CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser Versus EltaMD, Inc UV Shield Broad-Spectrum SPF 45

Love hate relationship
I’ve been using it almost for year. It clears my skin and it doesn’t break me out but I think it’s too drying for me. I...

Love hate relationship
I’ve been using it almost for year. It clears my skin and it doesn’t break me out but I think it’s too drying for me. I have sensitive combo skin and every time I use my skin feels slightly tight. The reason I was using it for soo long is because I didn’t realised that tight feeling wasn’t normal. So maybe it’s better for more oily skin.

Every teen struggling with acne needs this!
This is the product that helped me get through my horrible acne breakouts. It’s the one cleanser I...

Every teen struggling with acne needs this!
This is the product that helped me get through my horrible acne breakouts. It’s the one cleanser I recommend to my younger clients.

Lesvds me glowing and hydrated
I use this every morning and it blends in perfectly with no White cast at the end and leaves my skin feeling soft,...

Lesvds me glowing and hydrated
I use this every morning and it blends in perfectly with no White cast at the end and leaves my skin feeling soft, hydrated, dewy, and glowy!

This was the first product by EltaMD I ever used, and overall my experience was good through three months of use. This SPF in particular is a dual...

This was the first product by EltaMD I ever used, and overall my experience was good through three months of use. This SPF in particular is a dual chemical/physical filter using 9% zinc oxide and 7.5% octinoxate. Sometimes in particular with chemical UV filters irritation is an important consideration, and I bring this up because while researching this product I did find a small amount of study findings that point to octinoxate causing an inflammatory/irritating response for some individuals (especially skin types with rosacea, eczema, or psoriasis). Speaking anecdotally, (while I do have very sensitive skin) this chemical filter in particular did not cause me any irritation, as did not any other ingredients in this product. I found UV Shield to have almost no scent as well as leaving a finish that isn't particularly shiny or overly matte (I love this aspect in particular comparative to other EltaMD sunscreens). My only concern with this product is something I think is seldom considered in choosing moisturizers/sunscreens, and that is its emollient ingredient contents and potential for breakouts, especially in acne-prone skin. Oftentimes individuals look to the term "pore-clogging" and first think of heavy occulsive ingredients such as petrolatum and dimethicone. Personally, while I do agree that heavier occulsives can indirectly contribute to clogged pores they are not the culprit in many cases. When looking at comedogenicity (measure of "pore-clogging" potential) for ingredients, occulsives more often than not rank low because they act as a physical barrier to the skin that doesn't readily penetrate the outermost stratum corneum. On the other hand, emollients are more prone to rank higher in comedogenicity because they function to help soften and smooth skin via (much) better penetrating the stratum corneum. Both emollients and occulsives can be crucial for prevention of transepidermal water loss, with the latter being more often heavily implicated in extreme cases of dryness. In the instance of this product, I came to find out isopropyl palmitate is ranked high on the comedogenicity scale (3-4 out of 5). I did also end up suffering from increased breakout incidences with my personal use this product. The ultimate silver lining to this spiel, however, is that all skin reacts differently and while emollients ranking high in comedogenicity like isopropyl palmitate may quite visibly worsen acne in some individuals, a null effect may just as likely be observed in others.