I’ve been a fan of Kiehl’s for quite a while now, and several of their items (especially the awesome vitamin C serum) are part of my every day regimen. While I’m not a makeup person (you may have gathered that from my videos) I do really pay attention to skin care, and even geek out on it a bit. Not in a trendy way, even though that can be fun with all the neat stuff making its way over from South Korea and Russia. But being very fair skinned and hearing from older family members that they’ve had to get something zapped or cut off of them nearly every visit to the dermatologist has also meant I’m more than willing to make sure my sunblock and skincare game is solid.
And this goes for dudes too… while many of you are not about to don any “guyliner” you guys still are at risk for skin cancer… just ask my dad! And while the popular notion exists that women are intrigued by all your weird scars, it’s better if they have a story that’s more focused on some crazy adventure or act of heroism than a visit to the dermatologist, right?
So on any given day, here’s what happens… if I’m only going to be outside intermittantly, I choose my usual lightweight foundation with spf. If I’m going to be out there for an hour or two, or am training folks outside, or just wandering around downtown taking advantage of wifi every few 100 feet, then I go with the Kiehl’s Super Fluid UV Mineral Defense. I also wore this every day while I was out at the West Coast Throwdown event out in the boonies near Eugene, Oregon last weekend. The weather was great, but the sun was bright and we’re standing out there away from the trees flying drones and/or squinting at them as world class pilots make them do powerloops and such waaaay up in the air.
So, even at this somewhat rustic campsite (they had showers and a few power outlets) for the event, slathering a good bit of this mineral stuff on let me both protect my skin and also even out my skintone for the occasional snapshot without making me seem like some kind of princess twirp who needs to put on a ton of makeup on out here in the woods! At the same time, if I end up on someone semi-famous’s social media feed I also know I will at least represent myself pretty well.
On the flip side of that, I have been actively honing an “absolute minimum tv makeup kit” over the past year for more. It stems from a full kit that was custom assembled for me in New York which while it looks great on camera, it’s frankly much more than I want to do, and oh wow I hate eye makeup. Pretty sure that makes me “ex goth” at this point. Guess what I’m saying is that this lovely mineral sunblock with a slight tint plus sunglasses = really happy with impromptu videos and such. For example, the most recent videos I’ve posted on this site and also on Instagram were shot with just this sunblock on my face, nothing else (except my sunglasses because it’s bright out and I like my stupid Ray Bans, thanks).
And while I list “not really available on Amazon” in the list of cons, it’s really kind of not. Kiehl’s website is great and you get to select some very generous samples (I love them for travel) and they frequently have very good sales. On the flip side, Kiehl’s stores have been popping up in better airports too. I’m not a big non-online shopper unless we’re talking local and unique, so being able to pick up Kiehl’s staples in an airport (or when in NYC) is oddly convenient. For example I’d purposely chosen a longer layover on this last trip to Oregon so I could go shopping and goof off in the MSP airport. And yes, I picked up another bottle of this stuff since I knew we would be outside a good bit at the drone racing event. The 1.7 fl oz (50mL) bottle is not only carry-on compliant, it’s price won’t totally ruin your day (unless you accidentally leave it somewhere). It does tend to last a long time too, so that $38 will last a long time.
Kiehl's Super Fluid UV Mineral Defense SPF50+
Pros
- 50+ spf!
- Comes in a convenient range of sizes (I chose 50mL for travel)
- Lightweight feel, doesn't seem to upset sensitive skin
- Seems ok even on extremely pale people
- Stays put during crazy outdoor adventures
Cons
- Predictably a bit expensive
- May not work so well for all skin tones
- Not water resistant
- Not especially available on Amazon
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