SUPERGOOP! VS. COOLA SETTING SPRAY- THIS OR THAT?

Today I am comparing 2 very similar products: the Supergoop! Defense Refresh Setting Mist and the Coola Makeup Setting Spray. Both products come in convenient spray bottles and promise to set your makeup while providing sunscreen. Since it is hot in summer, this seems like a nice way to apply sun protection on your face without causing any extra greasiness. But which one performs better?

Claims:

Coola Makeup Setting Spray claims:

This lightweight, matte finish mist protects the sensitive skin of your face, keeping makeup looking ‘just applied’ and fresh. The highly advanced formula includes an array of active ingredients: both cucumber and aloe vera extracts to help soothe and refresh skin; hyaluronic acid to bind moisture while softening, toning, and rehydrating skin, and reducing the appearance of pores, fine lines, and wrinkles; and broad-spectrum SPF 30 to protect skin from the sun’s harmful UV rays. It offers simple spray application so you can refresh while on the go. 

Supergoop! Defense Refresh Setting Mist claims:

The secret to totally sun-safe skin is reapplying your UV defense at least every two hours when in direct sunlight. Defense Refresh Setting Mist SPF 50 is the best way to reapply UV protection throughout the day without disturbing your makeup. The formula includes a unique makeup setting ingredient that acts by creating a sheer shield, which dries quickly about five seconds after application. Optical diffusing silica silylate further helps to control oil and reduces shine leaving skin feeling soft and smooth with a matte finish, not oily nor greasy as with many sunscreen products. The formula is enlivened with an invigorating essence of antioxidant-rich rosemary to help improve the complexion and soothe inflammation. 

Packaging:

The Coola Makeup setting spray comes in a pump spray bottle while the Supergoop Setting Mist comes in an aerosol spray bottle. I find that the Supergoop" spray produces a finer and more even mist than the Coola spray- but for environmental reasons the Coola spray is the "greener version" because of the suspended gas of aerosols. 

Scent:

Next thing I immediately noticed was that the Coola spray smelled strongly like alcohol while the Supergoop! spray smelled like fresh rosemary. Both scents however dissolve quickly.

I don´t have sensitive skin- however the Coola spray almost stings me a bit for a couple of seconds- just like the feel of rubbing alcohol on my face. It dissolves quickly. I did not feel anything like that with the Supergoop! spray. 

Setting makeup?

Both sprays provide me a matte finish and set the makeup on my combination skin (oily t-zone and the rest is pretty normal) very nicely. 

SPF comparison:

The Coola spray has an SPF of 30 while the Supergoop! spray includes an SPF of 50. The SPF numbers -however- are often misunderstood and even though it sounds like there is a huge difference between 30 and 50- there actually is almost no difference: a SPF of 30 block 97% of the UVB rays while a SPF of 50 blocks 98% of the UVB rays. See: there is only a 1% difference between an SPF of 30 and 50. (And while we are at it: any SPF above 50 is just a marketing gimmick. There is no such thing as 100 % sun protection and in Europe and Australia there is no sunscreen available above 50 because this only confuses the consumer. Enough rambled).

I was pretty surprised when checking the ingredients of both setting sprays: they both contain only chemical sunscreens! I am surprised by this since Coola claims to be certified organic (well that obviously can be only true for some ingredients. A chemical ingredient can not be certified organic). Supergoop! claims that its product is without synthetic fragrance, which is true, but does not mean that it does not contain other synthetic ingredients. Since the EWG states that chemical sunscreen can in fact be the cause of skin cancer, I am not the biggest fan of chemical sunscreens. Here we are trying to protect our skin from skin cancer and are applying products that can actually be the cause of it...

Ingredients:

Coola setting spray ingredients: Avobenzone 2.1%, Homosalate 3.5%, Octinoxate 3.5%, and Octisalate 2.8%, Alcohol*, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract*, Algae Extract*, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Water*, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract*, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Fragrance (Natural), Glycerin*, Isodecyl Neopentanoate, PVP, Silica Silylate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Water. *Certified Organic.

Supergoop setting spray ingredients: Avobenzone 3.0%,Homosalate 4.0%, Octinoxate 6.0% , Octisalate 3.0%, Alcohol Denat, Butyloctyl Salicylate, Isododecane, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Silica Silylate, Water, PVP, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Stem/Leaf Oil, Mentha Viridis (Spearmint) Leaf Oil, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil.

I would not solely rely on the sunscreen that these setting sprays provide- how will one know that the skin is completely covered in sunscreen? You would have to spray large amounts of these 2 setting sprays to guarantee that you are really covered, which could be in both cases pretty pricey. 

Price comparison:

The Supergoop! Setting Mist is much cheaper with $28 for 3.4 oz vs. the Coola setting spray  for $36 for only 1.7 oz.

The winner:

I find both products perform very well and set my makeup well, they provide both sunscreen and give me a matte finish. The Coola setting spray stings me for a couple seconds, so keep that especially in mind if you have sensitive skin. Since they both contain chemical SPF and perform so similar, I would simply choose the much cheaper version: the Supergoop! setting spray contains double the product for less $$$. There you go! ;-)

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