Quick Summary:
Date Tested: 08/27/2022
The Trader Joe’s Daily Facial SPF 40 Invisible Gel sunscreen lotion has been making quite the waves in the blogosphere lately, and with good reason! This SPF 40 is another contender in a small subset of sunscreen lotion which does not leave a white cast on the skin due to its transparency. That isn’t however what’s been getting the tik-tockers up in a tissy though, instead its due to the hypothesis this sunscreen is actually a rebadged Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40. So when I first started receiving those viral videos and articles from friends telling me to test this sunscreen, I was excited to test and confirm the rumor!
Obtaining the Trader Joes Daily Facial SPF 40…or not.
Because I had already tested the Supergoop! Unseen lotion, I only needed to get a sample of this from Trader Joe’s. I then hopped in my car, drove to a Trader Joes location near me, and purchased one. Just kidding, it was sold out. So I jumped into my car again and drove to another Trader Joes location, where I purchased one. Just kidding, it was sold out there too. I eventually learned that it probably wouldn’t be available anytime soon and I wasn’t the only person looking for it. “The shipment will probably arrive early next month” the associate told me. What the!? I instantly had a flashback to circa 2019 pre-Covid when the Taiwanese brown sugar boba ice cream bars were in such short supply and high demand, prices went from $4.99 to $12.99 for a box!
This was ridiculous (or was it really just a genius plan to limit supply and intentionally increase demand for that special social media FOMO hype?)! Original procurement method foiled, the next step was to hit up my local Buy Nothing Facebook group and put the feelers out. After a lot of interested parties offering up their own sunscreen and me fielding questions about what product I personally used, I got some hits! One very lovely and generous woman was willing to share her brand new in box Daily Facial SPF 40 invisible gel with me!
A sticky.
This is how the bottle came OUT of the box. See that sticker covering the sunscreen tubes original ingredients list? Yeah, that’s how it was actually shipped. Very interesting! The reason for the last minute change seems to be because of “*a spelling correction.”
It’s quite poetic actually, having learned of this sunscreen because of social media, and then needing to turn to social media in order to source a sample of it. Ok Adrian…stop waxing poetic (see what I did there?). Heh.
Anyways, after getting back home from very lovely and generous woman’s location, I prepared the slide sample and put it into the sunscreen testing machine. The results blew me away. This Trader Joe’s Daily Facial SPF40 sunscreen lotion reduced UVI by 99.79%, killed UVA irradiance by 99.87%, and blocked UVB by 98.15%, FANTASTIC!
Comparing Results
The next step was to compare the results from the Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40 to this Trader Joes Daily Facial SPF 40 and see if there was any merit to this lotion being just a rebadged Supergoop! product. The results are as follows:
Super Goop Inactive Ingredients
Isododecane, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Dimethicone/Bis-Isobutyl PPG-20 Crosspolymer, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Isohexadecane, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Meadowfoam Estolide, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Polyester-7, Neopentyl Glycol Diheptanoate, Lithothamnion Calcareum Extract, Caprylyl Glycol, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Jojoba Esters, Mannitol, Olibanum, Lecithin, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Diatomaceous Earth, Zinc Sulfate, Silica, Tocopherol
Trader Joes Inactive Ingredients
Isododecane, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Dimethicone/Bis-Isobutyl PPG-20 Crosspolymer, Neopentyl Glycol Diheptanoate, Polyester-7, Isohexadecane, Jojoba Esters, Silica, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Tocopherol.
UV blocking Ability: The results surprised me. Despite very minute differences (which could probably be explained by testing temperature differences), the UV filtering ability of these formulations are by all means identical.
Active Ingredients: There are very slight % differences of Homosalate and Octocrylene content.
Inactive Ingredients: There are numerous differences between the two formulations. They are not the same.
Conclusion – Not the same formula, but same protection
Just gauging by the identical ultraviolet protection results of the two lotions, I believe the trader joes daily facial SPF 40 sunscreen could very well be produced by Supergoop!. The formulations are different enough however that one could not say this is a rebadged Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40 in a Trader Joes package. That is for certain.
Because of this, ill treat the Traders sunscreen as its own formulation which deserves to stand on its own.
Trader Joe’s Daily Facial SPF 40 Invisible Gel ingredients
Active ingredients: Avobenzone 3%, Homosalate 12%, Octisalate 5%, Octocrylene 6%
Inactive Ingredients:
Isododecane, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Dimethicone/Bis-Isobutyl PPG-20 Crosspolymer, Neopentyl Glycol Diheptanoate, Polyester-7, Isohexadecane, Jojoba Esters, Silica, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Tocopherol.
Manufacturers Website: www.traderjoes.com
Trader Joe’s Daily Facial SPF 40 sunscreen lotion characteristics at a glance:
- Oil Free
- Invisible Gel Formula
- Fragrance Free
- Viscosity is good
Prepared slide ready for testing
The Trader Joe’s Daily Facial SPF40 applied very nicely to the slide sample. It was totally clear and transparent, with good distribution and dispersion. There were some very slight distribution blemishes, but nothing at all bad.
Below are the results from 2 hours of testing in my UV testing station.
Trader Joe’s Daily Facial SPF 40 blocking test results
Ultraviolet light quick reference:
UVA: The Ultraviolet wavelength from 315nm – 400nm. The “Aging UV light” – Causes wrinkles.
UVB: The Ultraviolet wavelength from 280nm – 315nm. The “Bad UV light” – Causes skin cancer.
UVI: The global sun UV index. The more a sunscreen can reduce the level of UVI, the better.
UV test results:
Trader Joes Daily Facial SPF 40 sensor readings:
| Before Sunscreen | After Sunscreen | % UV Blocked | |
| TEMP | 86.55 | 86.6 | |
| UVA | 24054 | 30.75 | 99.87% |
| UVB | 1191 | 22 | 98.15% |
| UVI | 14.11 | .03 | 99.79% |
Want to know more about how I test sunscreen? Head here to read about the details.
Testing notes:
This sunscreen performs fantastically. It is probably the highest rated sunscreen I have tested to date which has a price tag this low ($9.99). Being transparent, the invisible gel marketing phrase really holds true. For those who have darker or any other skin color that is not white, this product would be amazing. For those who are cost conscious, this product is incredible. For those who like value, this product is brilliant. For those of you who also like to use a thesaurus, buy the sunscreen! That is, if you can find it.
RECOMMENDED. Good job TJ, finally a sunscreen I would go out of my way to purchase at your store.
Want to try the Trader Joe’s Daily Facial SPF 40 sunscreen lotion?
This may be the best value I’ve come across for 2022!
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