On most days, sunscreen isn’t an afterthought. In fact, it’s been at top of my mind for the past month. Between this heatwave and the gargantuan amount of mosquitoes nipping away at my arms and legs, I don’t leave the house unless I’m covered in SPF and multiple layers of bug spray. It’s kind of like summer camp, minus the smores, swimming pool, campfire songs, and daily human interaction. (I hope my social skills are still intact by the end of this year.) I’ve never been loyal to one sunscreen brand. I typically try something and as long as it doesn’t clash with my makeup or make my skin look gray, I’ll use it until another option comes along. That tradition ends with this Black Girl Sunscreen review because, oh my goodness—where have you been all of my life?!
Okay, to be fair…it’s been sitting on my desk for longer than I’d like to admit. Black Girl Sunscreen has been around since 2016 and before then, I listened to friend after friend rave about how much they were obsessed with this sunscreen. Whenever I would ask why, no one could quuuuite put their finger on it. The stuff is just that good, they would text (with many emojis and gifs) or tell me. So when I realized I would be working from home longer than anticipated and had free time after a doctor’s appointment to swing by my work desk for candles and other remote work must-haves, I grabbed a handful of beauty products I kept forgetting to bring home and try too, Black Girl Sunscreen included.
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Black Girl Sunscreen.
So here’s the thing—literally nothing about this product screams “sunscreen” in a good way. One, it feels like rich and creamy body lotion. The ingredients are the equivalent of a tropical cocktail you’d sip on vacation: moisturizing and vitamin E-rich avocado, vitamin C-enriched carrot juice, skin tone-balancing cacao, and calming sunflower oil. With that being said, you really don’t need a lot to adequately cover any part of your body. I typically use a pea-size amount for my face and a dime-size on an arm or leg.
And yes, it dries down clear and leaves a nice sheen, similar to the kind you’d see using a sunscreen spray (but better). As for the actual sun protection, Black Girl Sunscreen utilizes a set of four active ingredients that don’t include oxybenzone and octinoxate, both of which could be disruptive to the body. In other words, this sunscreen is natural, cruelty-free, and fragrance-free.
You know what else I love about Black Girl Sunscreen? It has saved me so much money on other body moisturizers. If you’re wearing this, there’s no need to layer it on top of another body lotion. Unlike other sunscreens that can get dry and sticky after some time, BGS is very much an all-in-one product that won’t leave your skin ashy after a couple of hours. I guess what I’m trying to say is this is the best non-sunscreen sunscreen to ever exist. Oh, and it’s sold in heaven on earth, otherwise known as Target. Need I say more?
