BEAUTY OF JOSEON - Robynrose review for Matte Sun Stick Mugwort + Camelia

I received this product at a discount from StyleKorean in exchange for my honest review 🌱 Brand Story: Beauty of Joseon is a Korean skincare brand inspired by the ancient history of Korea, and the beauty secrets of the Joseon dynasty, one of the longest continuous monarchies in the world. Despite the royal branding, their products are surprisingly affordable for the North American consumer. 🌱 Claims: Vegan, Cruelty-Free, Fragrance AND essential oil free (!) 🌱 Key Ingredients: This sunscreen has 4 UV filters to provide broad-spectrum protection Diethylamino Hydroxybenxoyl Hexyl Benzoate Bis-Ethylhexyloxyphenol Methoxyphenyl Triazine Ethylhexyl Triazone Polysilicone-15 Camelia Sinensis (Green tea) provides soothing antioxidants Mugwort provides skin-soothing properties 🌱 Texture: A Translucent, light green balm stick. This product seems to have a higher skin-melting point than the purely moisturising balm sticks from Thank You Farmer or Mixsoon. It can be a little tuggy to start, so just make sure you warm it up on your hand. 🌱 Scent: None that I can detect, not even typical sunscreen ingredients 🌱 Price: $24.70CA for 18g or $1.37/g 🌱 Application: Having very dry skin, I usually apply a lot of hydrating and moisturising products before any sunscreen, which did not go over too well. This product is mattifying, and will fight your moisturising products, trying to cancel them out. The other issue I had is that my skin is dry, but also cool. I don’t really have a lot of skin heat, especially in cooler weather. I had a hard time starting the stick, and it was pretty tuggy. That said, it’s March. We are barely out of winter and definitely not into spring. I would love to try this product in the heat of summer when I exercise the most and my body temperature and sweat is much higher. Normal to Oily, and T-zone skin types will love this. It is MATTE. If you hate sunscreens that make you look shiny, this product will be a holy grail. But if your skin is naturally cold and dry, this just doesn’t have enough of those moisturising, emollient ingredients our skin craves. 🌱 Other Uses: Selfies! Although this formula may not be the mist comfortable if dry skin all day, I cannot deny the blurring and mattefying qualities it gives thanks to the high silicone content. If you are looking to fill in pores and blur out any dry skin texture for photos, this will give your natural skin a beautiful smoothness. The photos show my hand with the sun stick on the right side, while the left is bare. You can see the blurring qualities of this product. 🌱 Every day: Of course! You should wear and re-apply properly rated SPF every day. 🌱 Notes: Because I usually apply lots of hydration and moisture underneath my sun products, this stick fought the ingredients and made them pill up. When I put it onto lightly moisturised skin, it behaved much better, but still took a while to glide on my cool skin. If you have this problem, Try warming the stick up on your wrist or neck to get it started. If you have a very prominent nose like me, just make sure to blend around with your fingers to ensure even coverage. 🌱 Packaging: This stick comes in an oblong stick, with a short cap and a twist-up base. Accessibility: This style of twist-up base can be somewhat difficult for those with mobility issues, as it requires an awkward pinching grip. I much prefer the wide twist style of the Mary & May stick. 🌱 Sustainability: This stick product could be refilled if refills were made available. 🌱 Overall: This is a very mattifying stick for normal to oily types. It was a mismatch for my dry skin, but I’m glad I tried it because now I have an idea of what kinds of formulas are available.