Agree with the reviewer below - this made me look like the Joker! I am always on the lookout for sunscreens with Zinc Oxide as the active ingredient because my powder makeup has physical sunscreens in it. Although I am quite pale, this still was completely unwearable. It had a matte finish (which is rare) but there is no way I could go out in public with this stuff.

Leaves too white an effect.

I think I'm one of those few who actually like this product. I've used and am always searching for different and better sunscreens (both chemical and physical). I've used Bioderma photoderm fluid for several years now, but felt that the protection was not that great. I decided to try the Mineral version since I'm ttc and cannot use chemical ones anymore.
Pro: Does not break me out, feels light. Stays put and provides excellent protection. Skin stays matte. Also, for the amount you get, price is actually pretty good.
Con: Like everybody else, it is very very whitening. You really have to blend well. But once blended, with mineral makeup and light powder on top, my skin looks amazing.
I will definitely buy this sunscreen again.

This review is for the Bioderma Photoderm Mineral SPF 50+ Fluid (the photo that's currently displaying for this product is wrong).

Put the Bioderma on this morning and the first thing I noticed was that there was a very obvious white cast. I looked like The Joker from Batman! I figured I'd give it time to sink in, but over about 30 minutes my face began to tingle (that's the first sign of irritation for me with sunscreens). By one hour the tingle was turning into an itch so I decided to remove it. The white cast definitely hadn't gone, so even without the irritation it wouldn't work for me.

This stuff is tenacious! It took 2 goes with MAC Cleanse Off Oil to remove it completely (and I was being generous with the oil and doing it properly). Perhaps another oil/makeup remover would be better at removing it, but MAC usually gets sunscreens off pretty easily.

I have been using this everyday for the last 5 days. Since I could not find this info elsewhere (even on the bottle) I did a few calculations on the Ciba sunscreen simulator and found that to have a PPD of 22 and SPF of 50 you would have to have 15-16% zinc oxide and 20% titanium dioxide. So that definitely explains the cast it leaves regardless of whether or not those ingredients are micronized or not. First, the bad: The cast: as my b/f puts it I look like I've applied a thin layer or porcelain to my skin when I apply this, and that is a very apt description; it's a white w/ slightly pink cast. If you've got anything other than fair skin forget about this s/s as there's no way it's going to work for you. Don't bother trying to mix it w/ anything tinted as it's pointless and won't work no matter how much you mix in. Removal: you've got to use an oil based emulsifying cleanser to remove it completely. If you try to simply massage your face w/ oil (in my case safflower oil) and then tissue off it will not work; it just turns into a sticky mess. So it's got to be an emulsifying cleanser. You've also got to follow w/ another cleanser; I would recommend it be foaming and have AHA or BHA to make sure that you really get your skin clean. I haven't tried putting liquid foundation on top of this, but powder looks heavy and mask-like, and if you're using MMU expect it to be shiny (not "dewy and fresh", but "hi, I'm Whitney Houston can someone please mop my face"), so you've got to use a matte finishing powder on top (another layer of stuff on my face, yay!). It's not all bad though. For one thing it works. I spend a good part of my day outside in the SoCal summer sun sweating to death exercising and caring for horses, then jumping in the pool, and I haven't got even a hint of pink on my super sun reactive skin. Under makeup there is no noticeable cast, and it doesn't change my foundation color. For another thing my super sensitive and super acne-prone skin seems to love this stuff; zero breakouts, and no contact dermatitis. Hallelujah! It's not heavy, sticky, or otherwise noticeable on my skin which is great because I'm super picky about all those things. Another thing: it's not at all greasy, which is a real problem w/ almost every single physical s/s I've tried. I know almost everyone else has reported it as being drying, but I've found that over my normal moisturizer (abra therapeutics calendula phyto-serum and a touch of devita revitalizing eye lift creme) it has not been at all drying. For me, personally, I am completely willing to overlook all the bad things about this sunscreen because of the high protection. I walk around w/ just this on my skin and frankly even though it looks weird I really don't care because my skin even w/o me using MaMa Lotion and Retin-A Micro .1% (which I use nightly), is so reactive to the sun. It's not perfect, but it's not horrible either.

Like many other people here in this community concerned for the well being of their skin I am still on the quest for the perfect sunscreen.
Yes, I tried many, differing in texture, finish, effects on the skin, and lately I have been convinced that the mineral based ones are better for the skin - as abusing on Chemical filters is not so good for the skin on the long run. Chemical filters (in SPF 50+) are heavy and regularly clog my pores – even if I do thorough cleansing in the evening (with makeup removers plus oil plus foaming cleanser etc.).
So lately I decided to switch to the 100% mineral filters and turned to Clarins UV Plus SPF40– that I really love as it is cosmetically elegant, does not clog pores, is very gentle on the skin (even the more sensitive) but wanted to try something more as a) Clarins SPF 40 has a low PPD and b) it is quite espensive.
Bioderma Photoderm Mineral 50 SPF is a good 100% mineral sunscreen designed for the more sensitive and allergic skins. It comes in a convenient 100 ml tube, is suitable for face and body. Not expensive, you can get in it France for around 14 Euros.
The Pro’s:
- really gentle on the skin, does not sting even around the eyes' area
- offers a good protection & does not clog pores
- has a creamy texture, but not too greasy: your face does not turn completely oily in a couple of hours (provided that you put foundation and powder afterwards, read on in the Con’s why!).
- has a really high PPD (22!!I guess one of the highest on the market)
- is not expensive
The Con’s:
- Your face is completely WHITE after you spread it. (It is mineral based, and its action is to contrast sun beams with a physical screen). And the with cast - resembling more a white paint - combined with the pink tones of your skin, results in a mauve/lilac colour, amazing!! - does not go away even if you blend for a long time or you let it dry.
It is very resistant so the white stuff will not go away, no way! As an example, I happened to have my legs with some redness from sunbathing and did not want to get burned the next day on the beach; I put the Bioderma on both legs: it stayed put all day long from morning to evening with that white cast!!.
So, if you need to use it for your face please bear in mind that you need to “conceal” the “white paint” with foundation or whatever other –coloured- mean.
There is no way you can go outside with a white/lilac/fluorescent face you get while wearing only that sunscreen on….(unless it's Halloween!! :o) - believe me.
- Not cosmetically elegant for the reason above
- Not so easy to spread; I wish they made a version for face only.
- After some hours, it is very drying, especially on the dry areas like cheeks.
- It is heavy - I mean you feel it on the skin, it a strange sensation, like your face is covered with something.
I really had high expectations on that sunscreen.
Of course I will finish my tube while sunbathing but as far as face sun protection is concerned, I will stick to Clarins and continue my quest for the perfect sunscreen!
_____
PS: the picture loaded above does not correspond to the product reviewed here: the box of the Photoderm Mineral is WHITE with Orange lettering (and Bioderma is written in black).
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I really wanted to love this product but it did not work out for me. I will give some points for the very high UVA/UVB protection. I also love that it is fragrance free. However it leaves a very white cast which makes it hard to get the full 1/4 teaspoon onto your face, I did add a few drops of foundation to help with the color but pretty much nothing helped with how drying it is. The best way to describe the finish is chalky-I could actually feel it on my skin and it is very hard to wash off. I felt like my skin looked very dull. It is also not available in the states so I had to order overseas-so my reasonably priced sunscreen now became an expensive sunscreen. On top of it all-it broke me out-so I will not be purchasing again.

When it first goes on it's white but it sinks in. I quite like the initial whiteness because I can see where I've applied it and it makes me wait before putting on makeup. It doesn't have any affect on the colour of my LM MMU and the texture feels good througout the day - not too oily, not too dry.
The consistency is good - not too runny but not too thick - and it's in a big 100mL tube. I've only used it for a few days but I was outside a lot in the sun on those days and it protected my skin well. It's the best combination of texture and protection that I've found so far.
I have senstive, normal to dry, clog & acne-prone skin. Recently I have tried Sofina (too drying & feels like a film), Clarins SPF40 (similar feel to Sofina & smells awful), Avene Cleanance (too drying & irritating), Avene for Sensitive Skin (too chemically), Avene High Protection Cream SPF50 (very thick & white) and Megan Gale Invisible Zinc (cosmetically elegant but I question its protection). In the past I tried lots of ss and I've realised that my skin doesn't like chemical ss so I was happy to find a high UVA/UVB physical ss.
So far I haven't been disappointed. I'll definitely continue using it and will update if anything change.
UPDATE: I'm finding that this doesn't sit so well on my dehydrated skin or under makeup. It also doesn't react very well to water/moisture. It turns slightly white if you sweat and I can't spritz with thermal water - the texture changes & is difficult to touch up. I so wanted to like this! It's the only physical sunscreen that I've tried that doesn't clog my pores and the protection is very good but I can't wear anywhere near 1/4 teaspoon - I don't mind being pale but I don't like the geisha look! continued >>