I have too many half-used sunscreens sitting in my drawer

Why my bathroom shelf is overflowing with half-empty tubes

I looked at my bathroom drawer this morning and realized it has turned into a graveyard for half-used sunscreens. It is actually a bit embarrassing. There is a tube of that popular birch juice sunscreen I bought because everyone on social media was raving about how hydrating it was. Right next to it is a matte, zinc-oxide based one that I bought during the peak of summer, thinking it would keep my face from looking like an oil slick by noon. It did help with the shine, but now that the weather has cooled down, it just makes my skin feel like cracked porcelain. I remember paying around 25,000 won for the birch juice one, and I probably used it for two weeks before I decided it felt too sticky under my foundation. It feels wasteful to just throw them out, but I know better than to keep using products that have been open for over a year. I saw an old post from someone who used to work at Kolmar mentioning that once the expiration date passes, the sun protection is basically nonexistent anyway. That is a hard pill to swallow when I look at how much money I have effectively just poured into the trash.

The endless search for a finish that does not annoy me

It is strange how my standards for what feels ‘good’ on my skin change every three months. Last summer, I was obsessed with finding the most lightweight, watery texture possible. I ended up buying one of those trendy cica-infused sun serums that felt more like a toner than a cream. It absorbed in seconds, which I loved at 7 AM when I was rushing to catch the subway. But as I got deeper into the bottle, I started questioning if I was even applying enough. It was so thin that I felt like I needed to layer it three times to feel ‘covered,’ and then I’d end up with this weird, slightly pilled residue on my jawline. I think that is why I ended up moving on to a tone-correcting base that claimed to double as a sunscreen. It worked for a while, but it left a slight chalky tint that looked fine in my bathroom lighting but made me look like a ghost under the harsh fluorescent lights of the office. It is constant trial and error, and honestly, most of the time, I just settle for whichever tube is closest to the mirror.

Trying to make sense of the hype around contract manufacturers

I keep reading these business articles about how companies like Kolmar are essentially manufacturing almost every famous ‘K-beauty’ sunscreen you can think of. They talk about the massive production numbers and how they are even getting into scalp sunscreen now, which just sounds bizarre to me. I mean, do people actually spray sunscreen on their parting? I suppose it makes sense if you have thinning hair or are worried about your scalp burning during a long hike, but the idea of adding another step to my morning ritual makes me tired just thinking about it. Reading about these giant manufacturing statistics makes the products feel less like ‘artisanal’ skincare and more like sophisticated science experiments. It is a bit disheartening to realize that the fancy brand name on the front of the tube might just be a shell for a formulation that is being mass-produced for a dozen other brands. It makes me wonder if I am paying for the quality or just for the marketing budget.

When the body sunscreen becomes the emergency hand cream

There is this one tube of cheap, bulky body sunscreen that I keep in my bag for emergencies. It is huge, cost me maybe 12,000 won at a discount store, and it has a very distinct, artificial floral scent that I am not particularly fond of. But it is reliable. I use it on my arms and hands when I realize I have been driving for an hour with the sun beating down on my left side. It does leave a bit of a white cast, and sometimes my steering wheel gets a smudge of cream on it, which is incredibly annoying to clean off. I tried using it on my face once when I forgot my actual skincare at home, and I regretted it immediately. It clogged my pores so fast that I had a tiny breakout by the next morning. It really highlights how these products are so specialized now. You cannot just use one ‘sunscreen’ for everything, even if you want to. You end up needing the thin, expensive one for your face, the matte one for the summer humidity, and the giant, clunky one for your arms. My shelf keeps growing, and I am still not entirely sure I have found a single one that I am happy to buy again.