2017 Biore Aqua Rich Watery Essence and Watery Gel: First Impressions

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Why the 2017 Biore Aqua Rich Watery Essence and Watery Gel reformulation is a big fucking deal

Team, I need to confess something serious. Before I discovered the 2015 version of Bioré’s Aqua Rich Watery Essence I *whisper* didn’t wear sunscreen on a daily basis.

I KNOW I KNOW!

So if you’re wondering why I’m obsessing over the reformulation of this fairly basic beauty product, it’s because it is literally life changing. I started wearing sunscreen every day. My friends started wearing sunscreen every day. YOU may have started wearing sunscreen every day — the 2015 version of Biore Aqua Rich Watery Essence is literally the number 1 Asian Beauty product my readers buy on Amazon.

The reason? No white cast, no weird texture or skin feeling, and quick dry-down thanks to alcohol. It’s a super powerful sunscreen that feels like skincare.

The only problem is that any sort of water or sweat could rip a giant hole in your sun protection — it wasn’t water-resistant in any way. It was made as a sunscreen for days you just commute to and from work.

The problem is that, ha, if you live in a city like I do and take the train like I do and sweat in the increasingly hot summers like I do, you could end up unprotected despite applying sunscreen at the start of the day.

The 2017 versions of both products are water resistant. That does not mean waterproof, don’t go jumping in the damn pool when you get drunk and come hollering at me when you get a deep burn. The product is just, you know, more resistant.

About the ingredient translation

These sunscreens arrived at my office today and I got a great idea on the way home from work. I was thinking hmm, what’s a great way to ruin my night. Oh! I know! Translate a language I don’t actually know!

Luckily, I’ve been translating Korean without really knowing it for some time and have a system for dealing with ingredient translation that usually results in vastly more competent translations than brands and shops provide (here’s a post on how I translate Korean ingredient lists). To translate Japanese, a language I’m so unfamiliar with that I only know the name of, like, two of the alphabets, I did the following:

1. Optical character recognition (OCR) a clear, well-lit photo of the ingredients from the packaging. I usually would use Adobe Acrobat DC, but I guess Japanese isn’t a language option? Anyway, I used Google’s Translate app, downloaded the Japanese language pack, used that to real time read/zero in on the ingredient lists (this is fucking magical, just do it for fun), and then I OCRed the ingredient list more carefully from a photo/copied/pasted it into an email to myself.
2. I then stuck these giant photos of the ingredient lists in my blog post draft and pasted the computer-recognized text below it. Clear, giant photos will save you lines from squinting — that’s a beauty tip.
3. I carefully copyedited the text, in some cases going back through some lines for another OCR pass to get better results. This is dreadful no matter what.
4. Once I had a list I felt was as perfect as possible, I counted up the number of commas in the original and compared it to my text list in Japanese to make sure I hadn’t dropped an ingredient somewhere.
5. Then I copied and pasted everything between each comma into Google individually to make sure I didn’t have any really screwy spelling errors. Then I used a great Japanese cosmetics dictionary that kept popping up in the search results to translate into English (just paste the Japanese into the first search field). I got better and faster over time. Both products took 4 hours to do; the first one took 2.5 while the second only took 1.5. Not bad, not bad.

This is a kind of rushed account of what I did because I’m slurping down some Shin Black ramyun because it’s MIDNIGHT, but I’m happy to go over things in greater detail if you have questions on account of wanting to ruin your life by also doing this.^^

I’m well aware that the ingredient lists are available elsewhere on the internet, but I don’t steal translations. At the same time, I realize that not everyone may feel comfortable translating languages they don’t know, so feel free to use the ingredient lists from this post in your own reviews or whatnot — just give credit and link back here.

Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence SPF50+ PA++++

Biore UV AQUA Rich Watery Essence SPF50+ PA++++ Japanese ingredients (packaging)

Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence SPF50+ PA++++ Japanese ingredients (text version)

水 、 エタノール 、 メトキシケイヒ酸エチルヘキシル 、 (メタクリル酸ラウリル/メタクリル酸Na) クロスポリマー 、 安息香酸アルキル (C12-15) 、 ビスエチルヘキシルオキシフェノールメトキシフェニルトリアジン 、 ジエチルアミノヒドロキシベンゾイル安息香酸ヘキシル 、 ジメチコン 、 エチルヘキシルトリアゾン 、 ジメチルシリル化シリカ 、 DPG 、 キシリトール 、 パルミチン酸デキストリン 、 (アクリレーツ/アクリル酸アルキル (C10-30)) クロスポリマー 、 (ジメチコン/ビニルジメチコン) クロスポリマー 、 ポリシリコーン-9 、 ステアリン酸グリセリル 、 AMP 、 (ビニルジメチコン/メチコンシルセスキオキサン) クロスポリマー 、 カンテン 、 イソセテス-20 、 アルキル (C30-45) メチコン 、 ポリビニルアルコール 、 オレフィン ( C30-45 ) 、 水酸化 Na 、 BG 、 PG 、 ヒアルロン酸Na 、 ローヤルゼリーエキス 、 オレンジ果実エキス 、 グレープフルーツ果実エキス 、 レモン果実エキス 、 フェノキシエタノール 、 EDTA – 2Na 、 BHT 、 香料.

Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence SPF50+ PA++++ English ingredients

(my translation — please credit and link back if you use elsewhere)
Water, Alcohol, Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, (Lauryl methacrylate / sodium methacrylate) crosspolymer, Alkyl benzoate (C12-15), Bisethylhexyloxyphenol Methoxyphenyl triazine, Diethylamino hydroxybenzoyl hexyl benzoate, Dimethicone, Ethylhexyl triazone, Silica Dimethyl Silylate, Dipropylene Glycol, Xylitol, Dextrin Palmitate, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Polysilicone-9, Glyceryl Stearate, Aminomethyl propanol, Vinyl Dimethicone/Methicone Silsesquioxane Crosspolymer, Agar, Isoceteth-20, C30-45 Alkyl Methicone, Polyvinyl alcohol, C30-45 Olefin, Sodium Hydroxide, Butylene Glycol, Propylene glycol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Royal Jelly Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Extract, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Fruit Extract, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Phenoxyethanol, EDTA 2Na, BHT, Fragrance.

CosDNA analysis. Dimethicone and Butylene Glycol rate as 1 out of 5 as potential acne triggers. Otherwise clean in terms of common acne and sensitive skin triggers.

Where to find it

eBay. This product was JUST released, so look for indications that it’s the new version AND look for the teal (not baby blue) product photos. I ordered bottles from beauty-cat and alphabeautyuk and they both showed up crazily fast considering the distance..

Amazon. I only see one listing so far; that will likely change fast.

Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Gel SPF50+ PA++++

Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Gel SPF50+ PA++++ Japanese ingredients (packaging)

Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Gel SPF50+ PA++++ Japanese ingredients (text version)

水 、 エタノール 、 メトキシケイヒ酸エチルヘキシル 、 (メタクリル酸ラウリル/メタクリル酸Na) クロスポリマー 、 酸化チタン 、安息香酸アルキル (C12-15) 、 ビスエチルヘキシルオキシフェノールメトキシフェニルトリアジン 、 ジエチルアミノヒドロキシベンゾイル安息香酸ヘキシル 、 ジメチコン 、 エチルヘキシルトリアゾン 、 キシリトール 、 パルミチン酸デキストリン 、 含水シリカ 、 ヒドロキシエチルセルロース 、 ステアリン酸グリセリル 、 (ビニルジメチコン/メチコンシルセスキオキサン) クロスポリマー 、 トリエトキシカプリリル シラン 、 (アクリレーツ/アクリル酸アルキル (C10-30)) クロスポリマー 、 セタノール 、パーフルオロ アルキル (C4-14 ) エトキシジメチコン 、 水酸化Al 、 水酸化K 、 ステアリルアルコール 、 ステアリン酸 、 カンテン 、 ポリビニルアルコール 、 イソセテス-20 、 ステアロイルメチルタウリンNa 、 AMP 、 ステアロキシPGヒドロキシエチリビリローススルホン酸Na 、 グルタミン酸 、 ローカストビーンガム 、 マルトース 、 BG 、 PG 、 ヒアルロン酸Na 、 ローヤルゼリーエキス 、 オレンジ果実 エキス 、 グレープフルーツ果実エキス 、 レモン果実エキス 、 フェノキシエタノール 、EDTA – 2Na 、 BHT 、 香料.

Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Gel SPF50+ PA++++ English ingredients

(my translation — please credit and link back if you use elsewhere)

Water, Alcohol, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Lauryl Methacrylate/Sodium Methacrylate Crosspolymer, Titanium Dioxide, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Bis-Ethylhexyloxyphenol Methoxyphenyl Triazine, Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate, Dimethicone, Ethylhexyl Triazone, Xylitol, Dextrin Palmitate, Hydrated Silica, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Glyceryl Stearate, Vinyl Dimethicone/Methicone Silsesquioxane Crosspolymer, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Cetyl Alcohol, C4-14 Perfluoroalkylethoxy Dimethicone, Aluminum Hydroxide, Potassium Hydroxide, Stearyl Alcohol, Stearic acid, Agar, Polyvinyl Alcohol, Isoceteth-20, Sodium Methyl Stearoyl Taurate, Aminomethyl propanol, Sodium Stearoxy PG-Hydroxyethylcellulose Sulfonate, Glutamic Acid, Ceratonia Siliqua (Carob) Gum, Maltose, Butylene Glycol, Propylene glycol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Royal Jelly Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Extract, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Fruit Extract, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Phenoxyethanol, EDTA 2Na, BHT, Fragrance.

CosDNA analysis. Dimethicone and Butylene Glycol rate as 1 out of 5 as potential acne triggers. Stearic Acid rates 2 out of 5 as a potential acne trigger. Cetyl Alcohol and Stearyl Alcohol rate 2 out of 5 as both potential sensitive skin and acne triggers.

Where to find it

eBay. This product was JUST released, so look for indications that it’s the new version AND look for the teal (not baby blue) product photos. I ordered a bottle from beauty-cat and it showed up crazily fast considering the distance.

Amazon. I only see one listing so far; that will likely change fast.

Questions people on Instagram had today

CAVEAT: I’ve literally only swatched this on my hand — look for a full review of the Watery Essence soon, followed by the Watery Gel.

• What’s the difference between the Watery Essence and Watery Gel?

You get 90ml of Watery Gel for about the price of 50ml of Watery Essence. Some different ingredients, most notably Titanium Dioxide, a physical sunscreen, in the Watery Gel. The Titanium Dioxide gives the Watery Gel a bit of a white cast (but tbh more like the illumination from a makeup primer bc both contain Titanium Dioxide). The texture is different: the Watery Essence is cream while the gel is more liquidy and has micro bead-like particles that sort of burst when you rub them into your skin. The Watery Gel has more common skin trigger ingredients (including one of my own).

• What did they update about the products?

They have a few new extracts and it’s water resistant. As a result, the feel of the formula on my skin is a bit different.

• Is it good for oily skin?

I found the 2015 version of Watery Essence to be totally great for my oily skin even in summer. I’ll report back on whether the 2017 version is as good in my upcoming full review.

• Is it truly sweat proof?

More like sweat resistant. If you’re planning on really sweating, opt for something truly waterproof.

• Is it the same texture?

NO! I don’t have the 2015 Watery Gel, but I found the 2017 version of Watery Essence to dry down more powdery than the 2015 version (which always feels a bit dewy to me). This is a significant change imo, but I need to see how it feels and wears in practice.

• Is it matte?

My hand swatches end up pretty matte, but let me reserve judgement until I have a chance to really test it.

• Does it still smell like alcohol?

YES.

THE BIG QUESTION: If I love the 2015 version of Watery Essence do I need to stock up ASAP?

I literally haven’t put the 2017 version on my face yet, but in side-by-side swatches of the 2015 and 2017 versions, the 2017 does seem like a noticeably different formula. It may not end up feeling that way on my face and I may end up liking it more than the 2015, but it feels maybe more matte, less dewy, a bit heavier, and more powdery on my hand at least. I’ll be testing the Watery Essence first, obsessively, to come back ASAP with a full review, but if you adore the Watery Essence and can’t imagine it changing…I feel like the formula has changed (in order to make it water resistant).

Buy the 2015 version (baby blue tubes): Amazon | eBay

Questions you need answered ASAP? Tell me in the comments! I’m horrendous with keeping up with comments here and on IG because I’m always doing something like translating languages I don’t know, so come track my ass down on Twitter and make me give 140-character updates on what you need to know.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Clicking those links before you shop means that fan-b receives a small commission, which helps to support the blog. Please see my full disclosure for more information.