The mineral SPF we kept reaching for after 90 days

Two of us wore this every day from early August to the start of November: through a heatwave, a beach week and a long run of ordinary office days. Between us we finished three tubes, all bought at full price.

Cast and finish

On fair skin there is no cast at all. On medium skin there is a faint lightening for about a minute that fades as it sets. Neither tester needed to adjust foundation shade, which is rare for a 21 percent zinc formula.

Under makeup

Give it three minutes and it behaves like a good primer. Rush it and it pills. We tested this the boring way, by timing it on twenty mornings.

Give it three minutes and it behaves like a good primer. Rush it and it pills.

The catch

Reapplying over makeup at lunchtime is where it falls down. It drags and goes patchy around the nose. If you reapply bare-faced, or you are outdoors without makeup, this does not matter. If you wear a full base to work, it will.

Value

At the amount you should actually use, a 50 ml tube lasted each tester about four and a half weeks. That works out to roughly 85 cents a day.