I don’t have the thickest of hair, and since I was young I remember my scalp getting sunburnt wherever I had my hair parted. I used to put up with applying cream sunscreen on my scalp which completely ruined any hairstyle and made my hair a greasy mess. I even tried spray on sunscreen, to only come to the same issue. I had a thought one day and wondered if sunscreen came in a powder since I know you can get face powders with titanium dioxide in them. I went to eBay and searched: Sunscreen powder and the first brand that popped up was Peter Thomas Roth, some TonyMoly which in mid 2015 was still in the 20 dollar range and then this little BB powder from Thailand under the brand Pond’s. It was 5 dollars and had free shipping so I figured this would be the perfect product to play with and see if powder sunscreen was something I could work into my routine.
And so it landed on my doorstep, little pink bottle with this extremely finely milled powder.
This is actually the darkest of the powder’s I found. It also has a little micro silver glitter in it
It also smells like baby powder
I really appreciated the English ingredients lists. And luckily when I posted this BB powder on instagram, one of my Thai followers translated the bottle for me (@benzliams she’s wonderful and kind) She also told me that these are generally marketed toward teens. I use etude house so YOLO.
First paragraph: Ladies~ stop worrying that your face wouldn’t look naturally smooth because Pond’s has invented fine loose bb powder that helps covering blemish scars, melasma, and freckles so you can achieve a smooth and natural look like Korean girls, and confidently show off your bright and smooth skin.
-fine BB loose powder helps covering blemish scars, melasma and freckles.
-For the pointers:
-gives very light coverage compared to foundation cream or pressed powder foundation
-absorbs extra sebum on the skin
-double UV protection~ protects skin from UVA and UVB rays
-in order to achieve higher effectiveness, use it together with the Pond’s white glow beauty pinkiss white glow lightening facial foam (longest product name ever)
Directions/use: apply loose powder on the palm of your hand and lightly pat all over your face
Warnings:
- Using cosmetic products with UV protection is only one of the many means to reduce the harmful effects of UV radiation.
- Read the direction thoroughly and strictly follow it
- When using this product if there is any skin irritation, stop using and meet dermatologist immediately
- Do not stay under the sun for too long even if you use sunscreens or any cosmetic products with sun protection
- Keep away from the sun
I really appreciated the warnings. I definitely agree that these are not the only means you of sun protection someone should be using. I think that its better to still use a lotion as your primary means, but if you’re using makeup or have a burnable scalp then these are a nice additional/touch-up option.
I also took the liberty of uploading the ingredients for each of my BB powders into cosDNA (if you ever see Peepingpompom that’s my entry on the site)
| Ingredient | Function | UV | Acne | Irritant | Safety  |
| Talc ▼ | 1 | 0 |
3
|
||
| Cyclopentasiloxane ▼ | Solvent Emollient |
3
|
|||
| Titanium Dioxide ▼ | Pigment Sunscreen |
  |
0 | 0 |
1
~
3
|
| Zinc Oxide ▼ | Astringent Sunscreen |
 |
1 | 0 |
2
~
3
|
| CI 77492 ▼ | Pigment |
1
|
|||
| Fragrance ▼ | Fragrance |
1
~
4
|
|||
| CI 77499 ▼ | Pigment |
2
|
|||
| CI 77491 ▼ | Pigment |
1
~
2
|
|||
| Mica ▼ | Pigment |
2
|
|||
| Aluminum hydroxide ▼ | Viscosity Control |
1
|
|||
| Aluminum stearate ▼ | Pigment Viscosity Control |
1
~
2
|
|||
| Niacinamide ▼ |
And now for a slew of products images and ingredients
Pond’s Magic Powder Oil & Blemish Control Cool Blue
Literally blue like the name. I don’t feel like it cools anything though
According to my fiance… He said this smelled Blue.
I think it smells like one of those ‘fresh linen’ candles
cosDNA of Pond’s Magic Powder Oil & Blemish Control Cool Blue
| Ingredient | Function | UV | Acne | Irritant | Safety |
| Talc ▼ | 1 | 0 |
3
|
||
| Cyclopentasiloxane ▼ | Solvent Emollient |
3
|
|||
| Titanium Dioxide ▼ | Pigment Sunscreen |
|
0 | 0 |
1
~
3
|
| Zinc Oxide ▼ | Astringent Sunscreen |
|
1 | 0 |
2
~
3
|
| Fragrance ▼ | Fragrance |
1
~
4
|
|||
| Aluminum hydroxide ▼ | Viscosity Control |
1
|
|||
| Aluminum stearate ▼ | Pigment Viscosity Control |
1
~
2
|
|||
| CI 77007 ▼ | Pigment |
Care Blink & Bright BB Gluta Powder
no shimmer here, just a powder that is a bit more peachy
Once again my fiance said this smelled… like peach… the color… he’s being lazy, he doesn’t have Synesthesia
This to me still smells like baby powder but it does have a touch of something sweet to the scent
cosDNA of Care Blink & Bright BB Gluta Powder
| Ingredient | Function | Acne | Irritant | Safety |
| Talc ▼ | 1 | 0 |
3
|
|
| Magnesium Carbonate ▼ |
1
|
|||
| Magnesium stearate ▼ | Pigment | 1 | 0 |
1
|
| Fragrance ▼ | Fragrance |
1
~
4
|
||
| CI 77492 ▼ | Pigment |
1
|
||
| CI 45430 ▼ | Pigment |
3
|
||
| Glutathione ▼ | Antioxidant |
1
|
Natriv Fresh White BB Oil Control Powder
This one had a nice slightly yellow tone. It smelled more sweet than baby powdery and once again had silver micro-glitter. As a child of the 90s I appreciate this.
The fiance said this smelled like cucumber melon, I could kind of smell it, the sweet melon part that is
cosDNA link for Natriv Fresh White BB Oil Control Powder
| Ingredient | Function | UV | Acne | Irritant | Safety |
| Talc ▼ | 1 | 0 |
3
|
||
| Isopropyl Myristate ▼ | Solvent Synthetic ester |
5 | 3 |
1
|
|
| Dimethicone ▼ | Emollient | 1 | 0 |
1
|
|
| Magnesium Carbonate ▼ |
1
|
||||
| Zinc Oxide ▼ | Astringent Sunscreen |
|
1 | 0 |
2
~
3
|
| Silica ▼ | Viscosity Control | ||||
| Fragrance ▼ | Fragrance |
1
~
4
|
|||
| Mica ▼ | Pigment |
2
|
|||
| Titanium Dioxide ▼ | Pigment Sunscreen |
|
0 | 0 |
1
~
3
|
| Triclosan ▼ | Preservative |
7
|
|||
| PEG-4 ▼ | Solvent Moisturizer |
3
|
|||
| Lactic Acid ▼ | Astringent Whitening |
4
|
|||
| Kojic Acid ▼ | Whitening |
6
~
7
|
|||
| Butylene Glycol ▼ | Solvent Moisturizer |
1 | 0 |
1
|
|
| Morus Bombycis Root Extract ▼ | Whitening |
1
|
|||
| Arctostaphylos Uva Ursi Leaf Extract ▼ |
1
|
||||
| Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract ▼ | Fragrance Anti-inflammatory Emollient |
1
|
|||
| CI 77492 ▼ | Pigment |
1
|
|||
| CI 77491 ▼ | Pigment |
1
~
2
|
|||
| CI 77499 ▼ | Pigment |
2
|
Natriv BB UV Powder SPF 30
Felt like this smelled fresh like a dryer sheet
cosDNA for Natriv UV BB SPF 30
| Ingredient | Function | UV | Acne | Irritant | Safety |
| Talc ▼ | 1 | 0 |
3
|
||
| Titanium Dioxide ▼ | Pigment Sunscreen |
|
0 | 0 |
1
~
3
|
| Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate ▼ | Sunscreen |  |
0 | 0 |
6
|
| Alumina ▼ | Viscosity Control |
2
|
|||
| Simethicone ▼ | Emollient | 1 | 0 |
1
|
|
| Aluminum hydroxide ▼ | Viscosity Control |
1
|
|||
| Hydrated silica ▼ | Viscosity Control |
1
|
|||
| Methicone ▼ | Antistatic Emollient |
1
|
|||
| Fragrance ▼ | Fragrance |
1
~
4
|
|||
| Mica ▼ | Pigment |
2
|
|||
| Silica ▼ | Viscosity Control | ||||
| Triclosan ▼ | Preservative |
7
|
|||
| PEG-4 ▼ | Solvent Moisturizer |
3
|
|||
| Lactic Acid ▼ | Astringent Whitening |
4
|
|||
| Kojic Acid ▼ | Whitening |
6
~
7
|
|||
| Butylene Glycol ▼ | Solvent Moisturizer |
1 | 0 |
1
|
|
| Morus Bombycis Root Extract ▼ | Whitening |
1
|
|||
| Arctostaphylos Uva Ursi Leaf Extract ▼ |
1
|
||||
| Glycyrrhiza Glabra Extract ▼ | Anti-inflammatory Whitening |
1
|
|||
| CI 77492 ▼ | Pigment |
1
|
|||
| CI 77491 ▼ | Pigment |
1
~
2
|
|||
| CI 77499 ▼ | Pigment |
2
|
Natriv UV Powder Clear White
cosDNA Natriv UV Powder Clear White
| Ingredient | Function | UV | Acne | Irritant | Safety |
| Talc ▼ | 1 | 0 |
3
|
||
| Isopropyl Myristate ▼ | Solvent Synthetic ester |
5 | 3 |
1
|
|
| Dimethicone ▼ | Emollient | 1 | 0 |
1
|
|
| Magnesium Carbonate ▼ |
1
|
||||
| Fragrance ▼ | Fragrance |
1
~
4
|
|||
| Zinc Oxide ▼ | Astringent Sunscreen |
|
1 | 0 |
2
~
3
|
| Triclosan ▼ | Preservative |
7
|
|||
| PEG-4 ▼ | Solvent Moisturizer |
3
|
|||
| Lactic Acid ▼ | Astringent Whitening |
4
|
|||
| Kojic Acid ▼ | Whitening |
6
~
7
|
|||
| Butylene Glycol ▼ | Solvent Moisturizer |
1 | 0 |
1
|
|
| Morus Bombycis Root Extract ▼ | Whitening |
1
|
|||
| Arctostaphylos Uva Ursi Leaf Extract ▼ |
1
|
||||
| Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract ▼ | Fragrance Anti-inflammatory Emollient |
1
|
|||
| CI 77492 ▼ | Pigment |
1
|
|||
| CI 77491 ▼ | Pigment |
1
~
2
|
|||
| CI 77499 ▼ | Pigment |
2
|
Part 2 Le Swatches and wear
You can’t do a product review without talking about swatches and wearability!
I started talking about using these powders like a dry shampoo/sunscreen. Which I do prefer to use the lighter ones for that purpose since the darker shades I can better use on my face and body.
The Outdoors
Did not take the time to label what was what because they all look pretty much the same. This was a sunny day btw!
Not sure why I used flash outdoors…. but here we go wooo
So yeah, on pigmented skin, this will probably be a bit too light to use for photographs. But if you’re looking to dry off or get some oil absorption: these talc rich powder just might be the ting you can use.
Indoors with the bottles lined up
For me and my NW18 skin, the Pond’s Magic BB is giving me some closer coverage.
I chose not to include the flash shot, because it looks just like the outdoor non-flash photos. White. I mean, what was I expecting. They’re full of titanium and zinc oxides (white pigments which give us the UV protection) plus talc. c’mon now.
So if you’re shopping around which one should you choose?
well let’s see… Since I haven’t translated each and every one for you. Its a bit of a gamble. But you can count on all of them having that bebeh powder fresh scent and all giving you that flashback.
Color Wheel…
And lastly before you head off to ebay to buy these 5 dollar and under beauties
They all have the most annoying powder sifter setup. I’m not sure who decided this was the best solution. But it guarantees that you will get a nice wide POOF of powder. I learned that tapping the product out of one hole was the best method. Or if you’re considering trying this out as face powder, I recommend decanting them into a little tub or cup that you could swirl a brush in.
All in all, I say they’re worth checking out. The price is right and they’re a nice way to explore sunscreen touchups and/or scalp UV protection.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this peep into Thai skincare… even it is meant for teens
cheers
I never tried any UV powder! O_O I even didn’t know they existed…*I have to check AT ONCE!!!*
This is amazing! I’m all about moar sunscreen. Thanks for the details and swatches!
This UV baby powder is something I’ve never seen before. Is this popular elsewhere or just Thailand? It sounds brilliant for the scalp and even just the arms (says the person tired of sticky arms from spray sunscreens). –Angela
In Philippines, and there are some in Taiwan and Singapore. 🙂
I’ve never heard of these before, but I’m super curious! Especially for that price, it’s definitely worth checking out. UV powder sounds pretty interesting. It could double up as a setting powder. The lazy side of me likes that.
Ooh, thank you for sharing these! I remember using Pond’s cosmetic powders (like, baby powder leveled up) as a wee pre-adolescent in the Philippines lol. It’s so interesting what types of products they come out with in SEA that we won’t see much of elsewhere. Very cool concept, but if I remember correctly…their foofy packaging hasn’t changed! Lol!
UV Powders?! That sounds really interesting! Definitely discovered something new today. Though these aren’t going near my face, already pale enough without the need for extra whiteness.
I knowww, the only one I can use on my face is the Pond’s Magic bb it’s kind of like airspun powder lol the rest are just too white lol
Ooh, I’d never heard of these before. They look nifty. I’m always looking for more products that contain physical sunscreen.
Oooh, Pond’s! I see this in South East Asia a lot. Pond’s is a very well known brand for powders like the ones you posted. Like in the Philippines, foundation are a bit expensive, and bb creams or cushions are relatively new, so they opt for something more affordable, which is this; made for people who don’t like wearing make up, but want a “powdered” finish on their face.
Oooh, you had me at ‘baby powder scent’. Anything that even remotely smells like freshly washed laundry is perfection.
No, but seriously, I had a sunscreen powder (by Hera? So I’ll never repurchase…) and while I’d never use it on its own, it was really handy for busy days or traveling! Sunscreen-Cushion-Sunscreenpowder for max protection! I’ll have to keep my eyes open for that UV 30 one!
That’s so cool that they have these in Thailand! I really like the idea of powder sunscreen, especially for touching up. I never thought about using it on the scalp but it is perfect for that too! Bonus points for the affordable price 🙂
I need some of these in my life! More and more sun protection! Plus I hate wearing hats so your idea for using them on the scalp is great!
Awaiting good news