Biore seem to be one of the few brands that I can rely on year after year to have truly lightweight sunscreens that I can use all year round. For winter and general everyday wear (i.e. you’re spending most of your day inside), I really like the Aqua Rich line because it doesn’t dry my normal skin out and it’s a breeze to use — most have been featured in their own reviews already so do browse through them here if you haven’t already. On the other hand, I’d reach for the UV Perfect line (all the milks) if I’m spending some time outside or I just want a matte base. They’re all affordable, effective, and suitable for women as it is for picky men.
Biore have revamped the UV milks last year in 2014, upping their UVA protection to PA++++. And now — they have actually gone and improved the formulas again! After extensive testing of all of them, I have to say there’s no noticeable difference between last year’s and the even newer versions. I’ve been doing split-face tests with them — 2014 versus 2015 formulas and Perfect Face Milk (white bottle) versus UV Perfect Milk (blue bottle) — and it’s like trying to spot differences between monkeys.
If you liked the previous 2014 formula (do read my Best Pick review here), you’d get on very well with this latest incarnation — I can’t tell the difference between them on my light, non-oily skin. The renewed Perfect Face Milk (again, the white bottle) is supposedly more invisible on the skin — my skin is fairly light so both formulas look perfectly invisible — I’d be interested to know how this new version fares on darker skin!
All 3 sunscreens are water, sweat, and sebum-resistant, and they have the same super-lightweight milky fluid texture that set quickly to a powder matte, dry-to-touch finish. They’re an excellent option for people who hate the heavy feeling or the greasy shine that some tenacious formulas can leave. Now, I must point out that these are not for those who have dry skin — even remotely. They are formulated to keep normal to oily skin matte and shine-free in hot and ultra-humid conditions. My normal skin is slightly drier during weather changes, but it’s still not what I’d call dry by any stretch of the imagination, and I prefer prepping my skin with richer-than-usual moisturiser when I use one of these sunscreen milks to make sure I’m well greased up.
The newly upgraded blue bottled Perfect Milk is for both face and body, and it’s actually almost identical to the shorter Face Milk. It has added fragrance (undetectable unless I put my nose to the bottle) and its matte finish is a tad less flat — but unless you do a side-by-side comparison to nitpick, there’s no discernible difference between them.
If I had to choose one, it’ll have to be the UV Perfect Milk as it’s essentially the same as the Face Milk, but you get an extra 10ml of product! The UV Perfect Bright Milk comes in at a very close second — I featured the previous formula in my Top 5 Japanese Sunscreens for 2014, and this renewed 2015 version feels and looks the same.
Biore UV Perfect Face Milk (30ml), Biore UV Bright Face Milk (30ml), and Biore UV Perfect Milk (40ml) are ¥682 each in Japan.
