The Inkey List Polyglutamic Acid Dewy Sunscreen SPF30 - An Expert Review
The latest SPF to hit the beauty industry is The Inkey List Polyglutamic Acid SPF30, which claims to hydrate, prime, and protect the skin. As a skincare expert, sunscreen is one of my favourite products to test, so I’ve taken a deep dive to see if this is worth the hype.
The Inkey List Polyglutamic Acid Dewy Sunscreen SPF30 Review
First, let’s take a look at the claims that The Inkey List are making about the product. Those are in bold, and I’ve added my take next to each.
Lightweight - There is no doubt that the texture of this sunscreen is lightweight, and it blends beautifully into the skin.
Non-pilling – Pilling is where your skincare products clash with one another for several reasons, such as incompatible textures, which cause a bobbly or balling effect on the skin – almost like the products are peeling. It’s super frustrating when this happens, as it often means you need to start your skincare and makeup from scratch. I personally struggle a lot with this claim, as a product pilling depends on the other products it is being applied with. There’s no way to know how the consumer will layer a product, and therefore whether it will bobble on their skin.
Primer – The concept behind the new Polyglutamic Acid SPF30 is that it is a makeup primer as well as your sunscreen. The finish is tacky to the touch, which I think works well as a long-wear primer to grip hold of your makeup and help keep it in place.
Dewy base – In my opinion, this product has a semi-dewy finish as opposed to a fully dewy one. I have definitely tried sunscreens that have a dewier finish, so I think this is best if you want subtly glossy skin rather than full-on glow.
Protection – This is an SPF30, which isn’t the highest protection you can get from sunscreen - but I don’t want you to get too caught up on that straight away. The most important thing about any sunscreen is that you apply enough to receive the protection indicated on the packaging and that you reapply it regularly. The recommended amount to ensure SPF30 is a quarter of a teaspoon for the face or half a teaspoon for both the face and neck. If you’re normally SPF adverse, then it’s better to have an SPF30 with a nice texture that you want to apply liberally rather than an SPF50 you dislike, and as a result, only use sparingly. If you don’t apply enough of your SPF30, you can be getting as little as SPF10 in reality.
Who does it suit?
The Inkey List Polyglutamic Acid Dewy Sunscreen SPF30 is perfect for dry and normal skin types. If you are suffering from dehydration and your skin feels constantly parched, thirsty, and tight then you will really enjoy using this sunscreen.
Who Doesn’t it suit?
Due to the tacky nature of The Inkey List Polyglutamic Acid Dewy Sunscreen SPF30, I don’t think that anyone with an oily complexion, or anyone who doesn’t like the feeling of SPF sitting on their skin, will enjoy this. I think it feels lovely in the spring but when the summer heats up and you’re travelling on public transport without air conditioning I think it has the potential to feel heavy and unpleasant on the skin.
What Is Polyglutamic Acid?
Polyglutamic acid is the hero in this formula and was chosen because of the success of The Inkey List’s Polyglutamic Acid Serum. But how does it work? Polyglutamic acid is a type of ingredient called a humectant, and is thought to be able to hold four times more water than the super hydrator hyaluronic acid. Just like HA, polyglutamic acid is super hydrating, excellent at binding water in the skin, and helps with moisture retention. Unlike hyaluronic acid, polyglutamic acid isn’t naturally present in the skin, and it also has a much larger molecule size. This stops it from penetrating deeper into the skin, so although it does a brilliant job of moisturising skin on the surface, it doesn’t have the same deep-down impact on lines and wrinkles that hyaluronic acid can.
The Inkey List Polyglutamic Acid SPF30: My verdict
If you have dry and dehydrated skin, you will really like this. But if you’re oilier and put off by the idea of a tacky finish, then this isn’t the sunscreen for you. As a skin expert, I wish The Inkey list had created this as an SPF50 as I know that most people won’t put enough on their skin to get the full SPF30 protection. It’s a good entry-level sunscreen to get you into the habit of applying a daily SPF but doesn’t leave any margin for error if you’re not applying the recommended amount. This, plus the fact the brand claim it is suitable for all skin types, is why it hasn’t got five stars from me.
Star rating: 3.5 out of 5
Thank You For Reading
Stay tuned for more blogs and follow me on social media for latest launches and more skin school.
Bye for now,
Fiona x
Links may be affiliated links which means that if you make a purchase though one of our links we receive a small commission which helps support and run this website.