Choosing a sunscreen can bring out your inner Goldilocks — this lotion is too thick, this one is weirdly greasy, this one makes your face ghostly white. It’s a boring exercise, especially when all you want is applause for your diligent sunscreen use.
So cynical me, I was immediately skeptical of Shiseido's clear sunscreen stick which promises to avoid all those issues and seemed too good to be true. But it is actually that good.
Shiseido’s Clear Sunscreen Broad Spectrum Wet Force stick ($40, Sephora) is a gel solid in a swivel-up stick that you swipe on with broad strokes, so your fingers never touch the product. When sunscreen application is simple and mess-free, you are hopefully more inclined to reapply, because for sunscreen to work, you need to keep topping up every two hours if you are outdoors and wet (preferably from being in a pool or lake, if it’s a day like today.)
Shiseido’s Clear Sunscreen stick protects against both UVA (aging) and UVB (burning) rays with broad spectrum SPF 50, and Shiseido’s proprietary Wet Force and HeatForce technologies that cleverly leverage heat and water to amplify the sunscreen's effectiveness. (It’s as if Shiseido is compelling you to get in the water.)
And because it’s a gel solid, It won’t drip into your eyes when you ride a bike, play tennis, tend to your garden or just live your life in our unreasonably humid climate. And if you are a makeup wearer (and props to you for wearing makeup in this heat) you can even swipe it over top and it won’t disturb your makeup at all. It is the easiest sunscreen to use by far. So no excuse. Go get it before it sells out again.