Monday, September 16, 2019

Testing Out Dot & Key Hair Sunscreen and Face Serum

Press Sample

I love when I have the opportunity to test out new-to-me brands, and I especially love getting to try out brands based in other countries. I was excited when I had the chance to test out these serums from India-based Dot & Key. The brand has recently branched into selling on Amazon.com, making it even easier to get these products in the US. Dot & Key has formulated their products with botanicals to keep them as natural as possible, and avoid as many nasty chemicals as possible like parabens, phthalates, and sulfates. The brand is certified by PETA to be cruelty-free.

Dot & Key offers products that focus on four specific areas: sun care, swim care, skin care, and pigmentation. I have received two items in the sun care and skin care categories; keep following along to hear about my thoughts and if I would recommend them!


The first thing you notice with any product is the packaging, and I could not let this go unmentioned in this post. Each of these products come enclosed in their own box. I absolutely love the way these are packaged!


 This sun care product for the hair promises to be a 3-in-1 nourishing serum that protects from the sun, heat, and pollution. It includes both Green Tea and Mandarin extracts for a delicious light citrusy scent. Unlike other hair sunscreens that are in either powder or spray format, this comes in a pump style format.


The Hair Sunscreen + Softening Serum is very watery when pumped out of the container. Meant to be applied to either damp or dry hair, I found application to be a little awkward and not quite even on dry hair. I personally preferred to use this when my hair was still damp so I could use my comb to help disperse this better.


Would I recommend this product?

No. While I like the idea of using a sunscreen on my hair, this particular one had two major drawbacks for me. Let's start off with the sunscreen aspect.

While I do appreciate sunscreens in my hair to help prevent drying and colour fading by UV rays, my main reason for wanting to use one is for application that will protect my scalp. The sunscreen this product uses is Octyl Methoxycinnamate, or Octinoxate. This organic compound offers protection against USB rays, but it doesn't help when it comes to the UVA rays. I prefer to stick with broad spectrum sunscreens that block both, but this is not my major issue with this sunscreen. Octinoxate is rapidly absorbed into the skin and has been found in human urine, blood and breast milk. It is actually not very stable when exposed to UV rays and degrades, making it less effective at protecting you from the sun. It is a known endocrine disruptor and has been given a score of 6 by the EWG. Needless to say, this isn't a great sunscreen to begin with. If that wasn't bad enough, it has been documented as a direct cause to coral bleaching.

The sunscreen issue is enough for me to not want to use this product, but I opted to set those feelings aside and put it to the test. The first ingredient is a blend of the silicones Cyclopentasiloxane and Dimethiconol. This blend gives a slippy feel to the product and helps with the absorption of other ingredients (such as Vitamin E in the case of this hair serum). While this is great for making your hair feel silky, and certainly will help with the appearance of split ends, these silicones have one major drawback- they are water insoluble. They will not evaporate quickly like some other silicones, which is good for keeping your hair silky all day long, but bad because it will continue to buildup up if you use this day after day between washings. As they are non-water soluble, you need to use a shampoo that contains sulfates or a sulfate-free shampoo with very strong surfactants in order to remove this from your hair. Based on my experience for the past six weeks, unless I have this serum in my hair, my hair now feels very dry, frizzy, and brittle.

Retail: $15.00


This moisturizing serum is claimed to be an energizing wakeup for fatigues skin as it contains Vitamin C. It also contains both Lavender essential oil to soothe and Peppermint essential oil to rejuvenate the skin. This serum uses the same pump-type format as the hair sunscreen discussed above.


With one pump from the dispenser, a small amount of product is pumped out. I've tested a variety of serums, and I was expecting this product to have a thinner formula than this. I certainly don't mind it, but as I said, it just wasn't exactly what I was expecting based on the product name alone. Instead, I find it to be somewhere in between a serum and a moisturizer. It contains your lavender oil for soothing purposes while the peppermint oil helps to balance out natural oils, so it does serve a purpose beyond moisturizing the skin. Lightweight, it absorbs very quickly and gives a temporary cooling effect thanks to the peppermint and added methanol. That being said, it does contain grain wax, argan oil, and shea butter, giving it the properties of a moisturizer. These ingredients fall in the middle of the ingredients list, which is why the final product is more of an ultra lightweight moisturizer.


Would I recommend this product?

Yes, but with reservations. I have been testing this moisturizing serum for the past six weeks, so I have had some time to see how it would behave with my skin. Before I get into that, let me start with my reservations when it comes to ingredients.

The second ingredient in this serum is Cyclopentasiloxane and ingredient number four is Dimethicone. Silicones in skincare products are a bit iffy for me as not only to they keep in moisture by forming a barrier to the skin, they can also trap in dirt, sweat, bacteria, serum, and whatever other gross things get between it and your skin. While they do not themselves clog the pores, this other stuff can, and this is why many can experience acne when using a silicone-based skincare product. Some people are highly sensitive when it comes to these products on their skin, but thankfully I am not one of them. If your skin normally is fine when layered with a silicone product, this will likely be fine for you.

While low in the ingredients list (third from the bottom, to be exact), this product does contain menthol. You get a double whammy as it also contains peppermint oil (menthol is derived from mints such as peppermint or spearmint) as the last ingredient. Lavender oil comes in at the second to last ingredient. All three of these are known to irritate those with sensitive skin, so those that know they are allergic or sensitive should avoid this product. I'm not bothered by any of these although I do not care for the tingling effect caused by menthol and peppermint oil. Because these are in such low qualities, I found the effect to be more of a subtle cooling effect that only lasted about two minutes if I'm really focused on how my skin feels after use.

How well this product works for you will also be determined by your skin type and what other products you like to use in combination with it. I have combination normal to slightly oily skin, and while it works well with my skin, it doesn't offer enough of a moisturizing effect for me to stop using a true moisturizer in addition to this serum. I have recently been trying out a very lightweight moisturizer, and the combination of the two is perfect for me. Those that have very oily skin may find this moisturizing serum is enough for them. Those with drier skin likely will find this serum not moisturizing enough if this is all you use. While this will help to moisturize your skin, I would just plan to use this as the first step in your routine. Just be sure to apply to a clean face with clean fingers as you don't want dirt trapped between this and your skin.

Retail: $17.99


While I had some reservations about one of the products, I have really enjoyed trying out the Dot & Key brand and learning more about what they have to offer. They have a decent selection on their Amazon storefront, and I would love to see more of their product offerings made available for purchase. The biggest drawback to the brand is the complete ingredients list isn't available on either Amazon's or Dot & Key's website. This would be helpful in determining whether or not a product contains ingredients I would prefer to avoid, like the octinoxate as sunscreen in the hair serum at the beginning of this post.

Have you tried any products by Dot & Key? Are you mindful of the specific sunscreens used in your products? Do you have any sensitivities to silicones or natural essential oils? I'd love to hear about your preferences!

Until next time, dear readers, have a wonderful day!
XO!

Helpful Links

Connect with me on Social Media!


22 comments

  1. Thank you for the detailed and thoughtful reviews. I would have jumped at the hair sunscreen, but reading your assessment, i see that it wouldn’t work for me either. With regard to the facial serum, anything with peppermint oil is a no for me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. They seem to work very well as well as having a fair price, you introduced me to some very interesting products.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've never used hair sunscreen and that's wonderful that thanks to you I wouldn't make a mistake of using this one in particular. I love your reviews, as they always help me to buy the right products. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I like that these have lavender oil in it. They seem like products that I would use.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm with you, I love the packaging. But I don't think I'd be down for hair sunscreen. I hadn't heard of that before. I would try some of their other products!

    ReplyDelete
  6. While the packaging is beautiful I know these products wouldn't agree with my hair or skin. Your research on the ingredients is so helpful. It's a shame that they don't work better for you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hmmm, it looks like these products are not the greatest. I do use sunscreen on my scalp and hair and whilst I don't like the way it makes my hair looks like, I know that I can rely on it for UV protection.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have never used Dot & Key products. Looks like you are so honest with your review and I am going to try it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Haven't heard of these products. I am sorry to hear they didn't work the best for you.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This sounds like a great product, but it probably wouldn't be ideal for me to use either. My skin is pretty sensitive and I probably wouldn't react to well to it unfortunately. Thank you for your honest review of this!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I never knew that there was such a thing as a hair sunscreen. Really sorry to hair that your trial of the product did not go so well. I am glad that you are versed in all the ingredients so that you can give the best advice possible.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I like the idea of scalp protecting since thats usually a spot I at least get one burn a year in! However I honestly want the sun to lighten my hair so that part not quite for me! Ha! I LOVE the branding/packaging! Super cute!

    ReplyDelete
  13. They sure nailed the cute packaging for their brand — love it!

    ReplyDelete
  14. this is really cute packaging i just love the idea. thanks for sharing it.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I've become more ingredient conscious over the last year or so and also try to use products that are more skin friendly. It sounds like the serum has more positives than the sunscreen, but the ingredients still are a little iffy.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Okay I do love the packaging, but not so sure about the ingredients. Thanks for sharing this friend.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Their packaging is cute as a button and I am in love with your photographs.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I will say the packaging is beautiful! I don't know how I would feel about a sunscreen for my hair though, I mean when I go to the beach or on the boat I do run normal sunscreen through my hair but I don't think it would be a daily use thing.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Very informative post! I never knew there was such a thing as a sun screen for hair! Also I'm totally with you on the use of silicones. I have removed those from my hair care regimen and the way you explained if for skincare (making sure to apply to a clean useface and with clean hands) makes total sense.

    ReplyDelete
  20. You rarely see hair sunscreens! Thanks for the heads up.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Never heard of this product before but that looks quite effective. Will definitely check this out and this post is quite informative too.

    ReplyDelete
  22. The packaging and prices are definitely attractive, however I don't like the lack of transparency regarding the ingredients. I must say that I love your makeup!!!

    ReplyDelete

On Instagram

© Laugh, Love, Contour. Made with love by The Dutch Lady Designs.