Is Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV Sunscreen SPF50 Clear worth it?

Mostly yes. 8 of the 9 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 76%.

Canmake

Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV Sunscreen SPF50 Clear.

Q: What is Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV Sunscreen SPF50 Clear's Guru Score?

Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV Sunscreen SPF50 Clear holds a Guru Score of 76%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 9 expert reviewers we have collected.

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Sunscreen

About this product

A lightweight hybrid sunscreen gel with SPF50 that combines chemical and mineral UV filters, designed to feel invisible on skin and work well under makeup.

Full ingredients

Water, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Butylene Glycol, Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate, Zinc Oxide, Methylheptyl Laurate, Titanium Dioxide, Dimethicone, Bis-Ethylhexyloxyphenol Methoxyphenyl Triazine, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Cyclopentasiloxane, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Diisostearyl Malate, Aluminum Hydroxide, Peg-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Stearic Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Polyglyceryl-3 Polydimethylsiloxyethyl Dimethicone, Polyhydroxystearic Acid, Jojoba Esters, Xanthan Gum, Arginine, Sodium Hyaluronate, Alpha-Glucan, Phytic Acid, Saxifraga Sarmentosa Extract, Glucosyl Ceramide, Prunus Yedoensis Leaf Extract, Coix Lacryma-Jobi (Job S Tears) Seed Extract, Morus Alba Root Extract, Oenothera Biennis Seed Extract, Silver Oxide, Spiraea Ulmaria Flower Extract, Vaccinium Myrtillus Leaf Extract, Cynara Scolymus (Artichoke) Leaf Extract

Guru Score

76%

Yay

9 experts · Strong agreement

#25 in SunscreenSee the ranking →

What they liked

Invisible finish, feels like water on skin
Lightweight gel that absorbs fast
Fragrance-free, doesn't sting around eyes

What they flagged

Tube is small for the price
May leave slight cast on deeper skin tones

What the gurus are saying

This gel dries down nearly invisible and feels weightless, which is why many gurus rank it as a standout budget sunscreen, but skin tone matters. Those with deeper or medium complexions often see a noticeable greenish or white cast, while people with lighter skin or oily skin tend to find it truly disappears. The hybrid formula (chemical and mineral filters together) appeals to anyone managing melasma or wanting broad-spectrum protection, and it pairs beautifully under makeup because of its silky, blurring finish. At around ten dollars, it's a genuine dupe for pricier invisible gels, though some will need to test it first to see how it sits on their particular complexion.

Synthesized from 9 expert reviews · most recent take May 2026

Type

SunscreenGel

Key actives

Hyaluronic acidCeramidesSPF

Formula notes

Fragrance-freeNo drying alcohol

Where to buy

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What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

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No BS Beauty

89k subs

✓Yay

"This one is combo. It's got zinc and titanium dioxide in there. And then it's also got avobenzone, tinosorb S, octinoxate. [...] Really nice product from Canmake and so affordable. I think it's like nine or 10 bucks and I love the different options."

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"This stuff's great. I am going off the clear version. The purple, mint, yellow, all those, they all have a little bit different additional ingredients, but the filters are all the same."

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"For a good daily sunscreen, [...] one of the best is the Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV Sunscreen SPF50 Clear. And specifically for melasma, what I like about this is it's a combo sunscreen. So it's got a combination of chemical filters and mineral filters. And there's some studies out there showing that for melasma specifically, [...] a mineral filter is the best way to go, because it reflects the sun off versus chemical filters that absorb them."

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"These are great because they're combo sunscreen, a combination of mineral and chemical filters. So they're really great and pretty strong and really affordable, about 10 bucks. They've got all the different varieties, and if you're looking for just something to kind of help even out your skin tone, that's one thing to consider."

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"The Canmake sunscreen is wonderful. It's been around for a while and it's withstood the test of time, especially when a lot of sunscreens are having scandals these days. Canmake is still around and I think it's in the same formula now. They've got different shades of it and colors and finishes."

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"I'm wearing the clear version under my foundation. [...] The exciting ingredients in here are white mulberry extract, argan, hoab esters, cherry blossom. [...] This one's really nice, it's just meant to be used as a clear sunscreen and works great for all skin tones. It's [...] fragrance free as well, and [...] we've got argan and hoab esters for beneficial ingredients."

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"It's also got hop esters and arganine in there for beneficial ingredients. So this one's quite nice. I love the combo. If you suffer from melasma, which is a specific type of hyperpigmentation, you may understand that mineral filters may be better at protecting your skin from the melasma getting worse. So using a combo or mineral might be a great way to help prevent that from getting worse. But anyway, this one's really nice, very effective and efficient."

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"Out of all the Canmake sunscreens, the original version is my favorite."

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"It retails for $14. I want to mention there are four different versions of this now, so we've got the clear version, the white version, the yellow version, and the mint version. I am talking about the clear version. I tried the mint one, I've not tried the yellow one, but I've tried the other ones and I didn't love them. The clear one is the one to get."

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"I'm using the Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV Sunscreen SPF50 Clear. I look shiny but I will mattify it when I get to the makeup part."

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"It's fragrance-free. It applies pretty transparently, but it's a combo sunscreen. So, it's a mineral as well as a chemical sunscreen. It's got five filters, titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, and then three chemical filters, which makes a really nice and effective and efficient sunscreen."

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"Another one I love is the Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV Sunscreen SPF50 Clear. This one's a combo mineral chemical sunscreen. It contains both chemical and mineral filters to help protect your skin. And that's a nice way to go if you're somebody that suffers from something like melasma."

Mad About Skin

731k subs

✓Yay

"I'm back using it and it's just really, really nice. If you like the Allies of Skin Invisible Sun Gel, which is a true invisible gel that doesn't distort the skin at all, [...] but you don't like to pay that price point, this is a great dupe for it. Truly invisible. Feels great on the skin. It gives like a really nice silky finish to the skin. I absolutely love it. [...] Definitely one that I would recommend in terms of sunscreen if you want impossibly invisible for summer."

AliceintheRabbitHole

59k subs

✓Yay

"I finished off another of the Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV. This might be one that I end up returning to a lot, it depends on several ongoing things with the US and regulations."

Kelly Driscoll

90k subs

✓Yay

"I do find it to be a very affordable, a great sunscreen. The word mermaid skin gel is referring to the fact that this is a sunscreen that is going to give you a lot of dewiness to your skin, a wetness if you will to your skin, and it is really sold as like a works great under makeup type of sunscreen. This one being a hybrid sunscreen so they're using chemical and mineral filters. Because there is that hybrid there, there is a bit of a white cast to this."

Doctorly

3.59M subs

✓Nay

"This sunscreen is absolutely awful. I'm not even joking, it's probably one of the worst sunscreens I've ever tried in my life. Extremely disappointed in this purchase. It's very green and clumpy. It leaves a terrible green white cast. I don't know who, like maybe if you have a super light skin tone it could look better on you, but if you have any tan at all this thing leaves a terrible, terrible white cast, a white green cast. It's even worse than a white cast."

Nipun Kapur

412k subs

✓Yay

"This is like 50, 40 grams so it's a little less that you get in terms of product, mostly you get 50 ml 50 grams of sunscreen this is 40. So you're getting less product but I loved it so much I completely finished it off and this is something I highly highly recommend from the Japanese skin care. This is 10 on 10."

Dr. Shereene Idriss

1.73M subs

✓Yay

"The Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV [...] has SPF50, it is a hybrid of zinc titanium and chemical sunscreen. Patients who are oily tend to love it because it just disappears. It's very light, you hardly see anything, it feels like water on your skin. It's a gel UV that disappears in a couple of swirls on your face. It's fragrance-free and if you are sensitive around your eyes it might be good for you as well because it is one that is made in Japan so they're using those international filters."

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"I love this. This is another Japanese sunscreen that I would love to have in a bigger bottle. This is a hybrid sunscreen, they're zinc titanium and they're also organic filters. I don't get any cast with this. It's a gel so it's super lightweight, it's not greasy. There's no alcohols in this, which are fine, but some people find them drying. It's great for hair bearing areas like the beard because it just sinks in and absorbs very quickly. It's not greasy, it's not shiny."

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"And the can make mermaid UV gel so I'm back on an old favorite of mine"

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"It is SPF 50, this one's a hybrid sunscreen. It has organic, aka chemical, active ingredients and it has inorganic titanium dioxide, so some people do notice a bit of a white cast with this, but I'm telling you it is very negligible. Like the other two, very fast absorbing, non-greasy formula. In my experience it goes in pretty well in hair bearing areas without leaving any kind of residue, although it does have the titanium dioxide in there so you may notice a little bit of whiteness."

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"I'm wearing the Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV on my face"

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"The Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV Sunscreen SPF50 Clear, you need to try this one. It's great for the face, at least it says for face and body, but the tube is so small I usually just end up using this on my face. To use it on the body you would go through this very very quickly. [...] But it's very lightweight, it's not greasy, excellent filters, a very hydrating formula."

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"I've been using this for a long time now and it never has let me down, it is such a good everyday moisturizing sunscreen. It's a hybrid sunscreen with zinc and titanium dioxide plus chemical actives, and [...] for me there's no cast whatsoever. It has phytic acid in it, which is an antioxidant and also gently helps with skin cell turnover. [...] It has hyaluronic acid and [...] alpha glucan, so it's a really moisturizing formula but a gel, so it's fast absorbing."

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"I brought the Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV. I like to travel with this, it's a good size for traveling and it's comfortable."

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"For me there was zero cast, though if you have a deeper skin tone the mineral actives may show up on your skin. It has sodium hyaluronate for hydration and phytic acid, which can gently encourage skin cell turnover and help with iron chelation. [...] Highly recommend this, it's a longstanding favorite and also a great option if you have facial hair since it doesn't leave a residue. This has become so many people's holy grail sunscreen."

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"This Canmake Mermaid Gel is a super lightweight gel consistency, very moisturizing, not drying. I love that. [...] It doesn't burn around the eyes at all, it doesn't seep into your eyes, and it's not water resistant. [...] It has some mineral filters in it I think, so it may leave a slight cast on deeper skin tones, but it's got some amazing UV filters in it as well. Highly suggest that one."

Lab Muffin Beauty Science

863k subs

✓Yay

"This sunscreen is really beautifully light on the skin, it's also unscented and it's not really siliconey. [...] It works really well under makeup and there's zero white cast on my skin at least. It's also fine around my eyes with none of that eye stinging. The filters are octinoxate, avobenzone plus zinc oxide, titanium dioxide and tinosorb, and [...] this is back up to holy grail status. I highly recommend it."