Clinique Derma White City Block Anti-Pollution SPF40 : A Sheer Tinted Sunscreen Not BB Cream

Many years ago, I’d tried a sample of Clinique’s City Block tinted sunscreen that comes in a pale green tube (I was on Makeupalley at that time and everyone raved about it for some reason) and I hated it. It was thick, oily and the colour was so off for me, it was not funny. Hate!

So when Clinique released the Derma White City Block Anti-Pollution sunscreen with tint, and asked me to take it for a spin, I balked. I balked so long its taken me till now to tell you about it 😛 If you read reviews at Makeupalley, this sunscreen gets a 2.8/5 rating which is pretty abysmal. Happily, I no longer go by Mua ratings and I must say I like this sunscreen, as a sunscreen. Don’t go thinking its anything but that. I went to take a gander at the Clinique counter to test the Clinique BB Cream against this tinted sunscreen and I must say I much prefer this one for texture and tint.

This is the second sunscreen I’ve come across that touts anti-pollution benefits (the first was Clarins UV Plus HP). It seems to be the current trend – products that help shield our skin against pollution and environmental aggressors (which are also aging).

I mentioned that this was a tinted sunscreen, so here’s the swatch. I believe it only comes in one colour, pretty much like the BB Cream.

Clinique Derma White City Block Anti-Pollution sunscreen swatch Left: Straight from tube Right: Blended

For my skintone, this colour is quite perfect. It is a light beige that blends right into my skin. If you are of a darker skintone, I’m not sure how this will fare on your skin but because it is so sheer, I don’t think it’ll make much difference.

Once blended, it is practically nothing on my skin. Although there is a tint, it isn’t quite sufficient to even out all skin faults as any coverage is very low. There is some skin brightening though. So do not expect this to perform in place of a foundation or like a BB Cream. I personally think it too sheer for that but maybe it could work as a base. However, if you have good skin and just want something to even things out this works and if you dust some powder over it, you’d pretty much be good to go.

I find the texture light – rather like a gel emulsion – and it absorbs quickly into my skin and does not cause me any problems. It must be noted that I do now have normal-combination skin with less problems than before but I do not get super oily throughout the day at all. That seems to be a prevailing lament about this one, so to test, I have been wearing this on normal work days under makeup (periodic sun exposure), by itself on weekends when I’m out and about, by itself on weekends when I’m cooped up in a hot environment and in most cases, I did not turn into an oil slick. My skin did turn a little bit oily around the T-zone which happens all the time anyway.

I tried a dab of the Clinique BB Cream at the counter. Colour wise, the colour in this product suits my skintone better. The BB Cream was too dark/yellow. Texture wise, I also prefer the texture of the City Block because it is so much lighter and more fluid. I’m glad I wasn’t asked to take the BB Cream for a spin. Clinique wouldn’t have gotten much raves from me for that one LOL!

I don’t have the box, but I found a list of ingredients from this blogger who likes it too:-

Active Ingredients: Zinc Oxide 8.8%, Octinoxate 7.5%, Titanium Dioxide 6.6%, Octisalate 2%

Ingredients: Water/Aqua/Eau,Trioctyldodecyl Citrate, Butylene Glycol, Dimethicone, Octyldodecyl Neopentanoate, Steareth-2, Silica, Aluminum Stearate, Angelica Acutiloba (Japanese Angelica) root extract, Porphyra Yezoensis (Algae) extract, Hordeum Vulgare (Barley) extract/Extrait d’orge, Zizyphus Jujuba fruit extract, Paeonia Suffruticosa (Peony) root extract, cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) fruit extract, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) seedcake, Saccharomyces Lysate extract, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) flower extract, Rosa Roxburghii fruit extract, Paeonia Albiflora (Peony) root extract, Gardenia Florida extract, lecithin, Poria Cocos Sclerotium extract, Propylene Glycol dicaprate, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria), yeast extract/faex/extrait de levure, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) root extract, citric acid, peg-100 stearate, Betula Alba (Birch) bark extract, acetyl glucosamine, tocopheryl acetate, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) extract, caffeine, magnesium ascorbyl, phosphate, squalane, glycyrrhetinic acid, Gentiana Lutea (Gentian) root extract, Oryza Sativa (Rice) bran extract, Ceteth-2, peg-40 stearate, sorbitan tristearate, magnesium aluminum silicate, polyglyceryl-6 polyricinoleate, tricaprylin, sucrose, stereath-20, sodium rna, sodium stearate, isopropyl titanium triisostearate, stearic acid, pantethine, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) leaf extract, Bifida Ferment Lysate, Glycine Soja (Soybean) seed extract, glycerin, barium sulfate, glucose, caprylyl glycol, hexylene glycol, polyethylene, peg/ppg-18/18 dimethicone, Citrus Unshiu peel extract, xanthan gum, disodium edta, bht, chlorphenesin, phenoxyethanol, mica, iron oxides (Ci-77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), titanium dioxide (Ci 77891)

It has a good mix of physical and chemical blockers and although it does have Zinc Oxide, again it isn’t breaking me out which is of course a good thing. Its such a good thing, I’m tempting fate by giving the Diorsnow sunscreen another chance. That one has a high zinc oxide content so I’m going to see how I fare with it after my last disastrous outing.

Mayhap you have tried this one and have some thoughts on it? 🙂 I do recommend you try this out at the counter before you buy or see if you can get yourself a sample to see if it works for you. I like using this on lazy days. A touch of concealer, a dab of powder and I’m good to go! 😀

Paris B

Clinique Derma White City Block Anti-Pollution sunscreen SPF40 PA+++ retails at RM135/30ml at all Clinique counters. Unsure if this is only available in Asia.