.  Suntegrity emphasizes that their sunscreen is not toxic and “UV Chemical Free”, whereas Coola uses the word “natural” more as their main selling point.  Both are also mineral sunscreens (Coola 3.2% titanium oxide and 1.8% zinc oxide and Suntegrity 20% zinc oxide).

Both also emphasize their skin care benefits in their products as both contain antioxidants and skin beneficial ingredients such as rosehip oil (Coola) and aloe vera (Suntegrity).

Price

They both contain exactly the same amount of product (1.7 oz/50 mL).  The Coola sunscreen ($36 USD) is a bit cheaper than the Suntegrity one ($45 USD).

Application

This is the category where these products are so different!  The Coola sunscreen almost has a light, airy, and almost whipped texture.  It blends into the skin pretty quickly and doesn’t leave any hint of a white cast.  It leaves the skin matte, obviously hence the name, and also pretty dry to the touch.  The only drawbacks are that it will ball up upon application over certain skincare and you have to shake it up quite a bit or else it will separate when dispensed.

Actually, the reason I decided to switch sunscreens was that the Coola sunscreen starting balling up into little bits when applied over my skincare (shara shara Honey Bomb All In One Ampoule). The application of the Suntegrity sunscreen is completely opposite to the Coola one.  It is a thick cream (maybe due to the higher amount of active ingredients in it) that it takes quite a while to blend in and definitely leaves a bit more of a white cast when applied.  It is also more tacky and doesn’t really completely dry down throughout the day.

Scent

One other huge difference is that the Suntegrity sunscreen has a pretty strong scent and the scent lingers for a few hours or more.  I feel it smells like creamsicles.  I am pretty sensitive to scent, and it took a while to get used the scent.  It still bothers me a little till this day.  On the other hand, the Coola has the “unscented” scent (haha) with a hint of cucumber maybe.  It definitely doesn’t linger.

Longevity

Both of these last quite a long time on the skin.  I would say the Suntegrity sunscreen lasts a bit longer since it is also touted as a primer.  Even though the Coola websites says that this sunscreen will give a “line-blurring finish,” I feel like Suntegrity will even blur out your pores more maybe due to the thicker formula.  Also, because of the thicker formula, I feel it is a bit more moisturizing.

VERDICT:  I think both of these sunscreens are quite good.   Both have their pros and cons.  If I had to pick, I would probably choose the Suntegrity one, but I really had to get used to the scent.