A Real Review of Farmacy Green Defense Mineral Sunscreen
It’s sunscreen season! Sure, every day should be a sunscreen day. But few things scream “summer!” to me like the smell of SPF. Despite this, I find myself joining in on the hunt to find sunscreen that don’t smell, feel, or look like sunscreens. Such tedious fun! My most recent trial was on the Green Defense Daily Mineral Sunscreen from Farmacy Beauty. It retails for $37 from both Sephora and Farmacy itself. Let’s dive into the details!
Wearing Green Defense
Texture
Farmacy’s Green Defense has a light, almost whipped texture. It’s smooth but not quite creamy. It's not particularly lightweight, but it's also far from thick and heavy. It's a pretty solid middle ground.
Application
Like many mineral sunscreens, Green Defense is a bit tricky to blend. This is not a sunscreen you can slap on as you run out the door- you’ll want a mirror and a few minutes to get it all rubbed in. It’s thick and dries quickly. Despite my best efforts at blending, my husband waited until we were at Target to point out a few white patches and streak marks across my face. Thanks for that, Nate. At least there was no obvious white cast! My skin is fairly light, so darker complexions may have a different experience.
Wear
White streaks aside, the sunscreen wore really nicely. It didn’t pill, make my eyes burn, or get greasy as the day went on. It leaves a soft and vaguely powdery finish. It’s also pretty comfortable- I couldn’t really tell that it was on unless I touched my face. I did find that it clung to patches of dry skin after settling in. See below for before, during, and after application.
Ingredients
Like many mineral sunscreens, Green Defense is advertised as “clean” and “reef-safe”. Both of these terms are relatively unregulated, so pop over and check these out if you’d like some additional info:
The Truth About “Reef-Safe” Sunscreen
I Don’t Care About Clean Beauty (And Neither Should You)
Green Defense utilizes 18% zinc oxide to provide broad spectrum SPF 30 protection. The zinc oxide is non-nano, meaning the molecules are large enough that they will not absorb into the skin. This is the basis of mineral sunscreen! It forms a protective barrier that sits atop the skin and blocks UV rays. Another benefit of non-nano particles is that they’re too large for corals to ingest, making non-nano formulas much more reef safe.
Farmacy’s website allows you to click each ingredient in the Green Defense formula to see its purpose. It’s kind of fun to mess around with- check it out sometime! See below for some additional info from their site.
Overall Thoughts on Green Defense
Well, I don’t hate it. I also don’t love it. There are much better mineral sunscreens on the market (and also much worse). The price is the biggest downside for me- $37 for a somewhat unremarkable sunscreen is far out of my preferred budget.
If you’re big into clean beauty and want a decent mineral sunscreen, this is a fine option. If price isn’t a factor, it’s a pretty solid option! But sunscreen science has come a loooong way in the past few years. You don’t need to spend a lot to get a nice formula.
So what do you think? Will you be trying Farmacy's Green Defense Mineral Sunscreen?
Let me know if you've got any questions about it, too! I'm happy to help.
As always, thanks so much for reading. I'll see you soon!
xoxo,
Lindsay
