Product Review: Paula's Choice 5% Vitamin C Sheer Facial Moisturizer SPF 50

Can I use Vitamin C with sunscreen?

Oct 08, 2024

For some reason, summer is the season I fall in love with sunscreens. And it certainly isn’t because I only wear sunscreen when it’s sunny! As I’ve said, I wear sunscreen even on “cloudy seemingly sunless days” – a mantra I picked up during my work at Kiehl’s.

The fact is I fall in love with sunscreens in the summer because that’s when brands introduce new ones.

Last year, my SPF infatuations included the Paula’s Choice Youth-Extending Daily Hydrating Fluid SPF 50 Sunscreen and CeraVe’s Hydrating Sheer Sunscreen SPF 30. Both of these ultra-lightweight milky fluids have been among my go-to sunscreens throughout the year. Catch my detailed product reviews of each on the blog in my top picks of the best sunscreens for face here.

While Paula’s Choice has long been my favorite skincare brand, it was hardly the brand I thought of for SPF – until the Youth-Extending Daily Hydrating Fluid.

This season, the brand introduced two new lightweight sunscreens.

Under the Calm collection, the Paula’s Choice Barrier Protect Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30 was introduced two months ago. I love this light gel-cream with mineral UV filters! It’s infused with soothing actives to calm sensitivity and redness, too. Catch my review of it here.

Right on the heels of that launch, Paula's Choice introduced yet a third lightweight facial sunscreen – this one a moisturizer with SPF and an extension of the brand’s expanding Vitamin C collection. The new Paula's Choice 5% Vitamin C Sheer Facial Moisturizer SPF 50 is a brightening sunscreen formulated with synthetic UV filters, hydrators and antioxidants – including a 5% blend of Vitamin C molecules.

My detailed review is just below.

Explore my top picks of the best sunscreens for face on the blog here.

Can I use Vitamin C with sunscreen?

Yes, you can use Vitamin C with sunscreen! In fact, the pair is an anti-aging powerhouse. By combining a potent antioxidant serum with a daily facial sunscreen in your morning skincare routine, you’re setting your skin up for optimal defense against environmental skin aging throughout your day.
A sunscreen alone is proven to help prevent most of the visible changes in the skin, notably signs of aging like wrinkles, darks spots, and loss of collagen. In fact, The Skin Cancer Foundation states that sun damage, also known as photodamage, is “responsible for 90 percent of visible changes to the skin.”
Ninety percent! The implication of that is that you can prevent, or at least significantly minimize, the majority of skin aging with a single, widely available product.
Vitamin C is a powerful natural antioxidant that helps neutralize the free radicals caused by pollution and UV exposure – something that your sunscreen does not do. When used together, a Vitamin C serum and a daily facial sunscreen are a powerful defensive duo against skin aging.

Explore my picks of the best sunscreens for face here and best Vitamin C serums here.

Sources: Wander Beauty: Why Vitamin C Should Be Paired With SPF; SkinCeuticals: The Benefits Of Using Vitamin C And SPF For Your Skin

Product Review

It’s kind of wild to me that a brand that I wouldn’t even consider for sunscreen just a year ago has now become my go-to brand for the best facial sunscreens on the market. As I said above, Paula's Choice has really stepped it up over the past year, introducing three new sunscreens for the face. All of them are superb with really pleasing textures.

The latest of these is the Paula's Choice 5% Vitamin C Sheer Facial Moisturizer SPF 50 – a brightening moisturizer with SPF. If you’re familiar with the Paula’s Choice C5 Super Boost Moisturizer, then you’re probably thinking their new sunscreen is simply the same formula with SPF added to it.

That’s what I certainly expected. But we’d both be mistaken!

In fact, it’s far lighter than the brand’s Vitamin C face cream. The sunscreen product that I think it’s most like in terms of texture is the classic Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence – the J-beauty icon. Both are slightly thicker than popular and more conventional ultra-lightweight sunscreen milks.

Paula's Choice nailed the texture once again.

Because the new 5% Vitamin C Sheer Facial Moisturizer SPF 50 is so light, it makes the ideal summer moisturizer with SPF. It literally feels like nothing on your face. And on a hot, humid July day, that’s exactly what I’m looking for when I’m waiting on the subway platform with no air conditioning. (The NYC subway is savage in the summer!)

Last summer, the facial sunscreen I reached for most was the Paula’s Choice Youth-Extending Daily Hydrating Fluid SPF 50 Sunscreen. I often used it without applying a moisturizer first. That was especially ideal on my early morning bike rides when I knew I was going to sweat and just didn’t want layers and layers of skincare products on my face.

Instead, over the past month I’ve reached for this new one. It’s a blend of synthetic, or chemical, UV filters (Avobenzone⁠, Octinoxate⁠, Octisalate⁠, and Octocrylene⁠) and three Vitamin C molecules – Ethyl Ascorbic Acid⁠, Ascorbyl Glucoside⁠ and Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate⁠.

At a total concentration of five percent, that’s quite a significant amount of Vitamin C for a facial sunscreen. In fact, I’m hard-pressed to think of another one like it!

For antioxidant defense, Paula's Choice didn’t stop there. Additional antioxidants include Tocopherol⁠ (Vitamin E) and Acetyl Zingerone⁠ – a synthetic compound derived from ginger.

Acetyl Zingerone⁠ is an interesting substance as it’s believed to be exceptionally effective at neutralizing a wide range of free radicals, including reactive oxygen species (ROS) and “singlet oxygen,” which can damage skin cells and accelerate aging.

Of course, the most important characteristic of a facial sunscreen is texture, inclusive of blendability and after-feel. The Paula's Choice 5% Vitamin C Sheer Facial Moisturizer SPF 50 goes on somewhat opaque, which is deceptive. As you spread it over your skin, the slightly beige-orange hue dissipates and it blends in perfectly. It’s as sheer as the brand claims it to be.

If you’re looking for a combination facial moisturizer and sunscreen in one that delivers both UV and antioxidant defense, this could easily be your favorite sunscreen, too.

And that high concentration of Vitamin C is simply exceptional!

Pros & Cons

What I like about it: The Paula's Choice 5% Vitamin C Sheer Facial Moisturizer SPF 50 has a really pleasurable texture. Its lightweight moisture makes it ideal as a summer face cream with SPF. Plus, the addition of 5% Vitamin C makes it one of the most unique and best brightening sunscreens available.

What I don’t like about it: I love all of it; I wouldn’t change a thing!

Who it’s for: All skin types, even sensitive skin.

SHOP THE BLOG: Want to try it for yourself? Purchase the Paula's Choice 5% Vitamin C Sheer Facial Moisturizer SPF 50 for $45 here.

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