MY SKIN CONCERNS: Hydration, redness, roughness, PIH, hormonal acne. Normal/combination skin, prone to dehydration because I live in an arid desert.
BACKGROUND
Shiseido, according to wikipedia, is one of the world’s oldest cosmetics companies. It was founded in Japan in 1872, and consequently has some really cool vintage ads that pop up on pinterest every now and then. Fast forward a hundred and fifty years or so, and it’s the fifth largest cosmetics company in the world, posting net sales of $6.8 billion in 2014. [1] By contrast, the Korean giant Amore Pacific–which owns Innisfree, Sulwahsoo, Laneige, Etude House, Mamonde, and a whole bunch of other famous kbeauty brands–posted $3.5 billion that year.[wiki]
But does bigger actually equal better?
The short answer is… not really. Comme ci, comme ça. It’s too bad because in theory, a larger budget means that–as with pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer and Eli Lilly–Shiseido should have the budget to create the sort of R&D enterprise that smaller operations can only dream of. Unfortunately, perhaps because of the YMMV nature of skincare, the quality of their products just doesn’t seem to reflect that for me. I do like some of their products here and there–I like their sunscreen, I liked an eyeliner pen I got from them that’s since been lost, and I LOVE all the hair care products I’ve tried from them–but as for things that I put on my face, it’s just been a
very
sad
meh.
And it’s not even that their facial skincare products are bad–they’re not. It’s just that when I’m asked to pay $45-55 for a cream, or $25-32 for a cleansing oil, I expect the product to give me reasons to spend that amount–reasons which Shiseido so far has not given me.
Let’s get on with it, shall we?
THE PRODUCT
Shiseido White Lucent Brightening Protective Cream w/ Broad Spectrum SPF 18, hereafter referred to as “cream”, is an occlusive product list with a long list of claimed functions:
Tranexamic acid appears to be the star active ingredient here. Applied topically, it appears to reduce redness and inflammation.[2] This cream also contains 2-0-ethyl ascorbic acid, but between the water in the cream, the certain-to-be-way-too-high pH, and the almost-certain-to-be-extremely-low concentration, I wouldn’t expect it to actually do anything for your skin. The remainder of the ingredients seem to be pretty run of the mill for an emollient cream, with some sodium hyaluronate thrown in for hydration.
TEXTURE & APPLICATION
I purchased this during a long and ongoing search for an occlusive that wouldn’t break me out, but would be heavy enough to keep my face from drying out in the desert where I currently live. This cream is thick and emollient, faintly peach-colored, with a texture quite similar to the Jergen’s lotion you can find at the drugstore. It also has an odd scent that I can’t quite place. The physical sunscreens make it somewhat difficult to apply, since they leave a strong white cast that requires a lot of patting and massaging and ultimately may never fully absorb.
For consumers who want their faces whitened, the non-absorption is a feature, not a bug; others will be reassured to hear that I did see the white cast from this cream disappear… mostly. I definitely had a few days where I missed a streak or white patch. And if my skin just wasn’t in the mood to drink up any more product by the time I got to this one? Forget it. I’d just have to live with the white cast all day. I think this is why you can’t see a white cast in the photo of my wrist–I don’t normally put skincare on my wrists the way I do on my face, so they were happy to absorb the cream. I also like to layer a lot of high-concentration snail products on my face, which tends to slow my skin’s absorption of rich emollient creams significantly.
The issue with the white cast led me to use significantly less of this product on my face than I typically do with creams, which may have been part of the reason I saw very little improvement in my skin while using this.
SKIN EFFECTS
I had hoped to see a reduction in redness using this cream, which I did not see. I actually experienced several instances of irritation, with painful, dry red patches around my nose and under my bottom lip… but I can’t conclusively attribute those to this cream. I patch tested it on my wrists and used it on both my face and neck, and had no issues with either my neck or wrists. However, this type of irritation is not among my normal skin concerns, so I was suspicious.
Even discounting that, the Brightening Protective Cream’s performance was just… lackluster. It hydrated, but not especially well. It has some UV protection, but it’s not a sunscreen and shouldn’t be used in place of one. It didn’t brighten my skin. Basically, it was a lightly hydrating occlusive that wanted to leave streaks on my face, and that was it.
Functionally–and assuming that the episodes of irritation were unrelated–I’d compare this to the Mizon Black Snail AIO Cream, which costs $10.49 on Amazon Prime. (Note that this is NOT the regular Snail Repair AIO; the Black Snail one has a much creamier texture and kinda smells like an old lady’s bathroom.) The Brightening Protective Cream, by contrast, retails between $45 and $55 at Amazon or Sephora, or for less (mine was $29.99) if you find it at your local Marshall’s. For someone who enjoys overpaying for products and has skin as insensitive as a dead baby joke, it might be a good purchase. To anyone else, I’d say don’t bother.
Rating: 2.3/5.
1 – This should be taken off the market, or this failed at its one primary job.
2 – Caused me some problems or doesn’t work very well; would not buy again.
3 – Meh. Neither great nor bad.
4 – Pretty good. Would buy again unless I find something better.
5 – I’ll never be in the market for a replacement unless this one is discontinued.
Rating system created by 50 Shades of Snail. Reproduced and used with permission.
Skinceuted 
