Okay so... I 1000% bought this because of the packaging. Not gonna lie. That minty green bottle? Yeah, it was giving clean girl aesthetic and I just thought it'd look cute on my bathroom counter next to my Laneige lip mask and my random gua sha I never use. Did I check ingredients? No. Did I even Google what hyalu-cica means? Also no. I just saw “water-fit” and thought wow sounds hydrating and fun, let me click Add to Cart.

So when it came in, I was super hyped. Opened it immediately. The texture was nice, kinda like a lightweight serum meets a gel sunscreen. No white cast, which was a slay. It layered really well under makeup at first. I was like omg did I just find my holy grail K-beauty SPF?

Fast forward 20 minutes... why is my face itching 👁👄👁
Like not bad bad, but that annoying tingly “something’s not right” vibe. I ignored it because I always try to give products a few tries before judging (also I’m stubborn and I spent $18 on this, okay?). But next day? Little red bumps on my cheek. Not full-blown acne, just like... texture. My skin felt kinda mad at me.

Now for context, my skin is combo. Oily t-zone, dry-ish cheeks, and sensitive AF. Like, if a product has too much fragrance or alcohol or whatever weird essential oil, I’ll break out instantly. So I flipped the bottle and looked at the ingredients (finally lol) and realized:

⋆ It has centella asiatica, which I usually love, but maybe it’s too much for daily use with my skin
⋆ Also has niacinamide, which is fine for me in low %s, but who knows how much is in here
⋆ I spotted butylene glycol and pentylene glycol high up on the list... which sometimes break me out if I’m also using occlusives like dimethicone (which is also in here btw)

Honestly I felt kinda betrayed. Like, I thought K-beauty sunscreens were supposed to be foolproof? And everyone on TikTok was raving about this one. The “no white cast” thing is true, I’ll give it that. And it does feel cooling and refreshing when you apply it. But something about the finish was off on my skin. I got shiny real fast. Not like glowy dewy glass skin... I mean greasy, forehead-melting levels of shine. I blotted my face three times by noon.

By the third day I gave up. I swapped back to my EltaMD UV Clear and my skin calmed down in two days. No more bumps, no more itch. I think this just isn’t for sensitive-combo skin like mine, or maybe it just clashes with the rest of my routine (I use azelaic acid at night and maybe they didn’t get along? idk).

I still think the bottle is cute. I might keep it for travel just to look aesthetic when I’m packing for a weekend trip. But it’s not going back on my face. At least not daily.

TL;DR
⋆ Looks cute on your shelf
⋆ Lightweight, no white cast, easy to apply
⋆ Might work better for normal to dry skin that isn’t fussy
⋆ Didn’t play nice with my combo-sensitive face
⋆ Left me shiny and a lil bumpy
⋆ Wouldn’t repurchase — but I’ll stalk other SKIN1004 products just in case they make something more calming

If your skin is super chill and not moody like mine, this might be a cute daytime sunscreen. But if your skin freaks out when you try something new... maybe start with a patch test or just don’t get seduced by the pastel packaging like I did lol.