Althea's Petal Velvet Sunaway review

Hello friends! Last month Althea released a new addition to their expanding line of beauty products(as I'm writing this, they've just dropped another! I'm sure you guys could probably already guess what prop I'll be using for the upcoming product shoot *wink wink* hehe). Back to today's star, if you're following Althea's instagram, you've probably already heard of their Petal Velvet Sunaway which is a sunscreen with SPF 50+ PA++++ and I guess you could also say that it's an addition to their 'Petal Velvet series' I've talked about previously!

They sent me their sunscreen last month and after testing it out over the month, I'm here to share my thoughts on it with you guys! I will be talking about how it looks and feels on my skin so I hope it helps you guys to make a decision if you're currently eyeing this on Althea's website :D

The sunscreen comes in this simple box

At the back of the box you'll see the product info. It's mainly in Korean so if you can read Korean, good job! If you can't like me, we'll just have to rely on the product page itself on Althea's website. Thankfully, the team managing the website does a good job in providing us with the info we need!!

Some info that I could read is that the Petal Velvet Sunaway is formulated using an advance Micro Particle technology and the key ingredient in this sunscreen is Damask Rose extract.

According to the product info page, Damask rose extract is used to moisturize and soothe the skin. While the Micro Particle Technology creates a Micro Powder Barrier. This barrier is described to absorb sebum and excess oil from the skin to give a light and velvety finish.

For full list of ingredients, you may refer to their product info page here.

 Do take note to shake well before using.

By the way, just like all the products in Althea's beauty line, Althea offers a 30 Day Unconditional return policy.

Jeng jeng! Here's the product itself. The packaging design is simple and straightforward plus it matches their og Petal Velvet Powder!

Before hopping into my review for Althea's Petal Velvet Sunaway, lemme show you guys quickly how their og Petal Velvet Powder looks like. Currently there's 3 shades available - Translucent, Pink Lavender, and Warm Beige. I've tried a few loose powders in the past, apart from my all time favourite Chanel Poudre Universelle Libre powder, this is my next favourite powder.

I reviewed the translucent shade previously when it first came out and you can read about it here. Absolutely love the frosted glass looking packaging that's actually a lightweight plastic.

As you can see I'm really just enjoying the rare lighting I spotted at home when I woke up the other day LOL. Too bad this lighting didn't last long :( Anyways, since I already have the translucent and pink lavender shade, I don't see myself needing a new loose powder any time soon so I would most probably give these away some time in December? I've wanted to do a giveaway for quite some time as the one I did previously was more of a box of products I had to give to a better home because I only have 1 face and I can't use everything I got/bought on impulse haha.

Well, it'll be a big help if you guys lemme know what products you would hope to receive for christmas, let me know by leaving a comment below or just slide into my DMs on instagram *wink*

Now back to the sunscreen review...

[ How To Apply? ]

Step 1: shake

Step 2: Squeeze. You'll need a little more for your face but I squeezed a lil too much for my hand.

Step 3: Spread

Voila

[ How It Looks? ]

It's like any other sunscreen right outta the tube. It's pretty liquid-y so blending it out is pretty easy.

But it blends into the skin perfectly! No white cast at all unless you apply more than 3 layers in a go. No one does that, I know, but I tried it out of curiosity anyways. 

If you're in an indoor environment, you probably won't have to touch up much but if you'll be out in the sun all day, I recommend re-applying your sunblock every 2 hours-ish especially if you think the sun is particularly strong. This sunblock provides a pretty good oil control and my face looked way less oily than usual by the end of the day, but despite that, if you're out in the sun, you're re-applying your sunblock for the SPF/skin protection purposes and not for the oil control.

[ Price + Where to Purchase? ]

Althea's Petal Velvet Sunaway sunscreen retails for RM43 and you get 55ml of product. As far as I know, you can only purchase it HERE on Althea Korea. Althea also has a bundle set that is on promotion right now where you can purchase their Sunaway sunscreen + their petal velvet powder(you can choose which shade) for RM53.10 instead of the usual RM59. As always, if you don't have an account, you can sign up via my link for a 20% disocunt on your first purchase :3 

[ Final Thoughts? ]

Overall rating: 7/10

[ What I liked 💖 ]

Now let's run through what I like and dislike about Althea's Petal Velvet Sunaway. I think in general, I'd say I love most parts about this sunscreen especially how it looks on the skin. Most sunscreens I've tried in the past tend to leave a white cast on my face but the Petal Velvet Sunaway blends into my skin perfectly. It does not leave any white cast that will make my complexion look dull-er than it already is from all my zombie nights. +1 for no white cast

As for how it feels + looks on the skin, the formula felt pretty light-weight but also a tiny bit drying for me. Certainly did not leave any greasy or sticky-tacky feeling on the skin though. True to it's claims on being a part of the Petal Velvet series, this sunscreen actually left my face looking matte with a slight velvet-y feeling. After wearing it from morning-evening (without touch ups because I was only staying home with my assignments), I only noticed a slight sheen on my cheek and nose whereas usually my face would've already looked like a walking reflector by noon. So +1 for oil control/photo-ready finish and +1 for lightweight formula.

However!! Because of it's matte-finish, although my skin did not look dry, it did feel a little dry/rough. So do remember to moisturize when use. -1 for dryness (supposed to go on the dislike section but felt right to place it here). By the way, speaking bout moisturizers!!! I revisited the Althea's Bare Essentials Fixer Cream that I found too oily previously and lately it's decided to work on my skin so that has now became my daily morning moisturizer. I've been using it as my morning moisturizer for maybe 2 months now so I'll go back and update my Bare Essentials review soon on what I did differently this time.

Pricing wise, I think it's pretty fair. Sunscreen for the face was never cheap to begin with so RM43 for 55ml of product sounds like a decent price. Especially when it leaves no white cast.

Lastly, it's the scent. I have a neutral standpoint in this. If you love the scent of roses, you'll most probably love this sunscreen. The Sunaway has a pretty strong rose scent(probably from the Damask Rose extract) and I believe that it's either a hit or miss for everyone. Personally, I don't mind the scent but would've preferred it to be a little toned down.

[ What I disliked 💔 ]

Now that I've covered everything I like about the Petal Velvet Sunaway, I do have to share with you guys what didn't work for me with this product apart from it being a lil too dry for my liking. This section is pretty short because the only thing I didn't like is kind of an user-skin-compatibility problem haha. As you guys would know by now, I have acne prone skin and lately my skin is extra picky towards skincare(lost track how many times I've said this). So unfortunately, as much as I love how the sunscreen looks on my skin, I did notice a few new breakouts and tiny bumps after using it.

Don't get me wrong though, I do love the sunscreen but because of my skin's nature(pretty sure my skin barrier is all crazy now), this sunscreen is just not compatible with my skin :( and that's just how it is. Some products work great with certain people's skin types and some just don't. It's a complex grey matter to talk about but just know that products that works for me might not necessarily work for you and vice versa products that works for you may not necessarily work for me. Even if we both have 'acne prone skin', we have a different lifestyle etc.

[ I would recommend this to? ]

If you have normal-oily skin type and you love the matte-face look, I do recommend giving this sunscreen a go as most(possibly even all) my friends absolutely loves this sunscreen!! If you have dry skin type, I think you can give it a go too, but remember remember remember to moisturize!!! Though if you have large pores and acne prone skin, this mightttt not work for your skin? However if your skin type is as such and this sunscreen worked for you, I'm super envious of your skin ok!!!😭

PS: I'm obviously unable to tell you guys how well it withstands the sun rays(like any other sunblock actually) because I'm not visiting any beaches and even if I do visit a beach, I'm not daring enough to go sun bathing to test out various sunscreens like this one dude(boyfriend??) on Twitter I saw some time back. 

Thank you for reading until the end! Hope this review helps and if you have any questions, just leave a comment below 😊

Purchase/read more about Althea's Petal Velvet Sunaway HERE.

*This product is sent to me for review purposes but the opinions stated are 100% mine based on the results I've noticed on my own skin*