Marie-Veronique Organics Creme de Soleil

Marie Veronique Creme de Soleil

My quest for the perfect mineral sunscreen is over since I found Marie-Veronique Organics Creme de Soleil with SPF30+ which offer complete UVB/UVA spectrum protection. This has got to be the best sunscreen in terms of ingredients and texture I’ve used so far and I’m totally in love with it. It is also rated as one of the safest sunscreens on the list of Environmental Working Group.

Natural sunscreen with 20% non-micronized zinc oxide
Marie-Veronique Organics Creme de Soleil comes with 20% non-micronized zinc oxide and is a natural sunscreen formula with organic contents. There are no nanoparticles, no chemicals and no parabens. Instead, natural sun protective, lipid-barrier replenishing oils and botanical extracts are used as the base for the sunscreen. In addition, it comes with EFA rich emu oil and pearl powder and does indeed protect, repair sun damage as well as moisturize my skin as promised.

Ingredient listing
Green tea*, neroli hydrosol, non-micronized zinc oxide, oils of apricot kernel, calendula-infused jojoba*, rice bran & meadow foam seed, Vitamin E, MVO botanical anti-oxidant glycerite, aloe vera gel*, potassium sorbate, red palm oil*, mica, pearl powder, allantoin, xantham gum, oils of emu, sea buckthorn*, red raspberry seed & acai, non-GMO lecithin, honeysuckle, essential oils of carrot seed, cistus, lavender & helichrysum. *ORGANIC

Creme de Soleil

Light sunscreen with broad spectrum protection
The sunscreen offers full protection but is light, non creamy and non greasy; very ideal to be worn any time of the day over a regular moisturizer and under makeup. Because of the high non-micronized zinc oxide content, it does leave a slight whitecast on my fair skin upon application but the whiteness disappears quite quickly after a few minutes. The best part of this sunscreen is that I can apply it on my eye area and not have fear of developing milia seeds. And though the formula contains a high zinc oxide content, I didn’t feel that it made my skin exceptionally dry.

Non water resistant
Unlike the UV Natural Sunscreen, I have no problem cleansing my face using this sunscreen. However, that also means this isn’t water resistant. And while the dark glass bottle is great for protecting the integrity of the ingredients but I cannot figure out how much of sunscreen is in there. I also don’t like having to shake the bottle before using as I sometimes do forget.

Availability outside of US
My major gripe with this product however stems from its unavailability outside of US. I bought it at US$44.99 at Marie-Veronique Organics but had to have someone ship it to me because they do not ship to Singapore. However, I recently found that it’s available at Puresha which seems to offer international shipping but retails at a higher price. The Marie-Veronique Organics Sun Serum also appears to be available under the brand of Herbal Bliss in Hong Kong.

Crème de Jour SPF 30
I’m going to test the Marie-Veronique Crème de Jour SPF 30 next because the formula is quite similar to Marie-Veronique Organics Creme de Soleil but available at a cheaper price. Since it is their best seller, I have reasons to believe that it will meet my requirements. I have also requested for additional samples of their sunscreens in my order. I haven’t decided if I will include them in the June giveaway or run something different but I will definitely keep you all posted when they arrive!

Summary
Overall, I’m very pleased with the Marie-Veronique Organics Creme de Soleil because it is everything that I want in a sunscreen and more. I can’t say that it is the best sunscreen in the market but it is definitely the best mineral sunscreen for me for now! And I should add that it smells very pleasant too!

Comments

  1. gaylei says:

    thanks sesame for your update and for continuing to write your blog. i enjoy reading it immensely. ?

    if it’s not too much trouble, could you describe the scent of the sunscreen? i’m pretty sensitive to scents and usually try to avoid ones that are too strong.

    thanks again!

    Gaylei: It’s slightly herbal and minty to me – not sweet or floral. I smell a little of the helichrysum and the calendula but the rest is hard to describe. I wouldn’t say it’s overpowering; in fact I found it pleasant. I’m sorry I can’t describe the smell better…

  2. june says:

    hi! this is my first time posting thought I’ve been reading your blog. I’m a fellow Singaporean now based in New York. My MV Creme De Jour 30+ just arrived today and I’m so excited to try it – even though it’ll be rainy the whole week wit no sun…haha..I’ve a tinted version, will update! Have you tried her other products? The ingredients look really top of the line!

    June: No, I haven’t. I just ordered the Creme De Jour (non-tinted) and Serumdipity. I’m having high hopes on them cos I think the Creme de Soleil did something to even out some of my skin tone – but I’m not entirely sure…

  3. Paris B says:

    Hmm… sounds interesting! I just discovered that it might be lavender thats giving me contact dermatitis. Not sure yet but I’m heading in that direction. Pity coz I love the smell of lavender!

    Paris: Hey, interesting you mentioned about lavender cos that’s something I’ve been looking into of late. I’ll probably put up a blog post to share my findings. Can be a little alarming though…

  4. june says:

    oh gosh…so many typos in my previous comment. Sorry about that! I’m not sure how the creme de soleil’s scent is like (please let us know sesame!), but gaylei, if you’re interested in the creme de jour tinted version, it smells like…a mix of peppermint with some almond (reminds me of almond pudding but a little more medicinal)..there’s an overall nutty-minty scent – probably as a result of the ingredients.

    I can imagine that people who are sensitive to scents might not be able to take it, perhaps the creme de soleil smells lighter/better?

    The tine for the creme de jour is slightly shimmery, but the shimmer doesn’t appear when applied (on my hand). it looks like an NW 20-25 (MAC) but sort of blends into nothing when applied (on my hand).

    Sesame, how did you ask for samples? I was disappointed none were included in my order =/

    thanks!

    June: The smell seems to be slightly different. I’m not sure if people who are sensitive can take to it though…I thought it was fine but it definitely has a scent!

    I left a comment in the customer remarks/comments section asking for samples. First time I asked for sun serum and they sent to me. This time I asked for eye candy. For the extra samples, I wrote in separately to ask if they were interested to contribute for my giveaway…

  5. pf1123 says:

    This sounds good. But it so hard to get.

    After my first and last horrid experience with comgateway, I think I will not be getting it soon.

    pf: Oh you had a bad experience with comgateway. Is that the one by DHL? I used vPost before and it was okay. But lately I read some horror stories too…

  6. Angie says:

    Nice review! Compared to UV natural brand, is this brand less oily? I’m looking for one for daily use for my body so I need one thats really light especially when the weather these days is so warm!

    Angie: Yes, a lot less. In fact, it isn’t even oily to begin with. Very nice for my combination skin. I like it on top of my grapeseed oil but today I found it’s nice on its own too. I’m using the UV Natural for my hands now. Since I’m always in aircon, it’s okay but otherwise, yes, it can be slightly greasy. I wouldn’t use Creme de Soleil on my body though – too ex for me! So keeping it for the face and neck only.

  7. BT says:

    This sounds very interesting to me, too bad it must be online purchase. I remember you got a post addressing ‘why non-micronized mineral sunblock’ but I couldn’t locate it, please get the link for me. Thanks!

    BT: I didn’t write anything specific to non-micronized mineral sunblock but I did write about nanoparticles in sunscreen. So not sure if you’re referring to this entry https://www.vivawoman.net/2008/09/26/mineral-based-sunscreens-are-the-best/ or this entry https://www.vivawoman.net/2008/03/03/avobenzone-sunscreen-and-mineral-makeup/.

  8. pf1123 says:

    Yep comgateway uses DHL. I used their concerige service and it really sux. Even though I bought my stuff a while after last Christmas, they took 3 weeks to deliver. It is not something that I expect since its charges are not that cheap.

    They took several days to answer my queries and explained to me that they received the item late from the merchant. However, I saw that the items were posted by the merchant within 2 or 3 days after the order.

    In addition, I followed the tracking on DHL and realised the package was processed by DHL probably a week or so after comgateway said they had sent it.

    I believe that DHL is a very reputable company. Even my own company uses its service to send documents. And so far we have no problems with it. I send out my documents from my overseas office on Friday afternoon and I receive it in my local office on Monday morning.

    So that leaves a lot to be said about comgateway.

    When I emailed comgateway about it and show them the tracking dates, etc, they of course denied everything.

    pf: Oh thanks for sharing your experience! I was thinking of using them in my next order cos the papers ran a glowing review on them and they’re also cheaper than vPOST. Looks like it’s hot air.

  9. pipsila says:

    Wow, your review is so good, I am tempted to buy one, but it’s so darn expensive for a 50ml bottle (once shipping cost is added in). I live all the way in Australia.

    Pipsila: Yes, I know what you mean. I cannot resist a good sunscreen and that’s why I bought even though it is expensive. But it’s worth every cent I paid…

  10. Leon says:

    Wow, your review is so helpful. I am still waiting for my Creme de Jour, god knows when its gonna arrive.

    Leon: I ordered the Creme de Jour too cos I figured I must well make use of the ship free on domestic orders. Plus I will need sunscreen!

  11. Nicole says:

    At one look, i thought you are reviewing on red wine.. haha… is there a reason why you use mineral sunblock?

    Oh, i come across this workshop, see if you are interested, but hor need to pay 15 bucks! http://sg.offerstation.com/happenings-events/32665/sun-protection-forum.htm

    Nicole: Mineral because I can find sunscreens with natural/organic ingredients. I’m trying to avoid burdening my skin with too much chemical stuff. Hey thanks for the workshop details. Very interested to attend but yes, sian to have to pay $15 cos I’m unlikely to buy anything. See how…

  12. pf1123 says:

    Sesame, you can try to run a search on the various such companies. I came across a discussion thread in hardwarezone that says nasty things about such companies from individual experiences. Then you can decide for yourself which one you want to use.

    Btw, I used rice bran oil yesterday night. Woweee….3 drops makes my face SOOOOOOOOO oily. I’m experiencing a few tiny bumps here and there. I hope its not due to the oil. ?

    How, what should I do with the oil if its causing my pores to clog?

    pf: For the time being, I think I would avoid using these services. I freaked out a little when I read how a spree organizer lost her $300 purchase by using one of these services! Hey, rice bran oil is too oily? I was thinking of buying it but I changed my mind and stuck with grapeseed oil. If you have bumps after using, I suggest you stop. Use it on your neck or hands. I sometimes blend the oils with the body lotion and apply. The skin at those areas are thicker and can withstand the richer quality.

  13. Ms. Blacklace says:

    oh wow… it has emu oil! but damn… the price…

    i cannot wait for your findings on lavender oil.

    also, i have been using cold pressed castor oil for ocm for about 4 days now, and it has been working great! better than jojoba oil in fact. maybe my skin likes castor oil better. plus it’s cheap!

    Ms Blacklace: I’m posting about lavender oil today. I’ve never tried castor oil; heard some good reviews on it and also some bad ones but I’m glad it’s working for you!

  14. Skin Geek says:

    Hi Viva! I LOVE YOUR SITE. Thank you for this wonderful sunscreen review! A question for you… what are the main anti-microbial and preservative agents in this sunscreen formula? Everything looks perfect, I’m going to purchase this, but because sunscreens are handled harshly (say, sitting in the car under super hot sun, or a day on the beach), I am starting to note the preservative agents in all natural and organic sunscreens.

    Skin Geek: Vitamin E I know is one of the natural preservatives. I’m not too sure about the others but I understand that some of the ingredients chosen have sufficient integrity to preserve themselves too. Eg. Lavender oil is antimicrobial. But I wouldn’t recommend you put this one in your car or under the sun. I doubt it can withstand all that. In fact, I would recommend you put all your sunscreens in cooler and darker places cos even with the preservatives, the heat and all may alter the formulation and affect the effectiveness.

  15. Teri says:

    Congratulations! I may have to try this one out, but it’s expensive! Lol. Lately I figured out, I just can’t apply the same products on my nose, chin, butterfly area as the ones on my cheeks. I have combination skin like you too, and there’s just no way I can use the same products on each area so right now I’m using Mexitan for my cheeks area and all the dryer spots while I’m using the La Roche with alcohol denat on my oilier spots that can tolerate the alcohol denat. I will definitely check this one out though.
    Also, just a tidbit, I recently spoke to one of my friends who is big on sunscreen as well and she informed me that PPD is NOT linear, so it’s similar to SPF. I know in one of your other posts you said that it gives you good comfort to know that Laroche has a 28 PPD that exceeds maybe a mineral sunscreen with 10 PPD. The friend I talked to said that PPD10 = 90% reduction in UVA and PPD15 = 95% reduction in UVA.
    Just wanted to share this with you!

    Teri: You used 2 products? That’s interesting! I would use 2 moisturizers but it never occured to me to use 2 different sunscreens for my combination skin.

    Hey, great that you shared info on PPD! So it’s linear! I wonder if PPD28 would yield 100%? But based on what you’ve shared, PPD10 isn’t too bad.

  16. pf1123 says:

    Hey Sesame, I can’t really put rice bran oil on my body. I have nasty little bumps on my arms and back. I suspect body lotion clog my body pores. If I put on in Sg weather, my bumps become worse. In drier countries, its better but not totally ok.

    I dunno how…I would try to use it as a mask of sorts. Like put on and rise off in 20mins….something like that…

    pf: I think it’s not suitable for you if you develop bumps from using it…I wouldn’t advice you using it as a mask even.

  17. Teri says:

    Okay, so I found an article about it. This isn’t my friend’s article I’m sure, but it does mention the same thing about PPD10 being similar to SPF15, that it is usually good enough.

    It says:
    One emerging UVA protection standards is Persistent Pigment Darkening (PPD), which is a biological measure of UVA radiation absorbed by the skin. A sunscreen with PPD 15 or higher should provide good UVA protection (again, as long as it stays on the skin long enough). Unfortunately, relatively few sunscreen manufacturers provide PPD values. Some others provide the percentage of UVA a sunscreen blocks. (Anything above 90%, which is close to PPD=10, should be satisfactory.) Unfortunately, many sunscreens provide no quantitative UVA-blocking information at all. For those, you can contact the manufacturer and try to obtain the UVA protection information. Unless you get a satisfactory response, you would want to avoid such a product.

    It says anything above 90% is about PPD10, so that is good to know. I think PPD15 is probably like SPF30, and anything above that, is really tiny tiny benefits, similar to if you wore an SPF50 to an SPF30, they will yield very litlte difference. I don’t think any PPD can give you 100%. I think only avoidance of sun can do that, just like SPF. I’ve seen an SPF100 before! I doubt that will give you 100% protection from UVB rays either.

    Yeah I don’t think I could put anything with oil on my Tzone! Specifically my nose. These areas just need to be treated differently IMO, the same stuff that works on the eyes, all those heavy creams, and oil based serums, will give me blackheads and bigger pores on the T-zone area. It’s a bit more annoying to add this to my regimen but whatever, we already do a lot for skin care LOL. Might as well!

    Teri: Hey, this is so helpful! Thanks for sharing the info you found! I feel a lot better knowing this. Hey, the MVO Creme de Soleil works for my oily t-zone cos it isn’t greasy at all. I never used a sunscreen like that that sinks in without leaving a film. So that’s why I have no problems using it all over. But in the past, I used sunscreen all over my face and as you can imagine, my t-zone was oozing with oil by midday!

  18. pf1123 says:

    Aiyah…I think my skin is having a bout of fits or what. So dry and itchy…maybe because I didn’t take EPO for a while. ?

    pf: Ah…I always forget mine.

  19. Patricia says:

    hi, firstly, thanks for introducing such a great product!!!

    i have a question, i goggle for marie veronique and had stumble across 2 different web add which leads me to the same site??? im slightly confuse as to which is the TRUE site, cos i didnt want to fall prey to internet scam out there.. can i check which web site did u ordered from???

    these 2 are the links that i found that coincidently brings me to the SAME web..
    1) http://www.m-vskintherapy.com/
    2)http://www.marieveronique.net/

    Thanks a million, me too am looking forward to trying out the pdts!!

    Patricia: I think both are fine but I always use the latter address with the full name. If you feel unsure, I have the link in my article which takes you to Creme de Soleil directly.

  20. pipsila says:

    Your post has been on my mind for the past week, and I’m still debating myself whether or not to buy one at AU$88 (inc shipping).

    I was trying to google up other reviews of the Creme de Soleil, but there’s none that I could find, except for yours in the search results, so I guess you’re the only reviewer of the product so far ?

    Pipsila: Creme de Soleil is pretty new so reviews are limited. I see some reviews on de Jour though…

  21. hippo says:

    Hi Sesame, do you know any good tinted moisturizer / sunscreen (all in one)? I am just thinking that since I have pretty dehydrated skin, it might make sense for me to use tinted moisturizer that also has high SPF. Even though Marie Veronique has emu oil and various oils, it is so light that it can still dry my skin up. Maybe it will be better when it gets warmer – so far we don’t have many hot days here is New England.

    hippo: Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any especially non-chemical type. I’ll let you know when I come across one. I use the MV one alone but it’s nice with grapeseed oil underneath too. Not drying for me. But then again, our weather here is terribly hot most of the time!

  22. Model says:

    Was curious if you have tried out the
    Organic Sun*Brella Triple Action Moisturizer with SPF 30+ by Sweetsation Therapy. It seems like a potentially good sunblock but I have not tried it myself and was wondering if you have heard any good things about it and if it caused breakouts for anyone.

  23. Angie says:

    Sesame, I like your review and all the posts from your reader. Hippo made a real helpful review.
    would Creme de soleil work out for skin that is in the middle between oily and dry skin? or creme the jour would work better?
    Have you made a review about Natural Insticts? IT’s an Australia sunscreen, free of nano, and zinc oxide only.
    thanks!

  24. sesame says:

    I would recommend Creme de Soleil. Somehow I found Creme de Jour a bit drying and also, it leaves a more obvious whitecast.

    Never tried the sunscreen you mentioned but I’ll sure like to check it out. Thanks for the highlight!

  25. sesame says:

    No, haven’t heard or tried that.

  26. Angie says:

    thanks for the recommendation, Sesame.

  27. Jumana says:

    hello there..
    I would just like to know whats the difference between Marie Veronique Skin Therapy Sun Serum SPF 30+ and Herbal Bliss Glow ! Face Elixir SPF 20 ??
    And Is Marie Veronique Skin Therapy Sun Serum SPF 30+ differ from this one??
    thank you for always responding to my questions, I really appreciate it#k8SjZc9Dxk#k8SjZc9Dxk

  28. sesame says:

    If I’m not mistaken, it looks like they’re the same product but marketed under different label. I think Marie-Veronique formulated Herbal Bliss. The sun serum is SPF20 and not SPF30 I believe.

  29. yings says:

    Hi there!

    I think MVO changed revamped their website. Is this the correct sunscreen that you talked about? http://www.mvorganics.com/_product_83436/Moisturizing_Face_Screen_Plus%2c_SPF_30_-_No_Tint
    Just to double check before I purchase.

    I tried Checkout and realised that they ship to Singapore for a USD12 flat fee! (:
    Thanks!

  30. sesame says:

    Hey, looks like they not only revamped the site but the product too. The ingredients look slightly different…the zinc oxide is 24%!

  31. sesame says:

    I just had time to look through their new website again and yeah, the ingredients are slightly different. I’m not too happy with the high zinc oxide content. While it’s great in the sense that it offers a higher protection but for me, anything over 20% can potentially cause my skin to dry out or breakout. Not too sure I’m keen to order this anymore. ? Going to write about this tomorrow.

  32. Crow says:

    It seems all thier sunscreen 30 (even the untinted one) have the Iron Oxide for thier tint.Do you think that could react in the sun? I need to be extra careful due to melasma. I went for the light tint one in the end and will try but wish it didnt have the Iron. Any examples of what the two different tint shades look like??
    LOVe your site!

  33. sesame says:

    The untinted one shouldn’t have iron oxide – I checked my old bottle and it’s not there. I noticed it’s on the website now – not sure if it’s due to the new formula or because it’s meant for the tinted versions. Suspect it’s due to the latter…but you may want to check with them directly.

    I haven’t come across iron oxides side effects – it’s more for the color.

    If you’re fair, the light tinted will do…the medium tint is rather dark.

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