3.5 Stars- great product, but needs work! (Olay Total Effects Touch of Sunshine)

Member Name: I-tried-this

Product:	Olay Total Effects Touch of Sunshine
Date:	31/08/09 (53 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice natrual sun-kissed glow

Disadvantages: No UVA or UVB protection, a film-y finish and may make make-up wander...

I can't even remember where I bought this from- apologies for that! But I do recall it was on offer and for around £5 which seemed like a great deal to me as these can go for as much as £20 a pot.

So, what is it? Essentially, it's a moisturiser. But it also has SPF in it, SPF of 15 (Sun Protection Factor) which is fairly good bog standard protection for your face all year round. If you go outside the UK to warmer climates however you may want something higher- just bear that in mind. There is nothing also to state there are any UVA or UVB protectors in this cream which is a shame. UVA and B protect from sun cancer rays and ageing rays. SPF protects from burning. It all gets quite complex but at the end of the day, your better off with a product that includes all three not just one for optimum protection. Maybe this cream is good for here and there but perhaps not every day.
You get 50mls of product which may not sound a lot, but actually is as the product itself does go far- this does worry me: sun cream has to be applied in the correct dosage or it will not give its correct protection. If you only apply half of what your supposed to, you will only get an SPF of 7.5 which is barely anything really. Again, this product works well, but perhaps not every day.

Application is fairly easy. You do need a lot of rubbing in (or smoothing in!!) and time for the cream to settle before you can go outside as it does not sink straight in. But once it has settled your good to go. There is a slight film over your skin, but I would advise you to take a look in a mirror as the glow it gives you really does make up for the film!

I would not advocate wearing any foundation with this cream on, the sun-shine look you get looks so natural, so fresh and so even that foundation would just ruin it. The film is not too shiny- though it can mess with make-up (eyeliner to be exact) so try to opt for waterproof varieties, especially if you know your going out somewhere - I went running after applying the cream on my face. I nipped into the ladies to get some tissue for my nose and found my eyeliner had moved to cover the entire lid of my eye! That said, the cream did not irritate my eyes like some SPF creams do.

The glow lasts all day- or at least until you wash. The idea is that you wear the face cream every day and the colour builds on your face. It's a nice idea and would be one I would try but for three reasons: firstly that it does not help prevent ageing from the suns rays, secondly, it does not help prevent against the cancer rays. But one other important reason is that I don't want to end up looking like I have forgotten to apply fake tan to the rest of my body! The colour on my face is excellent, I would worry about the deepening colour, two days in a row is really enough for my pale face, and the fact I don't apply any fake tan to the rest of my body may end up with me looking quite odd! The colour builds quite quickly, even though you wash it off daily in the shower, it still builds so beware!!

There are two varieties of this cream, one for light sun-kissed glow, which is the one I am reviewing, the other for darker tones.

Would I buy this again? Well I would try to look for one which had UVA and B protection, plus I would try to find a way to get a matt result so I could wear eyeliner without fear! But for £5 I think this is an excellent deal. I don't know if I would pay £20 for it, but the sun-kissed effect is very nice and what I would be paying the £5 for. The sun protection would be a bonus. For £20 I would expect full sun protection at the least. As I am stingy, I would also expect a product which didn't leave a film on top of that. I don't think that product exists, but this is on the way to being a great product.

Summary: Good cream overall, but could be so much better!