The Biore SPF 50+ UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence is not only one of the best-selling and affordable sunscreens sold in Japan, but it is the ultimate sunscreen for all skin types and tones! Read more to find out why!

Living in Japan for over 20 years, I have tried so many sunscreen products and can even call myself a sunscreen fanatic. Looking for sunscreen that has so many great features, such as being light in texture, water/sweat proof and moisturizing, can be really hard to find. Although there are many other Japanese sunscreens that I like, nothing beats the Biore SPF 50+ UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence!

I’ve had a pretty long relationship with this sunscreen since my high school years, and there are so many reasons why I still use it. If you are all about a sunscreen that is affordable and easy to use, then you must read about why this product is worth the buy.

About the Bioré beauty brand

Bioré, owned by Kao corporations, is a very famous Japanese beauty brand that is best known for their many skincare products. Some of their well-known products include their Bioré Pore Strips and Bioré Deep Pore Cleanser.

Developed under innovative technology, Bioré products contain unique formulas that make their products more effective and different from other brands.

Quick Facts about Biore SPF 50+ UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence

The Bioré UV Watery Essence Aqua Rich Sunscreen contains an advanced micro defense formula that is specifically developed by Bioré for this particular product. The formula not only helps spread the product evenly and smoothly onto the surface of the skin, but the formula lets the product stay on your face longer.

According to Kao, in this Bioré UV Watery Essence Aqua Rich Sunscreen are 6 components to this product that makes it different from many other sunscreens. It has micro water capsules that hydrates your skin, has special key ingredients such as hyaluronic acid and royal jelly extract, is waterproof and can easily be washed off using soap, is colorless, is difficult to get pimples, and is allergy tested.  

Ingredients: Water, ethanol, ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, ethylhexyl triazone, isopropyl palmitate, (lauryl methacrylate / Na methacrylate) crosspolymer, hexyl diethylamino hydroxybenzoyl benzoate, hydrogenated polyisobutene, bis ethylhexyloxyphenol methoxyphenyl triazine, palmitic acid Dextrin, BG, xylitol, (Acrylates / alkyl acrylate (C10-30)) crosspolymer, dimethicone, alkyl benzoate (C12-15), glycerin, glyceryl stearate, propanediol, glyceryl behenate, (vinyl dimethicone / methicone (Silsesquioxane) crosspolymer, cetanol, agar, sorbitan distearate, isocetes-20, polyvinyl alcohol, (dimethicone / vinyl dimethicone) Rothpolymer, stearoyl glutamic acid, arginine, hydroxylated K, hydroxylated Na, royal jelly extract, hyaluronic acid Na, phenoxyethanol, EDTA-2Na, BHT, fragrance

Skin type: For all types of skin

Texture: Lighter than gel, not liquidy, smooth

Fragrance: Gentle scent of white muguet

Packaging: 19 x 11.4 x 3 cm / 49.9 g

My Initial Impression

I personally hate sunscreen that leaves a white cast, mainly because it makes my skin look very unevenly toned, as well as sunscreen that is sticky and uncomfortable to have on your face. But when using the Bioré Sunscreen, it’s very obvious that this product does not do any of that, even just by trying out a small amount. It’s not greasy, sticky, or heavy, and best of all, it is colorless, meaning that it will not leave a white cast.

Although there is no explanation for how much product I should be using on my face, I used two finger lengths worth of sunscreen for my face, neck and head––the amount recommended by doctors . The product quickly dissolves into my skin the second I spread the sunscreen on my skin, so I think that if you feel like you need to use a little more product to get that protection from the sun, there is no problem with building up the product. The best part is that my pores do not feel clogged at all, which means that applying my makeup on top of this sunscreen is not going to make my makeup look cakey at all.

I’ve struggled with pimples and blackheads in the past and have used skincare products that have made me breakout even more. Oftentimes, those products made my skin worse than it already is (yes, even sunscreen can be the cause for pimple/acne breakouts sometimes), probably because it made it hard for my skin to breathe, clogging my pores. However, because the Biore UV Rich Watery Essence is very light and thin, my skin has not had any breakout caused by this product.

Taking the product off is very simple, and all you need is facial soap to do so (unless you are wearing foundation or concealer, of course). This is something that I really like about this Biore UV Rich Watery Essence sunscreen because it means that you can use this anywhere on your body, and take it off without worrying about leaving any residue.

Effects/Results of Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence

Even if I leave the product on for more than 10 hours, I see no changes at all. It literally looks as if I just applied the product, keeping its nice settled glow. It does not crackle up, nor does it become flaky. As the product contains moisturizing ingredients, my skin did not go dry.

For my everyday makeup look, I usually apply concealer or foundation on top of my sunscreen. When I used the Biore Sunscreen in the same method, my makeup did not budge at all, which means that it’s very effective to use as a makeup primer.

The big question is, how is the UV protection of this product? I’d say the UV protection is phenomenal, especially because it is waterproof and sweatproof, meaning that your skin will still be protected even if you go for a swim in the pool, or decide to walk outside on a hot humid summer day. Even on a day with harsh sunlight, if you apply this sunscreen, it’s difficult to get a sunburn, which means that this product works very well in protecting your skin. Although this product sticks to your skin so much better than most sunscreens, especially because of its advanced formula, it is still important to reapply this product every 2 hours , which is recommended by doctors, to make sure that your skin is protected at its maximum.

The Pros and Cons

Overall, I have to say, it is pretty difficult to think of any cons, because the product works very well with my skin. Nonetheless, I will be listing some cons that do not apply to myself, but may be applied to others.

The Pros:

• SPF50+ and PA++++

• Light weight

• Not Sticky or Greasy

• Colorless (White cast free!)

• Sweat and Waterproof

• Not runny/liquidy

• Works well with makeup (foundation)

• Stays on skin very well

• You can build up the product without having to feel that there is a lot of product on your face.

• Easy to take off the product

The Cons: 

• There is no explanation on how much sunscreen to use, so it’s difficult to determine how much to put on and reapply to protect your skin from the UV. However, due to the complex and well-developed formula, as well as the ability to build up the product without making your skin uncomfortable, I’m not too worried about how to use it. But it would be nice to have some reference to follow.

• Some people may sense a strong scent of alcohol

• Not cruelty free

• May be drying to some people’s skin types, or vice versa, greasy (may depend on your skin type or environment you live in)

Biore Aqua Rich UV Watery Essence vs. Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Gel

Aside from the watery essence version, Bioré has come out with a gel version of the product. The Gel version is a little bit thicker in texture, but many of the components stay the same, such as the advanced micro defense formula that Bioré developed specifically for the Aqua Rich sunscreen series, as well as the colorlessness.

Although you can use both products on your face and your body, the biggest difference between these two products is that the Biore Aqua Rich UV Watery Essence is better to use on your face as a foundation primer rather than the Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Gel, which may be better to use on your body. The Biore UV Aqua Rich watery Gel may be used on your face for foundation primer, but the chances that the sunscreen gel would become flakey is higher since the gel version is denser than the watery essence version.

Final Thoughts

You already know it, but I give this product a 100 out of 10! There may be so many sunscreens in Japan that are good, but considering the price, amount of product, usability and quality of this product, this sunscreen is hands down the best! This product is something that all people should use in their skincare routine, or use at least once in their lifetime.

I think that this product can be used by the majority of people with all kinds of skin types, especially because of its colorless feature and that it’s easy to work with. However, just note that just because this product works very well for me, it may not necessarily work for you.

By Kaitlyn C.